The book of Job is about a righteous and wise man of the same name, who God allows to be stricken with disease and have everything taken away from. He is greatly distressed and puzzled by this, and as a result, wishes that his life would just end so that he need not continue struggling through this unwarranted treatment from God.

His three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar try to comfort him by explaining why God would have brought such calamity to him, but their attempts are all too simplistic. Job (rightly) rejects each of their proposals, knowing that he is righteous and that what they’re suggesting is wrong. Towards the end, a young man Elihu comes and rebukes the three friends for being incapable of upholding the righteousness of God in the face of Job’s complaints. Job does not respond to Elihu and God does not reprimand him in the end.

Eliphaz believes that God blesses the pious, and so urges Job to stop wishing his life away and to praise God rather than blame him, so that he can reap blessing. As the dialogue progresses it becomes apparent that he does assume Job has done something wrong, but his primary concern is with what Job does next in order to become blessed.

Bildad believes that God judges the wicked and rewards the righteous, and so urges Job to turn to God in righteousness rather than to wish the fate of the wicked upon himself. Job’s family must have been judged for their wickedness and Job is doing himself no favor by wishing this same fate upon himself. He does not think Job is necessarily being judged, but that he should definitely stop asking for it.

Zophar believes that God only judges us because of our wickedness and that since Job is being judged he must be keeping some sin of his secret. He urges Job to confess and move on so that he can be right with God again and be done with his punishment.

Elihu believes that God works in ways that we might not expect because he is beyond us. He judges the wicked and blesses the righteous, sure, but he could also bring calamity to the righteous in order to keep them from falling into wickedness—ultimately whether we’re righteous or wicked depends on how we respond to our suffering. So he criticizes Job for having become a scoffer in response to his suffering, the exact opposite of what he should have done.

God eventually questions Job about whether he could stand in God’s shoes and govern or judge the world, and Job is silenced. God says that, in the end, Job had spoken rightly, and his three friends had not.