Bible Encyclopedia: Elihu

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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ELIHU (1)

e-li'-hu ('elihu; Eleiou, "He is (my) God," or "my God is He"):

(1) An ancestor of Samuel (1 Samuel 1:1), called Eliel in 1 Chronicles 6:34 and Eliab in 1 Chronicles 6:27. See ELIAB.

(2) Found in 1 Chronicles 27:18 for Eliab, David's eldest brother (1 Samuel 16:6); called "one of the brethren of D."

(3) A Manassite who joined David at Ziklag (1 Chronicles 12:20).

(4) A Korahite porter (1 Chronicles 26:7).

(5) A friend of Job. See next article.

(6) An ancestor of Judith (APC Judith 8:1).

ELIHU (2)

('elihu, 'elihu', "He is (my) God"; Elious):

One of the disputants in the Book of Job; a young man who, having listened in silence to the arguments of Job and his friends, is moved to prolong the discussion and from his more just views of truth set both parties right. He is of the tribe of Buz (compare Genesis 22:21), a brother-tribe to that of Uz, and of the family of Ram, or Aram, that is, an Aramean. He is not mentioned as one of the characters of the story until chapter 32; and then, as the friends are silenced and Job's words are ended, Elihu has the whole field to himself, until theophany of the whirlwind proves too portentous for him to bear. His four speeches take up chapters 32-37. Some critics have considered that the Elihu portion of the Book of Job was added by a later hand, and urge obscurities and prolixities, as well as a different style, to prove that it was the work of an inferior writer. This estimate seems, however, to take into account only the part it plays in a didactic treatise, or a theological debate. It looks quite different when we read it as a real dramatic element in a story; in other words, when we realize that the prevailing interest of the Book of Job is not dialectic but narrative.

Thus viewed, the Elihu episode is a skillfully managed agency in preparing the denouncement. Consider the situation at the end of Job's words (Job 31:40). Job has vindicated his integrity and stands ready to present his cause to God (Job 31:35-37). The friends, however, have exhausted their resources, and through three discourses have been silent, as it were, snuffed out of existence. It is at this point, then, that Elihu is introduced, to renew their contention with young constructive blood, and represent their cause (as he deems) better than they can themselves. He is essentially at one with them in condemning Job (Job 34:34-37); his only quarrel with them is on the score of the inconclusiveness of their arguments (32:3, 1). His self-portrayal is conceived in a decided spirit of satire on the part of the writer, not unmingled with a sardonic humor. He is very egotistic, very sure of the value of his ideas; much of his alleged prolixity is due to that voluble self-deprecation which betrays an inordinate opinion of oneself (compare Job 32:6-22). This, whether inferior composition or not, admirably adapts his words to his character. For substance of discourse he adds materially to what the friends have said, but in a more rationalistic vein; speaks edifyingly, as the friends have not done, of the disciplinary value of affliction, and of God's means of revelation by dreams and visions and the interpreting of an intercessory friend (Job 33:13-28).

Very evidently, however, his ego is the center of his system; it is he who sets up as Job's mediator (Job 33:5-7; compare Job 9:32-35), and his sage remarks on God's power and wisdom in Nature are full of self-importance. All this seems designed to accentuate the almost ludicrous humiliation of his collapse when from a natural phenomenon the oncoming tempest shows unusual and supernatural signs. His words become disjointed and incoherent, and cease with a kind of attempt to recant his pretensions. And the verdict from the whirlwind is: "darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge." Elihu thus has a real function in the story, as honorable as overweening self-confidence is apt to be.

John Franklin Genung

Strong's Hebrew

453. Elihu -- "He is (my) God," five Israelites
... Elihu. 454 . "He is (my) God," five Israelites. Transliteration: Elihu Phonetic
Spelling: (el-ee-hoo') Short Definition: Elihu. ... NASB Word Usage Elihu (11). Elihu ...
/hebrew/453.htm - 6k

7410. Ram -- two Israelites, also family of Elihu
... 7409, 7410. Ram. 7411 . two Israelites, also family of Elihu. Transliteration:
Ram Phonetic Spelling: (rawm) Short Definition: ram. ...
/hebrew/7410.htm - 6k

Library

The Sinner's Excuses Answered
... VI. THE SINNER'S EXCUSES ANSWERED. Elihu also proceeded and said, Suffer me a little,
and I will shew thee that I have yet to speak on God's behalf. ...
/.../finney/sermons on gospel themes/vi the sinners excuses answered.htm

Songs in the Night
... ELIHU was a wise man, exceeding wise, though not as wise as the all-wise Jehovah,
who sees light in the clouds, and finds order in confusion; hence Elihu ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 44 1898/songs in the night.htm

Spurgeon -- Songs in the Night
... Elihu was a wise man, exceeding wise, tho not as wise as the all-wise Jehovah, who
sees light in the clouds, and finds order in confusion; hence Elihu, being ...
/.../kleiser/the worlds great sermons volume 8/spurgeon songs in the.htm

A Homily for Humble Folks
... When Elihu addressed himself to Job and the three wise men, he commended himself
to them saying, "I am full of matter, the spirit within me constraineth me ...
/.../spurgeon/sermons on proverbs/a homily for humble folks.htm

Job.
... (5) Elihu shows how Job accuses God wrongly while vindicating himself and asserts
that suffering instructs us in righteousness and prevents us from sinning. ...
/.../gerberding/the way of salvation in the lutheran church/chapter xii job.htm

Job
... the scheme of the book and the solution it offers of the problem of suffering, we
have not yet taken into account the speeches of Elihu (xxxii.-xxxvii.). ...
//christianbookshelf.org/mcfadyen/introduction to the old testament/job.htm

The Writings of Israel's Philosophers
... I had heard of this by the hearing of the ear; But now mine eye seeth thee
(xlii.5). [Sidenote: Teaching the Elihu passage xxxii-xxxvii]. ...
/.../xi the writings of israels.htm

Questions which Ought to be Asked
... ELIHU PERCEIVED the great ones of the earth oppressing the needy, and he traced
their domineering tyranny to their forgetfulness of God: "None saith, Where is ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 26 1880/questions which ought to be.htm

Letter S
... 1836 * Scotford, John "Received 1837 * Scott, Benjamin C. "Received 1811, Located
1818 * Scott, Elias C. "Received 1829 * Scott, Elihu "Received 1825 ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/bangs/an alphabetical list of m e preachers/letter s.htm

The Debt of Israel
... Thy father's father, thy grandsire, Elihu, younger brother to Amminadab, who was
father-in-law to Aaron, came to his share of his father's goods when Aram was ...
//christianbookshelf.org/miller/the yoke/chapter x the debt of.htm

Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary

Elihu

he is my God himself

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Elihu

(whose God is he (Jehovah)).

One of the interlocutors in the book of Job. [JOB, JOB, BOOK OF] He is described as the "son of Baerachel the Buzite."
A forefather of Samuel the prophet. (1 Samuel 1:1)
In (1 Chronicles 27:18) Elihu "of the brethren of David" is mentioned as the chief of the tribe of Judah.
One of the captains of the thousands of Manasseh, (1 Chronicles 12:20) who followed David to Ziklag after he had left the Philistine army on the eve of the battle of Gilboa.
A Korhite Levite in the time of David. (1 Chronicles 26:7)

ATS Bible Dictionary

Elihu

A native of Buz, Genesis 22:21, which was probably a city of Edom, Jeremiah 25:23, perhaps Bozrah, Jeremiah 49:7,8,13. He came to condole with Job in his calamities. Young, ardent, sagacious, and devout, he listened attentively to the discourses of Job and his three friends; and at length broke in, with profuse apologies, to set them all right, Job 32:1-22. His address to Job he blames for condemning him as a hypocrite, in their ignorance of the wonders of God's providence. In several sentences he beautifully expresses his faith in the pardoning and restoring grace of God towards sinners, Job 33:23,24,27-30, passages in probably the oldest book of the Bible in the very spirit of the parable of the prodigal son.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Whose God is he.

(1.) "The son of Barachel, a Buzite" (Job 32:2), one of Job's friends. When the debate between Job and his friends is brought to a close, Elihu for the first time makes his appearance, and delivers his opinion on the points at issue (Job 32-37).

(2.) The son of Tohu, and grandfather of Elkanah (1 Samuel 1:1). He is called also Eliel (1 Chronicles 6:34) and Eliab (6:27).

(3.) One of the captains of thousands of Manasseh who joined David at Ziklag (1 Chronicles 12:20).

(4.) One of the family of Obed-edom, who were appointed porters of the temple under David (1 Chronicles 26:7).

Thesaurus

Elihu (11 Occurrences)
... When the debate between Job and his friends is brought to a close, Elihu for the
first time makes his appearance, and delivers his opinion on the points at ...
/e/elihu.htm - 15k

Eli'hu (11 Occurrences)
... Elihu, Eli'hu. Elijah . ... 1 Chronicles 26:7 The sons of Shemaiah: Othni, and Rephael
and Obed and Elzabad his brethren, valiant men; Elihu also, and Semachiah ...
/e/eli'hu.htm - 8k

Barachel (2 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Whom God has blessed, a Buzite, the father of Elihu, one
of Job's friends (Job 32:2, 6). Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. BARACHEL. ...
/b/barachel.htm - 7k

Buzite (2 Occurrences)
... (2) A Gadite ((1 Chronicles 5:14) (buzi), "an inhabitant of Buz"), a title given
to Elihu, the fourth speaker in the Book of Job (Job 32:2). Horace J. Wolf. ...
/b/buzite.htm - 8k

Eliab (20 Occurrences)
... and Abiram (Numbers 16:11, 12; Numbers 26:8 Deuteronomy 11:6). (3) Eldest son of
Jesse and brother of David (1 Samuel 16:6), once called Elihu (1 Chronicles 27 ...
/e/eliab.htm - 15k

Bar'achel (2 Occurrences)
... Job 32:2 Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of
the family of Ram; against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified ...
/b/bar'achel.htm - 6k

Buz (3 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Contempt. (1.) The second son of Nahor and Milcah, and
brother of Huz (Genesis 22:21). Elihu was one of his descendants (Job 32:2). ...
/b/buz.htm - 8k

Barakel (2 Occurrences)
... Job 32:2 Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of
the family of Ram; against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified ...
/b/barakel.htm - 6k

Michael (16 Occurrences)
... 1 Chronicles 12:20 As he went to Ziklag, there fell to him of Manasseh, Adnah, and
Jozabad, and Jediael, and Michael, and Jozabad, and Elihu, and Zillethai ...
/m/michael.htm - 16k

Ram (96 Occurrences)
... (2.) One of the sons of Jerahmeel (1 Chronicles 2:25, 27). (3.) A person mentioned
in Job 32:2 as founder of a clan to which Elihu belonged. ...
/r/ram.htm - 41k

Bible Concordance

Elihu (11 Occurrences)

1 Samuel 1:1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite:
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

1 Chronicles 12:20 As he went to Ziklag, there fell to him of Manasseh, Adnah, and Jozabad, and Jediael, and Michael, and Jozabad, and Elihu, and Zillethai, captains of thousands who were of Manasseh.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

1 Chronicles 26:7 The sons of Shemaiah: Othni, and Rephael, and Obed, Elzabad, whose brothers were valiant men, Elihu, and Semachiah.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

1 Chronicles 27:18 of Judah, Elihu, one of the brothers of David: of Issachar, Omri the son of Michael:
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Job 32:2 Then the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel, the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was kindled against Job. His wrath was kindled because he justified himself rather than God.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Job 32:4 Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job, because they were elder than he.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Job 32:5 When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, his wrath was kindled.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS)

Job 32:6 Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered, "I am young, and you are very old; Therefore I held back, and didn't dare show you my opinion.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Job 34:1 Moreover Elihu answered,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Job 35:1 Moreover Elihu answered,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Job 36:1 Elihu also continued, and said,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Subtopics

Elihu

Elihu: A Buzite and One of Job's Three Friends

Elihu: A Chief of the Tribe of Judah

Elihu: A Chief of the Tribe of Judah: Possibly Eliab, the Oldest Brother of David

Elihu: A Manassite Warrior, Who Joined David at Ziklag

Elihu: A Porter of the Temple

Elihu: Son of Tohu

Elihu: Son of Tohu: And Eliab