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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 ( 1
Chronicles 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 ).
Hitchcock's Dictionary of Bible Names
he is my God himself
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(whose God is he (Jehovah))
(1) One of the interlocutors in the book of Job. [JOB]
He is described as the "son of Baerachel the Buzite."
(2) A forefather of Samuel the prophet. ( 1
Samuel 1:1 )
(3) In ( 1
Chronicles 27:18 ) Elihu "of the brethren of David" is mentioned as the chief
of the tribe of Judah.
(4) 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.
(5) A Korhite Levite in the time of David. ( 1
Chronicles 26:7 )
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
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 David."
(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.
FROM 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 Job 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 through 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 (Job 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.
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(6) An ancestor of Judith (Judith 8:1).
John Franklin Genung
Tags:
bible commentary, bible history, bible reference, bible study, define, elihu, friend of Job
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