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Where Can Wisdom Be Found? |
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Job and his friends differed in their ideas of how people become wise. |
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Person |
His Source of Wisdom |
Attitude toward God |
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Eliphaz |
Wisdom is learned by observing and experiencing life. He based his advice to Job on his confident, firsthand knowledge (Job 4:7, 8; 5:3, 27). |
"I have personally observed how God works and have figured him out." |
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Bildad |
Wisdom is inherited from the past. Trust-worthy knowledge is
secondhand. He based his advice to Job on traditional proverbs and sayings
that he frequently quoted |
"Those who have gone before us figured God out, and all we have to do is use that knowledge." |
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Zophar |
Wisdom belongs to the wise. He based his advice on his wisdom that had no other source than himself (11:6; 20:1-29). |
"The wise know what God is like, but there aren't many of us around." |
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Job |
God is the source of wisdom, and the first step toward wisdom is to fear God (28:20-28). |
"God reveals his wisdom to those who humbly trust him." |