Eliphaz

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A male name borne by several figures in the Hebrew Bible, most notably one of the comforters who debated with Job
2. The name of a biblical man, associated with the Book of Job as one of the friends who argued with the suffering hero
3. A personal name from the Old Testament, given to characters including a Temanite counselor of Job and a son of Esau

Etymology: Eliphaz is a proper noun, the name of one of Job's three friends in the Hebrew Bible, the one who first speaks in the dialogue and argues that Job's suffering must be deserved. The name appears in Genesis as well, where Eliphaz is a son of Esau and the father of Teman, and the Hebrew form is usually explained as "my God is fine gold" or as a compound of "God" with a word for gold or strength, though the exact meaning is uncertain. Because the name comes through the Greek and Latin versions of the Bible, English speakers encountered it in the form "Eliphaz" in the King James Version and earlier translations, and it has remained a biblical name with no common-noun sense in English. In the Job narrative, Eliphaz is the most senior and measured of the friends, and his speeches are the longest of the three, which is why the name is often used in literary discussions of the book.