Job's three friends are called Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. Despite what we’re going to end up thinking about their theology, you have to admire their loyalty. When they hear about Job's tragedy, they immediately meet up and travel to him so they can console him together.
When [Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar] saw Job from a distance, they scarcely recognised him. Wailing loudly, they tore their robes and threw dust into the air over their heads to show their grief. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.
— Job 2:11-13 NLT
In our Western culture, it's rare to find a comforter who says nothing and simply sits with you in your pain. Too often we feel as we have to say something—often lots of somethings—in order to comfort. Yet our empty platitudes betray our own discomfort with agony and expose our desire to fix or stop someone else's suffering.
Words have a bad habit of downplaying a person’s grief.
In comparison, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar say nothing for seven days and nights. They let the suffering invading Job’s life disrupt their own lives, offering him only their presence and their witness. Even after a week of this, Job’s friends do not speak until after Job breaks the silence himself.
His friend’s silent solidarity gives Job time to mourn, courage to face the ugly truth, and permission to speak his mind.
Time for an infographic
The book of Job follows a pattern whereby Job speaks and Eliphaz replies, then Job speaks and Bildad replies, then Job speaks again and Zophar replies. Rinse and repeat. Eliphaz and Bildad speak three times each (though Bildad’s last speech lasts only six verses), and Zophar speaks twice.
I've illustrated this in the infographic below.
