Nachdaily: 5 Minute Perek Of Tanach Covering The Entire Navi. Sefer Yehoshua, Shoftim, Shmuel, Melachim, Yeshaya, Yirmiya, Ye

Welcome to NachDaily with Iyov, perek 19. This is Iyov’s second response to Bildad. The Malbim explains that Iyov again avoids answering his friends directly. Later in the sefer, he will answer all of them at once. In this perek, however, Iyov expresses scorn and exasperation with the way his friends continue to hurt him with their words. Keep in mind that Iyov is suffering with intense boils all over his entire body. His friends should know better than to add to his troubles with derision and shame. The Yalkut Shemoni 920 and 928 tell us that Rava said, “A person should not be censured for words uttered when in pain.” Iyov’s friends should have been more understanding. They added insult to injury and turned from friends to enemies. Iyov warns his friends to fear God’s punishment. There’s a lesson here for us: not to censure or judge our friends and family when they are in pain, spilling the woes of their hearts. We need to listen deeply, and be present, to hear them without judgment. Don’t try to expla