"Some die suddenly in the middle of the night”
Job 34:20
Death is the great equalizer. No one escapes it, no matter their power, wealth, or goodness. Injustice, too, seems to strike without distinction. The righteous suffer, the wicked thrive, and the world keeps turning. Job, battered by loss and pain, demands an answer—where is God’s justice in all this?
Elihu, the youngest voice in the Book of Job, steps in with a bold defense of divine justice. He insists that suffering is not proof of a broken system; it’s part of a bigger, unseen order. Justice does not unfold in a slow, predictable way—it can be sudden, sharp, and absolute. The wicked may fall in an instant, while the righteous may be lifted up when they least expect it. Everybody suffers, or, to quote Billie Eilish, everybody dies:
רֶגַע יָמֻתוּ וַחֲצוֹת לָיְלָה יְגֹעֲשׁוּ עָם וְיַעֲבֹרוּ וְיָסִירוּ אַבִּיר לֹא בְיָד׃
Some die suddenly in the middle of the night;
People are in turmoil and pass on;
Even heroes are removed—not by human hands.
Job 34:20
Elihu’s suggestions challenge Job’s assumption that suffering is in response to past sin - it’s just part of the bigger picture. Our judgments are based on what we’ve seen so far, but we do not see the whole story.
This idea echoes throughout Jewish thought. The Talmud in Tractate Sanhedrin 98a records Rabbi Joshua ben Levi in dialogue, time travel style, with the Messiah, asking him “When will you arrive already?” The answer, which is a quote from one of the prophets: "Today, if you will listen to God’s voice." It’s a BIG if. Justice, redemption, change—they don’t follow human timelines. But our actions do have some sway and say in how reality unfolds. Redemption or loss arrives in a moment, whether we’re ready or not -- and they do not distinguish between us as neatly as we might hope. We are all in this together, or to paraphrase Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s famous saying:"Some are guilty, but all are responsible."
Elihu makes a powerful argument. He reminds us that the scales of justice are not as fixed or as humanly measurable as we think.
But his answer, for all its logic, lacks something deeper—compassion.
He does not see the Job who is shattered, the Job who has lost everything and is asking not for theories, but for comfort. Sometimes, justice needs more than an explanation. It needs to offer consolation, and it needs to heal our hurting hearts.
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