Elihu ( ’Elihu) is a critic of Job and his three friends in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Job. He is said to have been the son of Barachel and a descendant of Buz, who may have been from the line of Abraham (Genesis 22:20–21 mentions Buz as a nephew of Abraham). Elihu's monologues Elihu is introduced in , towards the end of the book. His speeches comprise chapters 32-37, and he opens his discourse with more modesty than displayed by the other comforters. Elihu addresses Job by name (, , ), and his words differ from those of the three friends in that his monologues discuss divine providence, which he insists is full of wisdom and mercy. The narrator's preface and Elihu's own words in indicate that he has been listening intently to the conversation between Job and the other three men. He also admits his status as one who is not an elder (32:6–7). As Elihu's monologue reveals, his anger against the three older men was so strong he could not contain himself (32:2–4). An "angry young man", he is critical of both Job and his friends: Andrew B. Davidson argues that the "friends" or companions in this verse are not his three friends Bildad, Eliphaz, and Zophar, but "most probably Job is considered here the centre of a circle of persons who cherished the same irreligious doubts in regard to God’s providence as he did". Elihu claims that the righteous have their share of prosperity in this life, no less than the wicked. He teaches that God is supreme, and that one must acknowledge and submit to that supremacy because of God's wisdom. He draws instances of benignity from, for example, the constant wonders of creation and of the seasons. Elihu's speeches finish abruptly, and he disappears "without a trace", at the end of Chapter 37. Possible pseudonymity of the character The speeches of Elihu (who is not mentioned in the prologue) contradict the fundamental opinions expressed by the 'friendly accusers' in the central body of the text, that it is impossible that the righteous should suffer, all pain being a punishment for some sin. Elihu states that suffering may be decreed for the righteous as a protection against greater sin, for moral betterment and warning, and to elicit greater trust and dependence on a merciful, compassionate God in the midst of adversity. Some writers question the