God permits "Satan," or in some translations "the adversary" or "the accuser," to put the virtue of Job to the test, at first by giving him power over his property, but forbidding him to touch his person. Satan begins by taking away all of Job's riches, his livestock, his house, his servants, and his children; a series of four messengers informs him that they have perished in various tragedies. In the meantime, only three of Job's friends come to visit him in his misfortune — Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. A fourth, Elihu the Buzite, first begins talking in chapter 32 and bears a distinguished part in the dialogue; his arrival is not noted. The friends spend a week sitting on the ground with Job, without speaking, until Job at last breaks his silence and complains of his misery.
