Barachel

Barachel (meaning whom God has blessed or that bows before God) was a Buzite of the family of Ram and the father of Elihu, the fourth and final of Job's friends to speak. His identification as a Buzite places Elihu's family in the territory of Buz, a region associated with the descendants of Abraham's nephew Nahor (Genesis 22:21). Elihu is distinguished from the three earlier friends — Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar — both by his youth and by the explicitly named family lineage provided through Barachel.

Barachel himself appears only in the identification of his son and is otherwise unknown in Scripture. Elihu's extended speeches in Job 32–37 are notable for their different theological approach — he rebukes not only Job but the three friends, and his speeches prepare the way for the divine speeches from the whirlwind that follow.