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Job 11

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Zophar Condemns Job's Claims 1–6

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Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, ​
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Should not the multitude of words be answered? And should a man full of talk be justified?
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Should thy boastings make men hold their peace? And when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed? ​
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For thou sayest, My doctrine is pure, And I am clean in thine eyes. ​
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But oh that God would speak, And open his lips against thee,
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And that he would show thee the secrets of wisdom! For he is manifold in understanding. Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth. ​

The Inscrutable Majesty of God 7–12

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Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? ​
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It is high as heaven; what canst thou do? Deeper than Sheol; what canst thou know?
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The measure thereof is longer than the earth, And broader than the sea. ​
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If he pass through, and shut up, And call unto judgment, then who can hinder him?
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For he knoweth false men: He seeth iniquity also, even though he consider it not. ​
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But vain man is void of understanding, Yea, man is born as a wild ass’s colt. ​

The Call to Repentance and Restoration 13–20

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If thou set thy heart aright, And stretch out thy hands toward him; ​
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If iniquity be in thy hand, put it far away, And let not unrighteousness dwell in thy tents. ​
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Surely then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; Yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear: ​
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For thou shalt forget thy misery; Thou shalt remember it as waters that are passed away,
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Andthylife shall be clearer than the noonday; Though there be darkness, it shall be as the morning. ​
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And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; Yea, thou shalt searchabout thee, and shalt take thy rest in safety.
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Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; Yea, many shall make suit unto thee.
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But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, And they shall have no way to flee; And their hope shall be the giving up of the ghost. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Job 11

Verse 1

Zophar the Naamathite — He is the third of the three friends named in 2:11, 'Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite', who had made an appointment 'to mourn with him and to comfort him'. This is his first speech, and his second (ch.20) opens with the same words, 'Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said' (20:1).

Verse 3

Should thy lies make men hold their peace? — Bad is empty talk, boasting. 'Hold their peace' is charash, to be silent, the verb of Esth 4:14. 'Mockest' is la'ag, to deride, and 'make thee ashamed' is kalam. Job answers in 12:2–3, 'No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you… I am not inferior to you.'

Verse 4

My doctrine is pure — Leqach, what is received and taught, the 'good doctrine' of Prov 4:2 and the 'doctrine' that 'shall drop as the rain' in Deut 32:2. 'Pure' (zak) is Job's word for his prayer in 16:17, 'also my prayer is pure', and Bildad used it in 8:6. The sentence is Zophar's summary of what Job said, 'Thou knowest that I am not wicked' (10:7).

Verse 6

God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth — 'Exacteth of thee less' renders nashah, to forget, here in the causative (remit), as in Gen 41:51, 'hath made me forget all my toil'. 'Secrets' is ta'alumah, hidden things, as in Ps 44:21, 'he knoweth the secrets of the heart'. Ezra 9:13 states a similar thing, 'thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve'.

Verse 7

Canst thou by searching find out God? — Cheqer, a search, the word of Job 5:9 and Isa 40:28, 'there is no searching of his understanding'. Taklith, 'perfection', is the end or limit, as in Job 28:3, 'He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection'. The LORD asks Job the same in 38:16, 'hast thou walked in the search of the depth?'

Verse 9

longer than the earth, and broader than the sea — The 'measure' is mad, an extent, and it is found only here in Job. Verse 8 gives the height and depth: 'as high as heaven… deeper than hell'. Paul prays that believers may know 'the breadth, and length, and depth, and height' of the love of Christ, 'which passeth knowledge' (Eph 3:18–19).

Verse 11

he knoweth vain men — 'Vain men' is methe shav, men of emptiness or falsehood. 'Wickedness' is aven, the 'affliction' of 5:6. 'The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity' (Ps 94:11), and 'Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite' (Ps 10:14). Zophar asks whether he will 'not then consider it' (bin, to discern).

Verse 12

a wild ass's colt — 'Vain' is nabab, hollow, and 'would be wise' comes from lebab, the heart, so the line sets a hollow man against one who gains a heart. The wild ass (pere) is the animal the LORD describes in his own answer, 'Who hath sent out the wild ass free?' (39:5). Gen 16:12 calls Ishmael 'a wild man', using the same word.

Verse 13

prepare thine heart — Kun, to set firm or ready, as Samuel told Israel, 'prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only' (1 Sam 7:3). 'Stretch out thine hands' (paras, to spread) is the posture of Ps 143:6, 'I stretch forth my hands unto thee'. Bildad gave similar counsel in 8:5, 'seek unto God betimes'.

Verse 14

If iniquity be in thine hand — Aven is trouble or iniquity, and 'put it far away' is rachaq, to remove. Eliphaz urged the same in 22:23, 'thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles'. Hands that hold sin cannot be spread in prayer: 'your hands are full of blood' (Isa 1:15), and 'Cleanse your hands, ye sinners' (James 4:8).

Verse 15

lift up thy face without spot — Mum is a blemish, the word for what disqualified an animal for sacrifice: 'whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer' (Lev 22:20). Job uses it in 31:7, 'if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands'. Eliphaz has the same promise: 'lift up thy face unto God' (22:26).

Verse 17

clearer than the noonday — Tsohar, the noon, the word of Ps 37:6, 'he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday', and of Isa 58:10. 'Age' is cheled, one's span of life. 'As the morning' (boqer) recalls Prov 4:18, 'the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more'.

Verse 20

the eyes of the wicked shall fail — Kalah, to come to an end, is used of eyes that give out. 'Escape' is manos, a place of flight or refuge, as in Ps 142:4, 'refuge failed me'. 'The giving up of the ghost' is mappach nephesh, a breathing out of the soul, found only here. It answers v.18, 'thou shalt be secure, because there is hope'.