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Commentary on Job 11 verses 1–6
It is sad to see what intemperate passions even wise and good men are sometimes betrayed into by the heat of disputation, of which Zophar here is an instance. Eliphaz began with a very modest preface, Job 4:2. Bildad was a little more rough upon Job, Job 8:2. But Zophar falls upon him without mercy, and gives him very bad language: Should a man full of talk be justified? And should thy lies make men hold their peace? Is this the way to comfort Job? No, nor to convince him neither. Does this become one that appears as an advocate for God and his justice? Tantaene animis coelestibus irae? - In heavenly breasts can such resentment dwell? Those that engage in controversy will find it very hard to keep their temper. All the wisdom, caution, and resolution they have will be little enough to prevent their breaking out into such indecencies as we here find Zophar guilty of.
I. He represents Job otherwise than what he was, Job 11:2, Job 11:3. He would have him thought idle and impertinent in his discourse, and one that loved to hear himself talk; he gives him the lie, and calls him a mocker; and all this that it might be looked upon as a piece of justice to chastise him. Those that have a mind to fall out with their brethren, and to fall foul upon them, find it necessary to put the worst colours they can upon them and their performances, and, right or wrong, to make them odious. We have read and considered Job's discourses in the foregoing chapters, and have found them full of good sense and much to the purpose, that his principles are right, his reasonings strong, many of his expressions weighty and very considerable, and that what there is in them of heat and passion a little candour and charity will excuse and overlook; and yet Zophar here invidiously represents him, 1. As a man that never considered what he said, but uttered what came uppermost, only to make a noise with the multitude of words, hoping by that means to carry his cause and run down his reprovers: Should not the multitude of words be answered? Truly, sometimes it is no great matter whether it be or no; silence perhaps is the best confutation of impertinence and puts the greatest contempt upon it. Answer not a fool according to his folly. But, if it be answered, let reason and grace have the answering of it, not pride and passion. Should a man full of talk (margin, a man of lips, that is all tongue, vox et praeterea nihil - mere voice) be justified? Should he be justified in his loquacity, as in effect he is if he be not reproved for it? No, for in the multitude of words there wanteth not sin. Should he be justified by it? Shall many words pass for valid pleas? Shall he carry the day with the flourishes of language? No, he shall not be accepted with God, or any wise men, for his much speaking, Mat 6:7. 2. As a man that made no conscience of what he said - a liar, and one that hoped by the impudence of lies to silence his adversaries (should thy lies make men hold their peace?) - a mocker, one that bantered all mankind, and knew how to put false colours upon any thing, and was not ashamed to impose upon every one that talked with him: When thou mockest shall no man make thee ashamed? Is it not time to speak, to stem such a violent tide as this? Job was not mad, but spoke the words of truth and soberness, and yet was thus misrepresented. Eliphaz and Bildad had answered him, and said what they could to make him ashamed; it was therefore no instance of Zophar's generosity to set upon a man so violently who was already thus harassed. Here were three matched against one.
II. He charges Job with saying that which he had not said (Job 11:4): Thou hast said, My doctrine is pure. And what if he had said so? It was true that Job was sound in the faith, and orthodox in his judgment, and spoke better of God than his friends did. If he had expressed himself unwarily, yet it did not therefore follow but that his doctrine was true. But he charges him with saying, I am clean in thy eyes. Job had not said so: he had indeed said, Thou knowest that I am not wicked (Job 10:7); but he had also said, I have sinned, and never pretended to a spotless perfection. He had indeed maintained that he was not a hypocrite as they charged him; but to infer thence that he would not own himself a sinner was an unfair insinuation. We ought to put the best construction on the words and actions of our brethren that they will bear; but contenders are tempted to put the worst.
III. He appeals to God, and wishes him to appear against Job. So very confident is he that Job is in the wrong that nothing will serve him but that God must immediately appear to silence and condemn him. We are commonly ready with too much assurance to interest God in our quarrels, and to conclude that, if he would but speak, he would take our part and speak for us, as Zophar here: O that God would speak! for he would certainly open his lips against thee; whereas, when God did speak, he opened his lips for Job against his three friends. We ought indeed to leave all controversies to be determined by the judgment of God, which we are sure is according to truth; but those are not always in the right who are most forward to appeal to that judgment and prejudge it against their antagonists. Zophar despairs to convince Job himself, and therefore desires God would convince him of two things which it is good for every one of us duly to consider, and under all our afflictions cheerfully to confess: -
1.The unsearchable depth of God's counsels. Zophar cannot pretend to do it, but he desires that God himself would show Job so much of the secrets of the divine wisdom as might convince him that they are at least double to that which is, Job 11:6. Note, (1.) There are secrets in the divine wisdom, arcana imperii - state-secrets. God's way is in the sea. Clouds and darkness are round about him. He has reasons of state which we cannot fathom and must not pry into. (2.) What we know of God is nothing to what we cannot know. What is hidden is more than double to what appears, Eph 3:9. (3.) By employing ourselves in adoring the depth of those divine counsels of which we cannot find the bottom we shall very much tranquilize our minds under the afflicting hand of God. (4.) God knows a great deal more evil of us than we do of ourselves; so some understand it. When God gave David a sight and sense of sin he said that he had in the hidden part made him to know wisdom, Psa 51:6.
2.The unexceptionable justice of his proceedings. "Know therefore that, how sore soever the correction is that thou art under, God exacteth of thee less than thy iniquity deserves," or (as some read it), "he remits thee part of thy iniquity, and does not deal with thee according to the full demerit of it." Note, (1.) When the debt of duty is not paid it is justice to insist upon the debt of punishment. (2.) Whatever punishment is inflicted upon us in this world we must own that it is less than our iniquities deserve, and therefore, instead of complaining of our troubles, we must be thankful that we are out of hell, Lam 3:39; Psa 103:10.
5. For man by himself speaks to himself when in all that he thinks he is not withdrawn by the Spirit of the Divine Being from the sense of carnal wisdom; when the flesh puts forth a sense, and inviting the mind as it were to the understanding of it, sends it forth abroad. And hence ‘Truth’ saith to Peter, who was still full of earthly notions, For thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. [Mark 8, 33] Yet, when he made a good confession, the words are spoken, Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in Heaven. [Mat. 16, 17] Now what do we understand by ‘the lips’ of God saving His judgments? For when the lips are closed the voice is kept in, and the meaning of the person keeping silence is not known; but when, the lips being opened, speech is put forth, the mind of the person speaking is found out. So ‘God opens His lips’ when He, manifests His will to men by open visitations. For He as it were speaks with open mouth, when the veil of interior Providence being drawn aside, He declines to conceal what is His will. For as it were with closed lips He forbear to indicate His meaning to us, when by the secresy of His judgments He conceals wherefore He does any thing. Zophar therefore, in order that he might reprove blessed Job on the grounds of a carnal understanding, and show what kindness of disposition he himself was of, wishes good things for him, which even when they are there present he does not know to be so, saying, But oh that God would speak with thee, and open His lips with thee. As if he were to say in plain words, ‘I feel for thy uninstructedness more than for thy chastening, in that I know thee to be endued with the wisdom of the flesh alone, and void of the Spirit of Truth. For didst thou discern the secret judgments of God, thou wouldest not give utterance to such daring sentences against Him.’ And because when Almighty God raises us to take a view of His judgments, He forthwith puts to flight the mists of the ignorance that is in us, what instruction comes to us by His lips being opened, he forthwith shows by adding in the words.
The public works of the supreme wisdom are when almighty God rules those whom he creates, brings to an end the good things which he begins and aids by his inspiration those whom he illuminates with the light of his visitation. For it is plain to the eyes of all people that those whom God created of his free bounty, he provides for with lovingkindness. And when he grants spiritual gifts, he himself brings to perfection what he has himself begun in the bounty of his lovingkindness. But the secret works of supreme wisdom are when God forsakes those whom he has created … when he enlightens us with the brightness of his illumination and yet by permitting temptation of the flesh, strikes us with the mists of blindness. Or when he does not care to preserve the good gifts he has bestowed to us, when he at the same time prompts the desires of our soul toward himself and yet by a secret judgment presses us with the powerlessness of our weak nature.… “For her law is manifold.” What should the “law” of God be understood to mean here except for “charity,” whereby we ever read in the inward parts in what way the precepts of life should be maintained in outward action? For concerning this law the voice of “Truth” says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another.” Concerning it, Paul says, “Love is the fulfilling of the law.” In relation to it Paul says again, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” For how can the law of Christ be more aptly understood than to mean the charity that we then truly fulfill when we bear the burdens of our brothers from the principle of love?
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SUMMARY
Zophar the Naamathite, one of Job's three companions, expresses a fervent and exasperated wish that God would directly intervene and speak, not merely to clarify the situation, but specifically to "open his lips against" Job. This desire stems from Zophar's dogmatic belief that Job's immense suffering must be a direct consequence of unconfessed sin, and he is convinced that God's own pronouncement would validate his accusations, expose Job's supposed wickedness, and silence Job's persistent claims of innocence. This verse powerfully encapsulates Zophar's simplistic view of divine justice and his profound misunderstanding of God's ways in dealing with human suffering.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
The verse employs several powerful literary devices. Apostrophe is evident as Zophar directly addresses God, an absent entity in the immediate dialogue, expressing his deep desire for divine intervention. There is a strong element of Irony present; Zophar fervently wishes for God to speak against Job to condemn him, yet when God finally does speak in Job 38, His words are not primarily condemnatory of Job, but rather challenge the limited understanding of both Job and his friends, revealing God's own unsearchable wisdom and sovereignty. The phrase "open his lips" can be seen as a form of Personification, attributing human action (opening lips for speech) to God, emphasizing the direct and intentional nature of the desired divine utterance. Furthermore, Zophar's intense longing for such a decisive, condemning word from God reflects a certain Hyperbole in his exasperation, highlighting the extremity of his judgmental stance.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Zophar's fervent wish in Job 11:5 encapsulates a profound theological tension within the book of Job and throughout biblical theology: the tension between human attempts to comprehend divine justice and God's inscrutable wisdom. Zophar, like his companions, operates under a rigid system of retributive justice, believing that suffering is always a direct consequence of sin. His desire for God to "open his lips against" Job is a desperate plea for divine validation of his own limited theological framework, demonstrating a dangerous presumption about God's will and motives. This contrasts sharply with the biblical emphasis on God's transcendent wisdom, which often defies human categorization and simplistic explanations for suffering. It also highlights the danger of projecting our own biases and assumptions onto God, rather than humbly seeking His true nature and purposes.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Job 11:5 serves as a potent cautionary tale for believers today, reminding us of the dangers inherent in spiritual presumption and the critical need for humility when interpreting the complex realities of suffering, both in our own lives and in the lives of others. Zophar's error was not merely in his theological framework, but in his confident assertion that he knew God's mind better than Job did, and that God would simply confirm his own biased view of Job's hidden sin. We are often tempted to offer quick, simplistic explanations for suffering, or worse, to assume we know the specific reasons behind another person's trials. Instead of demanding that God speak against others or confirm our preconceived notions, this verse calls us to approach God with profound humility, recognizing His infinite wisdom and our inherently limited perspective. It encourages us to cultivate empathy, patience, and a deep reliance on God's character, rather than resorting to hasty judgments or dogmatic pronouncements when confronted with the mystery of pain.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why did Zophar want God to speak "against" Job specifically?
Answer: Zophar, like Job's other friends, operated under a rigid theological framework that directly linked suffering to sin. He was convinced that Job's unprecedented afflictions could only be explained by unconfessed, hidden wickedness. Job's persistent claims of innocence were, to Zophar, an affront to divine justice and an act of arrogance. Therefore, Zophar desperately wished for God Himself to intervene and "open his lips against" Job, believing that God's direct pronouncement would validate his accusations, expose Job's supposed guilt, and thus silence Job's self-justification. He wanted God to confirm his own judgmental view and settle the theological dispute in his favor. This desire highlights Zophar's dogmatic and simplistic understanding of God's ways and his frustration with Job's refusal to confess a sin he had not committed.
How does Zophar's view of God speaking compare to how God actually speaks in the Bible?
Answer: Zophar's desire for God to speak "against" Job reflects a narrow and punitive view of divine communication. While God does speak in judgment (e.g., Genesis 3:17-19 after the fall, or through prophets condemning sin), His communication is far more multifaceted. God speaks to reveal His character, His covenant promises, His wisdom, His law, and His salvation plan. In the Book of Job itself, when God finally speaks from the whirlwind in Job 38, His words are not primarily condemnatory of Job, but rather expansive revelations of His sovereignty, wisdom, and the vastness of His creation, humbling Job and his friends by exposing their limited understanding. This contrasts sharply with Zophar's wish for a purely accusatory divine utterance. Ultimately, God's most profound "speaking" is through His Son, Jesus Christ, as highlighted in Hebrews 1:1-2, where God speaks not primarily in condemnation, but in grace and truth.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Zophar's fervent wish in Job 11:5 for God to "open his lips against" Job, to condemn him and expose his supposed hidden sin, finds its profound Christ-centered fulfillment in the New Testament. While Zophar desired a God who would speak in judgment, the ultimate revelation of God's voice came not to condemn the righteous, but to offer salvation through His Son. God did "open His lips," not against humanity in its sin, but through the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, who is the perfect revelation of God's character and will (John 1:1-14). Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to save it (John 3:17). He became the one against whom the wrath of God was poured out on the cross, taking upon Himself the condemnation that humanity deserved, thereby silencing the accusations of the accuser (Romans 8:1). In Christ, God speaks a word of grace, forgiveness, and reconciliation, fulfilling the deepest human need not for judgment, but for redemption. The "lips" of God, opened in Christ, declare not our guilt, but our righteousness by faith, transforming the desire for condemnation into the reality of justification and eternal life (2 Corinthians 5:21).