Job 11 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Job 11

Zophar Speaks: You Deserve Worse

11:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

2   “Should a multitude of words go unanswered,
    and a man full of talk be judged right?
3   Should your babble silence men,
    and when you mock, shall no one shame you?
4   For you say, ‘My doctrine is pure,
    and I am clean in God’s¹ eyes.’
5   But oh, that God would speak
    and open his lips to you,
6   and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom!
    For he is manifold in understanding.²
  Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.
7   “Can you find out the deep things of God?
    Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?
8   It is higher than heaven³—what can you do?
    Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?
9   Its measure is longer than the earth
    and broader than the sea.
10   If he passes through and imprisons
    and summons the court, who can turn him back?
11   For he knows worthless men;
    when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?
12   But a stupid man will get understanding
    when a wild donkey’s colt is born a man!
13   “If you prepare your heart,
    you will stretch out your hands toward him.
14   If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,
    and let not injustice dwell in your tents.
15   Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish;
    you will be secure and will not fear.
16   You will forget your misery;
    you will remember it as waters that have passed away.
17   And your life will be brighter than the noonday;
    its darkness will be like the morning.
18   And you will feel secure, because there is hope;
    you will look around and take your rest in security.
19   You will lie down, and none will make you afraid;
    many will court your favor.
20   But the eyes of the wicked will fail;
    all way of escape will be lost to them,
    and their hope is to breathe their last.”

Footnotes

[1] 11:4 Hebrew your
[2] 11:6 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
[3] 11:8 Hebrew The heights of heaven

Commentary

v1-3: Zophar the dogmatic! His words are harsh, even cruel.

His immediate accusation against Job is of his many words and his idle talk, 'You've said much, but said little.'

v4: He attacks Job's claim of integrity; although Job had not claimed to be pure in God's sight. We must be careful that we do not distort or caricature the opinions or beliefs of others.

v5: Indeed, when God speaks, all are brought to silence.

v6: God does reveal true wisdom.

Zophar's suggestion, here, is that God has punished Job less then he deserves. It is hardly caring to tell him that things could be much worse. No words of comfort here.

v7-9: God's ways are unsearchable; this theme recurs several times in the book. The mysteries of God are unfathomable; higher, deeper, longer, wider; mere human intelligence is utterly incapable of knowing God's ways.

v10: God can do what He likes; we cannot. God is not answerable to anyone.

v11-12: Zophar infers that Job is deceitful and wicked, and that he is being judged by God.

v13-15: The call to repent, repeated by Eliphaz in 22.21-23. Once confession is made, the conscious is clear.

v16-19: The reward of repentance.

v20: The judgment upon the one who will not repent. The wicked are without hope.