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Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament

Job 11

Job 11: Zophar says God exacts less than Job deserves

General context

Zophar the Naamathite answers Job. He asks whether a multitude of words should go unanswered and whether a man full of talk should be justified, and whether Job's lies and mocking should silence others. He says Job has claimed, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes. He wishes God would speak and open his lips against Job and show him the secrets of wisdom, which are double what appears, and tells Job to know that God exacts less of him than his iniquity deserves. He asks whether Job can find out God by searching; the matter is higher than heaven, deeper than hell, longer than the earth, broader than the sea. If God cuts off or shuts up, none can hinder him; he knows vain men and sees wickedness. Vain man would be wise, though born like a wild ass's colt. Zophar then lays out conditions: if Job prepares his heart, stretches out his hands to God, and puts iniquity far from his hand and tents, then he will lift up his face without spot, be stedfast, forget his misery as waters that pass away, have an age clearer than noonday, be secure because there is hope, lie down unafraid, and have many make suit to him. But the eyes of the wicked will fail, they will not escape, and their hope will be as the giving up of the ghost.

Cited passages: Job 11:1, Job 11:2, Job 11:3, Job 11:4, Job 11:5, Job 11:6, Job 11:7, Job 11:8, Job 11:9, Job 11:10, Job 11:11, Job 11:12, Job 11:13, Job 11:14, Job 11:15, Job 11:16, Job 11:17, Job 11:18, Job 11:19, Job 11:20

Job 11 (KJV)

1Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,

2Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified?

3Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?

4For thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes.

5But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;

6And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.

7Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?

8It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?

9The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.

10If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him?

11For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?

12For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass’s colt.

13If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him;

14If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.

15For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear:

16Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away:

17And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.

18And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.

19Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee.

20But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.

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Historical context

Zophar the Naamathite, named in 2.11, speaks here for the first time and is the last of the three friends to do so; the narrator's only words are the speaker line. His statements are his own. His report of what Job has said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes, is not a verbatim quotation of anything in chapters 6 to 10; Job did say Thou knowest that I am not wicked in 10.7 and my righteousness is in it in 6.29. Zophar calls Job's words lies and mocking, and asserts that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth, a claim about Job's guilt that the narrator's verdicts in 1.22 and 2.10 and the Lord's words in 2.3 do not support; the reader has that information and Zophar does not. Heaven and hell in verse 8 measure the reach of God's wisdom and describe nothing further. Zophar's wish that God would speak is not fulfilled within this chapter. His promise of security depends on Job putting iniquity far away, so it assumes there is iniquity to remove.

Cited passages: Job 11:1, Job 2:11, Job 11:3, Job 11:4, Job 10:7, Job 6:29, Job 11:6, Job 1:22, Job 2:10, Job 2:3, Job 11:8, Job 11:5, Job 11:14

Literary context

Zophar is the bluntest of the three, opening with a jab at a man full of talk and moving straight to a verdict on Job's guilt. His speech has three parts: rebuke in verses 2 to 6, the unsearchable greatness of God in verses 7 to 12, and a conditional promise in verses 13 to 20. The second part uses four dimensions, high, deep, long, broad, to close off Job's demand for a hearing; the first two carry questions, what canst thou do, what canst thou know. Job had asked in 9.3 how a man could answer God one of a thousand; Zophar agrees that God is beyond finding out, but draws the opposite conclusion, that Job should therefore submit. The conditional close, If thou prepare thine heart, repeats the pattern of Eliphaz in 5.8 to 27 and Bildad in 8.5 to 7 and 8.20 to 22, with similar images of security and a sharp final line about the wicked. Zophar's as waters that pass away recalls Job's own vanishing brooks in 6.15, but promises that misery, not friendship, will be what evaporates. Job's reply begins at 12.1.

Cited passages: Job 11:2, Job 11:3, Job 11:6, Job 11:7, Job 11:8, Job 11:9, Job 9:3, Job 11:13, Job 5:8, Job 8:5, Job 8:20, Job 11:16, Job 6:15, Job 11:20, Job 12:1

Key moments

  1. Zophar speaks (Job 11:1). Zophar the Naamathite answers Job.
  2. A man full of talk (Job 11:2). Zophar asks whether a multitude of words should go unanswered.
  3. Less than iniquity deserves (Job 11:6). Zophar says God exacts less of Job than his sin deserves.
  4. Canst thou find out God? (Job 11:7). Zophar asks whether Job can search out the Almighty.
  5. Higher than heaven (Job 11:8). Zophar says God's wisdom is higher than heaven and deeper than hell.
  6. If thou prepare thine heart (Job 11:13). Zophar sets the condition for Job's restoration.
  7. Hope of the wicked (Job 11:20). Zophar says the wicked will not escape and their hope is as giving up the ghost.

For reflection

Zophar says God exacts less of Job than his iniquity deserves. The reader has heard the Lord call Job's affliction without cause. What is it like to read Zophar's certainty while holding information he lacks?

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