Job 11:1-6

F. PIETY AND PROSPERITYZOPHAR'S RECOMMENDATION: REPENTANCE (Job 11:1-20)

1. Job's punishment is less than he deserves. (Job 11:1-6)

TEXT 11:1-6

1 1Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,

2 Should not the multitude of words be answered?
And should a man full of talk be Justified?

3 Should thy boastings make men hold their peace?

And when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?

4 For thou sayest, My doctrine is pure,

And I am clean in thine eyes.

5 But oh that God would speak,
And open his lips against thee,
6 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.

COMMENT 11:1-6

Job 11:1Zophar, the third of Job's friends, enters. He is the least original and most vitriolic of Job's counselors. He is more intense in asserting Job's guilt than Job is his innocence. In fact, Zophar claims that Job should be thankful that he does not get all the suffering that he deserves. His speech falls into three sections: (1) Zophar wishes that God would break His silenceJob 11:2-6; (2) God's wisdom is beyond human comprehensionJob 11:7-12; and (3) Restoration from Job's present situation is contingent on repentanceJob 11:13-20. He neither appeals to personal experience, as does Eliphaz, nor to the wisdom of the ancients, as does Bildad. His authority is identical with God's authority; and his wisdom is self-authenticating. Therefore, Job fails to heed his advice at his own peril. The literary form of his speech is similar to that of Bildad, esp. Job 11:2-6 to Job 8:2; Job 11:7-12 to Job 8:3-4; and Job 11:13-19 a to Job 8:5-7. A thematic difference is that Bildad defended divine justice, while Zophar defends divine wisdom which must be defended against Job's scandalous criticism. But like the other two friends, he, too, suggests that Job's repentance is imperative if restoration to a happy prosperity is to be anticipated. His fundamental heresy, which is shared by contemporary western man, is that happiness will elude all non-prosperous persons.

Job 11:2Zophar is annoyed by Job's long speech.

Job 11:3The word boasting, which is found in the A. V., comes from a Hebrew word generally meaning idle talk, i.e., babbling. Job has denied the doctrine of retributive justiceJob 6:28; Job 6:30; Job 9:21; Job 10:15; and in Zophar's theology this means mocking at religion (A. V. when thou mockest)Isaiah 16:6; Jeremiah 48:30.

Job 11:4My doctrine is pure was understood by his friends to be an attack on their wisdom, by claiming a superior understanding. The phrase in thine eyes refers to God's eyes. The problem isIf Job is saying that he is pure in God's eyes (the Hebrew says I am pure in your eyes), why is he complaining about God's injustice?[145]

[145] Some suggest a solution by changing one vowelhayitiI am, to hayita you are.

Job 11:5Zophar believes that if God would break His silence, then Job would hear his indictment from God Himself.

Job 11:6God's wisdom is beyond the human mind's comprehension. The Hebrew word hisplayim means double, not manifold. A. V. the sense is that God knows both the hidden and non-hidden. The last line declares that God gives Job less than he deserves.[146]

[146] E. F. Sutcliffe, Biblica. XXX, 1949, p. 67important discussion of the last line of verse six.