And Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man of much talk be justified?
Zophar is the last of Job's three friends to speak, and he opens with no sympathy — only two sharp questions about Job's talking. Behind them lies a real question aimed at the wrong man: can a flood of words ever prove someone right?
Commentators see a clear difference between the three friends, and Zophar's temper shows in his first line.
It has been thought, with some likelihood, that Zophar was the youngest of the three friends. He speaks last, and his speech has the same general character as the other two, but it is more intense. It lacks the dignity of Eliphaz and the reasoning power of Bildad. He makes up in heat what he lacks in reason, and this leads him into harshness and brutal rudeness, which was hardly the way to soothe the sore spirit of the sufferer.
Where the ESV says "a man full of talk," an older translation reads "a man of lips." One writer sets out Zophar's opening lines like this:
And Zophar, the Naamathite, answered and said, Shall not the multitude of words be answered? And shall a man of lips be justified? Your babbling puts men to silence: and you mock, and no one says, Shame!
That is all Zophar will credit to Job: no grief, no argument — only noise.
Job's speeches had been the cries of a man in agony. To file them under "talk" was to misread them completely.
It is most unfair to describe the struggles of a plainly upright soul as "a multitude (or torrent) of words," and the man himself as "a man of lips." Where is the fairness in calling Job's cries out of the depths "lies," or his sharp thrusts "mockery"? On the other hand, Job had indeed declared himself and his doctrine pure, and if Zophar could have disproved this it would have gone a long way to help matters.
Commentators differ here. Another writer holds that Job never made the claim Zophar pins on him:
"Should not the multitude of words" — that is all he would allow on Job's part — "be answered, and should a man full of talk be justified?"… Now Job had never said either. He had never said that his doctrine was pure. What he said was, that he held to God and to His ways. And what he said about his conduct was that he was not a hypocrite. He admitted that he might have sinned in some way he did not know about, and that this could account for the terrible storm of affliction crushing his soul into the dust.
The charge "you talk too much" often comes from someone who has run out of reply.
He attacks Job at once for his "multitude of words." Those words were too much for him to answer, so he falls back on the trick of calling Job nothing but "full of talk," and "empty talk" at that (v.2). He did not stop to think that Job's words had been aimed at God, not at him. Yet he seems to think that he can give a satisfactory answer on God's behalf!
Zophar's verdict on Job turns out to be a verdict on Zophar.
So Zophar gives Job credit for nothing beyond a multitude of words and idle talk. The unanswerable case against their theory — that God repays every sin in this present life — was to him only babbling… He had not learnt that we should not judge, or we will be judged, and that our judgments really judge us. A solid and gracious judgment proves that we dwell in God, since we dwell in love and walk according to light. A harsh judgment shows, in the same measure, how far we are ruled by thoughts and feelings that rise no higher than self.
Zophar aimed the question at the wrong man, but the question itself is worth keeping.
God takes note of the believer's faith, and counts it to him for righteousness. But people cannot see faith. Suppose they challenge us: on what ground do we claim to be pardoned and saved, children of God and heirs with Christ? We cannot simply reply, "We have faith." We must justify the place we take by something other than words… Not by lip, but by life; not by words, but by works, can we convince others that we are what we say we are.
- Words — Zophar reduces Job to "a man of lips." He hears only noise, but Job was crying out of the depths.
- Weakness — He calls it empty talk because he cannot answer it. The charge hides the hole where his argument should be.
- Wrong target — Commentators differ over what Job actually claimed; one holds that Job never said his doctrine was pure at all.
- Warning — Harsh judgment turns back on the judge. It shows whether love and light rule us, or self.
- Walk — The question outlives the man who asked it: talk cannot prove us to others. Only a life can.
Should thy fictions make men hold their peace? and shouldest thou mock, and no one make [thee] ashamed?
Zophar is the last of Job's three friends to speak, and he opens with an accusation instead of comfort. He wants Job's talk stopped and Job put to shame. Was any of that fair to a man crushed by loss?
Zophar speaks last of the three friends. One writer weighs him against the two who spoke before him.
The third friend of Job is in every way the weakest. Speaking last he must have been the youngest of the three. He lacks the dignity of Eliphaz and the gentleness of Bildad, and he does not have the depth of either. Job's speech has clearly taxed his patience and irritated him.
Zophar loads the verse with three charges: Job's talk, Job's mocking, and the shame someone owes him. The writer below quotes an older translation, which has "lies" where the ESV has "babble." He takes the words one by one and sets them against what Job actually said.
"Should not the multitude of words" — that is all he would allow on Job's part — "be answered, and should a man full of talk be justified? Should your lies" — think how far he went — "should your lies make men keep silent? and when you mock" — that was all he considered it — "shall no man make you ashamed? For you have said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in your eyes." Now Job had never said either. He had never said that his doctrine was pure. What he said was that he held to God and to His ways. And what he said about his conduct was that he was not a hypocrite.
Zophar attacks how much Job says. One writer explains why: he cannot answer what Job says.
He attacks Job at once for his "multitude of words." Those words were too much for him to answer. So he falls back on a trick: he accuses Job of being only "full of talk," and "empty talk" at that. He did not stop to think that Job had aimed his words at God, not at him. Yet he seems to think that he can answer well enough for God! He accused Job of mocking, which was not true. Job was in far too much distress to mock. But Zophar thought he needed rebuking.
Zophar charges Job with grave sin, but he proves nothing. One writer weighs the labels, and shows that a true word about God's wisdom cannot prop up an unjust charge.
It is deeply unfair to call the anguished struggles of a clearly upright soul "a multitude (or torrent) of words," and to call the man himself "a man of lips." What fairness is there in calling Job's cries out of the depths "lies," or his sharp thrusts "mockery"? … But he has no proof. Even so, he charges Job with being such a grievous sinner that even his present sufferings were less than he deserved. And he would link God with this dreadful charge. It is quite true that divine wisdom is double our highest thoughts of it. But he cannot link that wisdom with unfair suspicions or unjust charges.
Zophar's opening question sets the temperature for everything that follows. Reading the chapter as a unit, one writer measures it against the two speeches before it.
In Job 11 we have the brief speech of Zophar, the third of Job's friends, and reading it, we notice that his tone is a little more severe even than Bildad's was. Possibly he was irritated by the fact that Job had not accepted the charges and arguments of the other two, but it was overshooting the mark and unfriendly to charge him with a "multitude of words," of being "full of talk," of uttering "lies," and of mocking. Nor had he claimed to be "clean" in the sight of God.
Zophar wants Job shamed. One writer turns the verse around: our judgments say more about us than about the person we judge.
Zophar gives Job credit for nothing beyond a multitude of words and idle talk. The grounds against their theory of strict repayment in this life could not be answered. To him they were only babbling… He had not learned that we should not judge, in case we are judged. Our judgments really judge us. If they are solid and gracious, they prove that we dwell in God, dwelling in love and walking according to light. If they are harsh, they show just how far thoughts and feelings that have no source higher than self govern us.
- Weakest speaks loudest. The last and youngest friend lacks the dignity of one and the gentleness of the other. Irritation, not insight, drives his opening question.
- Volume for substance. Job's words were too much for Zophar to answer, so he attacked their quantity instead — the standard move of a man out of arguments.
- Grief called mockery. Job was in far too much distress to mock. He never claimed that his doctrine was pure or that he was clean. He claimed only that he was no hypocrite.
- Charges without proof. Calling an upright man's cries out of the depths "lies" is unfair. A true word about God's wisdom cannot prop up an unjust charge.
- The judge judged. Harsh verdicts measure the judge, not the accused. Gracious judgment shows a life lived in God. Harsh judgment shows a heart ruled by self.
For thou sayest, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes.
Job has just poured out his anguish to God, and now the third of his visitors breaks in — not to comfort, but to correct. Zophar puts two claims into Job's mouth. Much of the commentary on this verse turns on one question: did Job ever say them?
One writer reads the verse as a misquotation. Zophar puts into Job's mouth a boast Job never made.
"For you say, 'My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in God's eyes.'" Now Job had never said either. He had never said that his doctrine was pure. What he said was, that he held to God and to His ways. And what he said about his conduct was that he was not a hypocrite. He admitted that he might have sinned in some way he did not know about. That, he thought, could explain the terrible storm of suffering that crushed his soul into the dust.
Commentators differ here. One writer holds that Job had in fact claimed this, and faults Zophar for charging him without proof:
On the other hand, Job had indeed declared himself and his doctrine pure. If Zophar could have disproved that, it would have gone a long way to help matters. But he charges Job without any proof. He calls him such a terrible sinner that even his present sufferings were less than he deserved, and he ties God to this dreadful charge.
One writer traces Zophar's certainty to an assumption all three friends shared: that some hidden evil must lie behind Job's disasters.
He takes up the harsh thoughts of those who attacked Job, and gives no weight at all to Job's pleading in his misery. Instead he starts to hold that sad thought which all of them voice: that some serious, hidden evil must lie underneath, and that it is the cause of Job's many disasters, worse than any others on record. He is as certain as a bad suspicion can make a man.
Another writer finds an irony here. The man who blames Job for criticising God ends up doing the same thing.
Since Job had said his doctrine was pure and his conduct clean, Zophar was in effect accusing God of failing to speak out against Job! So Zophar does what he thinks God ought to have done! He knew Job had criticised God, but now he was doing the same without realising it!
Being clean in God's eyes is not the same as being clean in your own eyes, or in other people's. One writer finds Job's real fault right there.
He was never so bold as to say, "I am clean in God's eyes." No, no, far from it. Sadly, he had rested in being clean in his own eyes, and in the eyes of other people. But he had to learn that being clean in God's eyes was a very different thing.
Another writer explains where that confidence went wrong.
Job's thoughts are mixed. He is not quite meeting God as a sinner, but as a man who is aware of "the root of the matter" in his heart. His mistake is to confuse this with his own personal worth, and so spoil the very idea of grace. Who of all mankind could stand before a God who is utterly holy and say, "I am clean"?
Zophar sees a real problem and has no cure for it.
He sees that Job is wrong to seek to be clean in his own eyes. But it is not in him to show Job how he can be a sinner and yet be justified. He can tell that if Job were not a sinner, then things would be most blessed for him. That is all that Zophar, or mere human light, can do. This is human religion. I must try not to be a sinner, and then I shall be happy, and God will not be against me.
The friends could bring no charge against Job, and Job asked God to speak. One writer follows what came of that.
They were not able to say anything — they could bring nothing against him. All of them said the same, and judged him in a most severe and unmerciful way. So he asked that God would speak. Well, God did speak; and when God spoke it was not to the honour of Zophar, nor of Bildad, nor of Eliphaz. But even so, it was because Job prayed for them that the anger of the Lord did not fall on those three men.
- Misquoted. Most commentators hold that Job never claimed pure doctrine or cleanness before God. One writer grants that he did claim it, and faults Zophar for charging him with no proof.
- Self-appointed. Wishing God would speak against Job, Zophar speaks for Him, doing the very thing he condemns in Job.
- Two mirrors. Job could be clean in his own eyes and in other people's, and still have to learn what clean in God's eyes means.
- Dead end. Human religion can see the fault but cannot show how God justifies a sinner. It only says try harder.
- Answered. God did speak in the end, and it brought no honour to Zophar; Job's prayer was what spared his three friends.
But oh that +God would speak, and open his lips against thee;
Zophar is the third of Job's friends to speak. He opens with a wish: that God would break His silence and answer Job. It sounds devout. But older translations render the second half "open his lips against you," and that one word changes everything.
Zophar has no doubt what God would say if He spoke. One writer shows him filling a silence he thinks God should have filled Himself:
He accused Job of mocking, which was not true. Job was in far too much distress to mock. But Zophar thought Job needed a rebuke (v.3). Job had said his teaching was pure and his conduct clean. So Zophar was really accusing God of failing to speak out against Job! (v.4). Then Zophar does what he thinks God ought to have done! He knew Job had criticised God, but now he was doing the same without realising it!
The wish shows what Zophar believed about God. If God's only word to a broken man is a rebuke, the fault lies with the man who imagines it:
These words are full of legalism. They prove that Zophar had no right sense of God's character. He did not know God. No one who truly knows God could speak of Him as opening His lips against a poor suffering sinner. No one could speak of Him as demanding anything from a needy, helpless creature. God is not against us, but for us, blessed for ever be His Name! He is not a stern collector of debts, but a generous giver… Zophar and everyone who thinks like him know God only as a stern collector — as One who, if He opens His lips, can only speak against the sinner.
Each of the three friends reached his verdict by a different route:
Eliphaz used his eyes; Bildad used his ears; and Zophar used his brains. Not one of them found the solution to this problem by human wisdom, no matter how they came by that wisdom.
Zophar wanted God to open His lips and show Job "the secrets of wisdom" (v.6). But such secrets never come from a sharp mind:
Behind the world we can see, God is working out something that natural eyes cannot see and the natural mind cannot understand. Everyone can observe nature all around us. But only those whom God teaches can receive the spiritual things that lie underneath the created world: "the secrets of wisdom … double to that which is."
The wish was granted, but not on Zophar's terms. Job had asked for the same thing, and neither man guessed what God would do:
Job insisted that he was sound in faith and in life, and this irritated Zophar greatly. So he only wanted God to speak, as Job had dared to ask. Like the rest of them, he never expected the intervention God was about to grant — not only for them, but for our sakes. Zophar had not a doubt what the sentence would be. He had not learnt that we should not judge, lest we be judged, and that our judgments really judge ourselves.
When God answered, He spoke of Himself, not of Job's supposed crimes:
In the end God Himself spoke to the suffering man. He did not use the soft, tender tones we hear in the New Testament; the time for that had not yet come. Jehovah spoke to Job out of the whirlwind, not once but twice, and with a thunderous voice, telling of His power, His majesty, His providence.
Zophar could say what a man without sin might expect. He could not answer how a sinner is justified — counted right before God:
He cannot show Job how a man can be a sinner and yet be justified. He can say that if Job were not a sinner, all would be well with him. That is all that Zophar, or mere human light, can do. This is human religion. I must try not to be a sinner, and then I shall be happy, and God will not be against me.
- The wish — Zophar asks God to speak, but only as a prosecutor. He treats God's silence as a mistake he must correct himself.
- The God behind the wish — a God who, if He opened His lips, could only speak against a sufferer. Commentators answer that this is not the God of Scripture, who is for us and gives freely.
- The method — eyes, ears and brains gave Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar three confident answers and no solution. God alone gives the secrets of wisdom; no mind reasons them out.
- The answer — God did speak, out of the whirlwind. He said nothing Zophar predicted. The man who was sure of the verdict never imagined what God would do.
- The lesson — our judgments of others end up judging us. Zophar could describe God's greatness; he could not tell a sinner how to be justified.
And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, how that they are the double of what is realised; and know that +God passeth by [much] of thine iniquity!
Zophar is the last of Job's three friends to speak. He wishes God Himself would break the silence and expose Job — and he is sure what the verdict would be. His words hold a real truth: God's wisdom runs far deeper than anything we can see. But he wraps that truth around a charge the book itself has already contradicted.
Zophar does not weigh Job's case. He pronounces on it.
In Job 11 we have the brief speech of Zophar, the third of Job's friends. Reading it, we note that his tone is a little more severe even than Bildad's was. Perhaps he was irritated because Job had not accepted the charges and arguments of the other two. But it went too far, and it was unfriendly, to charge him with a "multitude of words," with being "full of talk," with uttering "lies," and with mocking. Zophar does not yet show us where he stands. Yet he declared, as though from an oracle, that Job deserved harsher punishment from God's hands than he was getting. But Job's suffering was greater than any other on record. And the discussion centred on how God disciplines people in this life, not on eternity. So this again strikes us as harsh and dogmatic in the extreme.
Zophar wishes God would show Job the "secrets of wisdom." An older rendering calls them "double to that which is" — twice as much as we can see.
Behind this material creation, God is working out something that natural eyes cannot see and natural intellect cannot understand. Anyone can observe the natural world all around us. But only those whom God teaches can receive the spiritual things that lie under the material creation: "the secrets of wisdom … double to that which is." God is not only seeking to interest us in the material creation, where anyone with ordinary intelligence can be taught. He has also given us light as to why He brought this creation into being. He is teaching us today about what lies behind it all: the working out of His eternal plan for His own glory and the glory of Christ. That plan includes the blessing and final glory of each one of us. I believe these things to be "the double."
Zophar pictures a God who opens His lips only to accuse, and who collects every debt.
These words have a strong flavour of legality. They prove very clearly that Zophar had no right sense of the divine character. He did not know God. No one who truly knows God could speak of Him as opening His lips against a poor afflicted sinner. No one could speak of Him as demanding anything from a needy, helpless creature. God is not against us, but for us, blessed for ever be His Name! He is not a legal exactor, but a generous giver.
Zophar has no facts. He infers Job's guilt from Job's pain, then makes God the author of the sentence.
He has no proof. Yet he charges Job with being such a grievous sinner that even his present sufferings were less than he deserved, and he would tie God to this dreadful charge. It is perfectly true that divine wisdom is double our highest thoughts of it. But he cannot join that wisdom to unfair suspicions or unjust charges.
The reader already knows heaven's verdict. It is the opposite of Zophar's.
God was not exacting anything from Job; that is not God's character at all. All the comforters agreed with Zophar that God was dealing with Job because of his sins, but we know very well that God has already said of this man that he was righteous (1:8; 2:3).
Zophar was certain of the sentence before God ever spoke.
He had not learnt that we should not judge, lest we be judged, and that our judgments really judge ourselves. If they are solid and gracious, they prove that we dwell in God, dwelling in love and walking according to light. If they are harsh, they show in the same measure that thoughts and feelings with no source higher than self are ruling us. Job would find, he was sure, that the secrets of wisdom are double when you look into them, and that God was not exacting from him what his iniquity deserved: he held the gravest fears about his friend.
- Speaker. Zophar is the third and harshest friend. He declares, as if from an oracle, that Job's suffering is lighter than he deserves.
- Truth. The "secrets of wisdom" really are double what we see. God's eternal plan lies behind the visible creation, and only those He teaches receive it.
- Error. Zophar assumed he already held those secrets. He turned them into evidence against a man he could not prove guilty.
- God. He is not a legal exactor demanding payment from the helpless, but a generous giver — a God for us, not against us.
- Warning. Our judgments of others judge us; harsh verdicts expose a source no higher than self.
Canst thou by searching find out +God? canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection?
Zophar, the third of Job's friends, answers Job's suffering by pointing to the size of God. His question is fair, but he has already decided that Job is hiding sin — so can true words be aimed at the wrong man? (Older translations read: "Can you by searching find out God? Can you find out the Almighty to perfection?")
Each of Job's three friends leaned on something different. Zophar leaned on his own mind.
Zophar the Naamathite did not care about what everyone could see. He was not interested in what his ancestors had taught him. He thought he was clever enough to solve this problem himself. He had enough intelligence of his own to solve it. So you find Eliphaz the Temanite used his eyes, Bildad the Shuhite used his ears, and Zophar the Naamathite used his brain. But all this wisdom was hopeless, dear friends, when it came to this divine problem that surrounded this wonderful man Job.
The limit Zophar names is real. But he never sees that it shuts him out just as much as Job.
It was true that Job could not search out the depths of God's wisdom, or "find out the limit of the Almighty." But did Zophar think God has any limits? He is infinite, not limited in any way. Zophar applied his words only to Job, but they were just as applicable to Zophar too! But he thought himself so wise that he did not need to learn, as Job did. No one can know God's thoughts unless He reveals them.
Our minds are not just too small for now, with room to grow later. The word "God" itself rules the search out.
If man can bring God within the limits of his own thoughts, if by searching he can find Him out, then God is really not God at all — or else man is God. At least man's mind would match the divine infinity. But when it comes to power instead of proud claims, we soon find out the difference.
Job had already admitted this before Zophar said it. That leaves only one way for anyone to know God.
One serious effect of sin entering the world was that mankind lost the true knowledge of God. Once lost, no effort of man's will or mind could win back that highest and best of all knowledge. Zophar asked, "Can you by searching find out God?" In an earlier chapter Job had confessed the same inability, saying, "Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not; he moves on, but I do not perceive him." Since we cannot discover God, He must make Himself known to us. Revelation becomes a necessity.
Better instruments do not settle the question. Careful study still comes back with Zophar's answer.
Science is in the presence of the old, old mystery; the old, old questions come to her — "Can you by searching find out God? Can you find out the Almighty to perfection?" And science answers these questions as they were answered of old — "As for the Almighty, we cannot find Him out." That is true testimony; He cannot be found by the searchings of science, any more than by the reasonings of rationalism. But, blessed be His holy Name, He has been graciously pleased to reveal Himself fully in the One to whom all Scripture points. That One is the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ.
So the answer depends on where you begin, and on who does the searching. Zophar lists four measurements of God. The same four appear later in Scripture in reverse order.
We have found Him out by the Holy Spirit, for "the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God."… Truly the knowledge of God is as high as heaven, but we have the ability to rise to these heavenly things. "Deeper than hell" would carry us in thought to the cross. There the Son of God went down into death to overthrow every force opposed to the will of God. "The measure… longer than the earth" refers to the counsel of God before time began, which will reach to the new scene when time has ended. "Broader than the sea" would take in all things in heaven and all things on earth, headed up in Christ. So, dear friends, we have found out God… Zophar speaks of the height, depth, length and breadth. The apostle Paul speaks of the breadth, length, depth and height — quite the other way round, because they were working from two different ends.
- Search. One friend trusted his eyes, one his ears, and Zophar his own mind. All three failed.
- Limit. The verse states a real boundary, but Zophar aimed it only at Job; it applied to him just as much.
- Impossibility. If a mind could take God's measure, that mind would be equal to God — so the failure is not a shortage of effort.
- Revelation. We cannot discover Him, so He must show Himself. Science and reason still hit Zophar's wall. The Son makes Him known.
- Reversal. Start from creation and the four measurements defeat you. Start from Christ and they map out what God has shown us.
[It is as] the heights of heaven; what wilt thou do? deeper than Sheol; what canst thou know?
Zophar answers a suffering man by piling up distances no one can cross. His words about God are grand, but was he right to aim them at Job — and can anyone find God out?
Job's three friends each leaned on a different tool of human wisdom. Zophar is the third.
Eliphaz used his eyes; Bildad used his ears; and Zophar used his brains. Not one of them found the solution to this problem by human wisdom, however they came by that wisdom.
What Zophar says about God's unreachable depth is sound. The trouble is where he points it.
It was true, of course, that Job could not search out the depths of God's wisdom, or "find out the limits of the Almighty." Did Zophar think God has any limits? He is infinite, not limited in any way. Zophar aimed his words at Job alone, but they fitted Zophar just as well! He thought himself so wise that he did not need to learn, as Job did. God's thoughts are higher than the heaven, deeper than Sheol (v.8). No one can know them unless God reveals them.
Verses 8 and 9 pile up four distances. Not one of them can take God's measure. (Some older translations say "hell" where the ESV says "Sheol".)
Next, Zophar speaks in grand terms about the absolute and infinite perfection of God. The heights of heaven, the depths of hell, the length of the earth, the breadth of the sea — none of them can measure His wisdom. What a disaster it would be for man to stand before Him, if He were to open a case against him, as Job had so rashly challenged Him to do.
These four measurements appear once more in Scripture, in Ephesians 3. One writer reads them in the light of Christ, and notices that Paul lists them backwards.
This is the only place besides Ephesians 3 where these four dimensions appear in Scripture, so far as I know. The knowledge of God really is as high as heaven, yet we have the ability to rise to these heavenly things, as we have seen. "Deeper than hell" would carry us in thought to the cross. There the Son of God went down into death, so that He might overthrow every force opposed to the will of God... Note another interesting point here. Zophar speaks of the height, the depth, the length and the breadth. The apostle Paul, writing under Divine inspiration, speaks of the breadth, the length, the depth and the height. It is the other way round, because the two of them were working from opposite ends.
The gap Zophar names is not one a cleverer man could close.
The distance between a man and an ant is very great, but in the end it is a limited distance... Can an ant understand what is going on in a man's mind?... But the distance between God and man is infinitely greater than that between man and ant. God is the Creator. Man is the creature. The distance between them is infinite. No arithmetic is of any use here.
So Zophar's question still gets a flat no — as long as man is the one searching.
The searches of science cannot find Him, any more than human reasoning can. Man's boastful attempts all fail alike. But — blessed be His Holy Name — in His grace He has fully revealed Himself in the One to whom all Scripture points: the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ.
That changes the whole feel of the immeasurable. What overwhelms the believer is no longer a blank.
Go up to heaven, and we find Wisdom. Go down into Sheol, and it is still there. The earth for length and the sea for breadth cannot take the measure of this attribute of God... In the New Testament we are overwhelmed — not by a dark and unsearchable mystery, or by an avenger who will not be appeased, but by "the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge."
- Unsearchable. No creature's reach is long enough. The distance between Creator and creature is infinite, and no arithmetic closes it.
- Unapplied. What Zophar said about God was true, but he aimed it only at Job. It fitted him just as well.
- Unaided. Eyes, ears and brains all failed here. God's thoughts stay unknown unless God reveals them.
- Unveiled. The four measurements return in Ephesians 3, in reverse order. Zophar and Paul work from opposite ends.
- Unmeasured love. The last word is not a closed door. It is the love of Christ — beyond knowledge, yet known.
The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
Zophar is the third of Job's friends. He answers a broken man by pointing to the size of God: higher than heaven, deeper than the grave, wider than earth and sea. The words are magnificent. But did he have any right to aim them at Job? And is "you cannot measure God" where the matter ends?
One writer goes through the speech line by line. He agrees with almost every statement, then rejects the use Zophar made of it.
Zophar says some things that are very excellent — properly applied. He says, "Can you find out the deep things of God?" Well, nobody can; God must reveal Himself. "Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?" Only if God speaks. "Its measure is longer than the earth" — certainly. And the earth was far too small a measure. "And broader than the sea." He might have taken in all the universe. But Zophar's notion was all wrong.
The limit Zophar presses on Job rests on Zophar too.
Certainly Job could not search out the depths of God's wisdom. Did Zophar think God has any limits? He is infinite, not limited in any way. Zophar applied his words only to Job, but they were just as applicable to Zophar too! But he thought himself so wise that he did not need to learn, as Job did.
The verse holds up two rulers against God: the land for length, the sea for breadth. Neither can measure Him.
This, the finest part of the address, expands what he had just said... It is a noble description of God. Go up to heaven, and we find Wisdom; go down to Sheol, and it is still there. The earth for length and the sea for breadth cannot take in the measure of this attribute of God. Two passages come to mind: Psalm 139 in the Old Testament, and Ephesians 3 in the New. They describe the presence and power of God in the same way. But the Psalmist is glad that he cannot "drift beyond His love and care." In the New Testament we are overwhelmed, not by a dark and unsearchable mystery, or by an avenger who cannot be turned aside, but by "the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge."
If searching cannot cross that measure, knowledge of God must come from His side.
One serious effect of sin entering the world was that mankind lost the true knowledge of God. Once lost, no effort of man's will or intellect could win that highest and best of all knowledge back. "Can you find out the deep things of God?" was Zophar's question. In an earlier chapter Job confessed his own inability: "Behold, He passes by me, and I see Him not; He moves on, but I do not perceive Him." Since we cannot discover God, He must make Himself known to us. Revelation becomes a necessity. God reached the crowning point of that revelation when in Christ He made Himself known as Father.
One writer takes the two measures of verse 9 as pointing to God's plan in Christ. He also notes that Paul names the same four dimensions, but in reverse order.
This is the only place besides Ephesians 3 where Scripture names these four dimensions, so far as I know... "The measure ... longer than the earth" we believe refers to the counsel of God before time began, which will reach on to the new scene when time has ended. "Broader than the sea" would take in all things in heaven and all things on earth, headed up in Christ, and soon to be displayed in the world to come... Zophar speaks of the height, and depth, and length, and breadth. Paul, writing under divine inspiration, speaks of the breadth, and length, and depth and height. It is quite the other way round, for they were working from two different ends. Trying to reach what is spiritual through what is material is wasted labour.
In Zophar's mouth the question allowed one answer: no. The same writer says the answer is different now, because we do not search the way Zophar searched.
In that day, and to Zophar in particular, the answer is a word of two letters: NO... If Zophar came to us today and in his sarcastic manner said to us, "Can you by searching find out God?" are we going to say NO? Thank God we are not. We can find Him out; yes, we have found Him out... but we have not used the means Zophar attempted to use, or we should not know any more about God than he did.
(Davison quotes an older translation here. The ESV reads, "Can you find out the deep things of God?")
- Measure — The earth gives length, the sea gives breadth. Neither is long enough for God, whose plan runs from before time began to the world to come.
- Misuse — The words are excellent. The aim is wrong. What Zophar said of Job was just as true of Zophar.
- Necessity — No effort of will or intellect can win back the knowledge of God. So God must speak first.
- Reversal — Job 11 and Ephesians 3 name the same four dimensions, but from opposite ends. Reaching for what is spiritual through what is material is wasted labour.
- Answer — In Zophar's day the question met a no. Today it meets a yes, found by other means.
If he pass by, and shut up, and call to judgment, who can hinder him?
Zophar, the third of Job's visitors, now takes his turn, and he bases his case on the sheer power of God: no one can stop Him when He arrests a man and calls him to judgment. The question is not whether that is true, but what Zophar meant by aiming it at a suffering man.
Each of Job's friends has his own temper, and this one is the sharpest.
Then follows Zophar, in Job 11, who is the keenest of the three, and the least considerate. He charges him with moral blindness as well as mere bluster. He takes up the harsh thoughts of those who attacked, and gives no weight at all to Job's pleadings in his wretchedness. Instead he begins to hold that sad thought, which all of them come to express. Some grave and secret evil must lie underneath, and it must be the cause of Job's many and unmatched calamities.
Older translations word this verse in different ways: some read "cut off, and shut up, or gather together," others "pass by, and shut up, and call to judgment." Either way the picture is the same. God arrests a man and calls a trial. One writer grants the statement before showing where Zophar goes wrong.
Zophar continues to speak in verse 10, "If He passes by, and shuts up, and calls to judgment, who can hinder Him?" This is worth weighing. No one can thwart the judgment of God when it comes. Of course Zophar, in speaking this way, considered that God was judging Job, which was not the case.
Taken on its own, the sentence is sound. But look at what Zophar sets right beside it, and the drift becomes clear.
"If He cuts off, and shuts up, or gathers together, then who can hinder Him?" There is no doubt about His power, no limit to it. "For He knows vain men: He sees wickedness also." These are all insinuations against Job. "Will He not then consider it? For vain man would be wise, though man is born like a wild donkey's colt." Well, no doubt. That is man's condition now through the fall.
The same section of the speech carries a truth every reader has to accept, whatever Zophar did with it.
We can only bow to the truth that God is the searcher of hearts, and that nothing can escape His all-seeing eye.
Here is the danger the whole debate exposes: a true statement about God can be aimed at the wrong man.
Things which are true, but misunderstood and misapplied, may do more harm than many a thing that is false. Misapplied truth gives the apparent authority of God to an error, and that error carries all the more weight because it comes as the truth. People despise a foolish statement, or one plainly false; but no believer can treat the truth of God lightly. Suppose someone uses the truth of God wrongly. Suppose he applies it to crush a man who at that very moment is an object of intense interest to God. How foreign and offensive to His mind!
Where does the mistake begin? With a rule about suffering that leaves God no other reason for it.
What a man sows, he will also reap, and punishment for sin is certain, both judicially and divinely. But to limit God in His dealings with His children to that is to dishonour Him, and to miss the richest and choicest of His purposes... Job's friends were men of a very high standard of life. Yet they missed this important link in the chain of God's dealings with His servant, and so they became the cruellest and bitterest of foes. Why? Because they limited God's dealings to the punishment of sin. They missed the training, forward-moving character of the sufferings, so they could only conclude that such a great sufferer must have been a great sinner.
Zophar's words about God rise high, but they stop short. The gap between his God and the God of the New Testament is the gap between a dark mystery and a love to rejoice in.
It is a noble description of God, and we can hardly avoid the conviction that a man who could speak like this was not ignorant of the true God... But the Psalmist rejoices that he cannot drift beyond His love and care. In the New Testament we are overwhelmed, not by a dark and unsearchable mystery or an unappeasable avenger, but by "the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge."
- True. No one can thwart the judgment of God when it comes. His power has no limit, and He sees wickedness.
- Targeted. Zophar aims that truth at Job, assuming God was judging him — and that was not the case.
- Twisted. Misapplied truth does more harm than an open lie. It gives error the apparent authority of God.
- Too narrow. Limit God to punishing sin and you dishonour Him. You also miss the training purpose of suffering, so a great sufferer can only look like a great sinner.
- Too small. Zophar's God is unsearchable power. The New Testament shows more — "the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge."
For he knoweth vain men, and seeth wickedness when [man] doth not consider it;
Job 11:11 comes from Zophar's first speech, and what he says about God's sight is true — yet he aims it at a man God Himself had called righteous. The question is not whether God sees, but who has the right to say what He is seeing.
The three friends each argue the same case in a different key, and Zophar's key is the harshest.
Many have thought, and it is likely, that Zophar was the youngest of the three friends. He speaks last. His speech has the same general character as the other two, but it is more intense. He lacks the dignity of Eliphaz and the reasoning skill of Bildad. You could say he makes up in force what he lacks in reason, and this leads him into harshness and brutal rudeness, badly suited to soothe the sore spirit of the sufferer. Besides this, he fails, as the others do, to explain the dark riddle of Job's trouble. His theory that suffering comes from sins committed only pushes the already distracted man deeper into the darkness.
Taken on its own, the statement about God's sight is one nobody can argue with.
We can only bow to the truth that God is the searcher of hearts, and that nothing can escape His all-seeing eye. He knows the empty vanity of the natural man's heart. By birth that man is like a wild ass's colt. He must be born again if he is to know God truly.
Zophar's material was sound. The fault lay in where he pointed it, and in what he missed about Job.
Zophar says some things that are very excellent — properly applied... "For he knows worthless men; when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?" All these are insinuations against Job... Since the fall, that is man's condition. Sometimes his acts can only be compared to those of a beast — uncontrollable, like a wild ass. Sometimes they are like those of a savage beast that consumes and destroys everything before it, like a lion or a bear... It was not a question of iniquity, but of God dealing with Job's satisfaction with himself. Job was a truly pious, God-fearing man, but he had a high idea of his own character. That is what no soul should ever allow.
Set the verse beside the one before it and Zophar's argument closes into a circle. No one can stop God when He judges. God sees wickedness. So Job's suffering must prove the wickedness. One writer, quoting an older translation that reads "deceitful men," traces the move:
Zophar continues to speak in verse 10: "If He passes by, and shuts up, and calls to judgment, who can hinder Him?" This is worth considering. No one can thwart the judgment of God when it comes. Of course, when Zophar spoke this way, he thought God was judging Job — which was not the case... So Zophar implied that Job was both deceitful and wicked. His proof was that God had looked at Job's state and was judging him for it.
The book has already told the reader what none of the friends knew. That is why the verdict Zophar builds on this verse fails from the start.
Zophar, like the other two, had been trying to persuade Job that God was dealing with him because of some secret sin. But we know from the start of this book that God had said Job was righteous. That is the opposite of this materialist's conclusion.
The words Zophar used as a weapon describe a condition he shared. What he missed about himself is what makes the verse useful today.
It is indeed true that man cannot by his searching find out God. It is just as true that sinful man is "vain," or "empty," or "senseless," and is born like "a wild ass's colt." Zophar clearly felt that Job needed to see these things. He had little sense of how they applied to himself. If the men of this twentieth century recognised them, it would puncture their inflated pride. They may find out means of destroying human lives by the hundred thousand, but they cannot find out God. He can only be found in Christ, who has revealed Him.
- Speaker — Zophar is the fiercest of the three friends. He makes up in force what he lacks in reason, and his roughness only deepens Job's pain.
- Truth — the words themselves stand. God searches hearts, nothing escapes His eye, and He knows the emptiness of the natural heart.
- Twist — Kelly notes the words are excellent when rightly applied. Here they are hints aimed at one man, whose real issue was not iniquity but self-satisfaction.
- Verdict — Zophar treats Job's suffering as proof of hidden wickedness. But the book has already recorded God's own opposite view of Job.
- Remedy — the emptiness the verse names belongs to all of us. No one can search God out. We find Him only in Christ, who has revealed Him.
Yet a senseless man will make bold, though man be born [like] the foal of a wild ass.
Zophar, one of Job's three friends, ends his first speech with a proverb about human nature. He says an empty man reaches for wisdom while being born as untamed as a wild donkey's colt — a saying true in itself, but fired at a sufferer it did not fit.
Older translations read the second half of the verse differently: "Vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild donkey's colt." That is the wording most of the writers below comment on. Either way, the line is no calm remark about people in general. Zophar had one man in view, and he meant it to sting.
It is true that senseless men will assert themselves boldly, even though their nature is the same rebellion you see in a wild donkey's colt. But Zophar did not mean this as a general observation. He saw Job as a senseless man acting stubbornly, a man who did not recognise the greatness of God's glory.
Even so, the words themselves stand. One writer notes that the empty man's search for God really does fail, and that Zophar never saw how the words fit himself.
It is indeed true that man cannot find out God by searching. It is just as true that man, being sinful, is "vain," or "empty," or "senseless," and is born like "a wild donkey's colt." Zophar felt that Job needed to see these things, with little sense of how they applied to himself. If people today saw them, it would puncture their inflated pride. They may find ways to destroy human lives by the hundred thousand, but they cannot find out God. They find Him only in Christ, who has revealed Him.
Scripture does not use the donkey only as a picture of dullness. The animal also stands for self-will, which puts the verse beside the Bible's definition of sin.
In the Word of God the donkey is not only pictured as unclean. It is also the very synonym for self-will. Read the LORD's own account of this animal, where He reasons with His servant in Job 39:5-8. And what is sin? The Revised Version of 1 John 3:4 defines it correctly: "sin is lawlessness." In other words, sin is doing our own will and neglecting the will of God. Who can claim to be an exception? Who among us does not love to have his own way, whatever it costs?
Commentators accept the picture and reject the use Zophar made of it. The comparison to a beast is not exaggeration. It describes what man became through the fall.
"For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild donkey's colt." Well, no doubt. Through the fall, that is man's condition now. Sometimes his acts can only be compared to those of a beast — out of control, like a wild donkey. Sometimes they match a savage beast that devours and destroys everything in its path, like a lion or a bear. Man is capable of doing all these things. But Zophar's notion was all wrong.
Another writer aims the verse at people who object to God's mysteries.
What finite intelligence can grasp infinity? May we not then truly add, with Zophar, about those who object to divine mysteries because they seem to contradict human reason: "For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild donkey's colt"?
The problem starts at birth, so the cure must be a second birth.
We can only bow to the truth that God searches hearts, and that nothing can escape His all-seeing eye. He knows the empty vanity of the natural man's heart. By birth that man is like a wild donkey's colt, and he needs to be born again before he can have any true knowledge of God.
The same unclean animal appears in a law about firstborn animals, where a lamb could take its place.
A donkey is mentioned in the law of the firstborn. Its owner could redeem it by sacrificing a lamb, but if he would not redeem it, he had to break its neck. What a striking picture of man's need of redemption! Sin makes man unclean, and Job 11:12 compares him to the colt of a wild donkey. If no one redeems him, then his neck — that is, his stubborn resistance — must be broken.
- Born wild. The verse traces the trouble not to what a man does but to what he is from birth — untamed, unwilling to be bridled.
- Wild means self-willed. The donkey stands for lawlessness: doing our own will and ignoring God's.
- Wild cannot find God. An empty man searching on his own never reaches God. Christ has revealed Him, and there alone we find Him.
- Wild must be redeemed. A lamb died in place of the unclean colt, or its neck was broken. Only a new birth gives a man real knowledge of God.
- True words, wrong aim. Zophar said something accurate about man. He then fired it at the one man it least fitted. Commentators call the saying sound and the use of it wrong.
If thou prepare thy heart and stretch out thy hands toward him,
Zophar turns from God's greatness to a condition. Set your heart right, reach out to God, and everything will change. The words sound wise, and in part they are. But they rest on an assumption about Job that the commentators say was false.
Zophar's address moves through a fixed shape, and verse 13 opens its fourth movement. One writer lays out the outline: Job's flood of words rebuked (vv. 1-6), the greatness of God (vv. 7-9), all things open to Him (vv. 10-12), then this:
(4) The call to repent (vv. 13-15). (5) The peaceable results (vv. 16-20).
Everything Zophar has said about God's greatness now bends toward one purpose. He presses Job to repent as a guilty man. The same writer notes what that costs him:
Zophar spoils the dignity of what he had just said. He calls on Job to repent as an evildoer with a store of ill-gotten wealth in his tents. This complete lack of discernment stirs Job to anger. It shows up the shallow nature of the friends' theory.
One commentator weighs the advice apart from the man who gave it:
"If you prepare your heart, and stretch out your hands toward Him." Now that was excellent advice. That was just what Job did need — to wait on God until God gave him the answer as to how all this had come upon him. But Zophar's idea was all wrong.
(Kelly quotes an older translation, which reads both halves of the verse as conditions.)
The two actions in the verse are prayer and turning back. Zophar holds them out as Job's one way out of trouble:
Finally, Zophar urges supplication and repentance as the only door of escape for Job, but a sure opening into a bright and prosperous and secure life, if he would avoid the certain doom of the wicked.
The trouble is the sentence Zophar attaches next, about iniquity in the hand. He treats Job as a man clutching secret sins. But the commentators say Job's real problem lay somewhere else entirely:
"If iniquity is in your hand" — that was not what it was. It was not a question of iniquity, but of God dealing with Job's satisfaction with himself. Job was a truly godly, God-fearing man, but he had a high idea of his own character. That is what no soul should ever allow. It is completely wrong for a person to rest in himself, no matter how blameless he may be, and no matter how truly he waits on God day by day. There is no rest in any creature, least of all in ourselves.
So Zophar offered a real cure for an illness Job did not have. Another writer puts the failure in medical terms:
Zophar thought he was giving Job the remedy for his depressed condition. But his diagnosis was totally wrong, so his remedy was not what Job needed.
One commentator starts with Zophar's view of God. Then he asks what happens to a man who tries to prepare his heart and cannot:
These words have a strong flavour of law. They prove very clearly that Zophar had no right sense of God's character. He did not know God. God is not against us, but for us. He is not someone who demands, but someone who gives freely. Zophar says, "If you prepare your heart." But if not, what then? No doubt a man ought to prepare his heart, and if he were right he would. But then he is not right, and so when he sets about preparing his heart, he finds nothing there but evil. He finds himself completely powerless. What is he to do? Zophar cannot tell.
Another writer names this way of thinking, and turns it on the reader:
He can tell Job that if Job were not a sinner, then all would be most blessed with him. That is all that Zophar, or mere human light, can do. This is human religion. I must try not to be a sinner, and then I shall be happy, and God will not be against me. Still a hopeless effort — don't you find it so? You are a sinner. How then can you stand before a holy Judge? There is the difficulty.
One writer sums up where all three friends failed:
They did not know how to present God to Job; and, as a result, they did not know how to lead Job's conscience into the presence of God. Instead of leading him to self-judgment, they only fed a spirit of self-vindication. They did not bring God into the scene. They said some true things, but they did not have the truth.
- The counsel is good. Preparing the heart and reaching out to God is what Job needed. He had to wait until God answered him.
- The assumption is false. Zophar reads Job as an evildoer hiding stolen goods in his tents. That lack of discernment stirs Job to anger.
- The diagnosis misses. Job's problem was not sin in his hand but satisfaction with himself. Zophar aimed a real remedy at the wrong illness.
- The condition has no answer. "If you prepare your heart" — but what if a man tries and finds nothing there but evil, and himself powerless? Zophar cannot say. He never knew that God is not against us, but for us.
- True things are not the truth. The friends never brought God into the scene. So they fed Job's self-defence instead of leading his conscience into God's presence.
If thou put far away the iniquity which is in thy hand, and let not wrong dwell in thy tents;
Zophar tells Job what to do: clean your hands, clear your home, and your suffering will lift. The advice is sound. But he aims it at a man who has done nothing to deserve it. So what is good advice worth when it rests on a false charge?
Job's three visitors each argue from a different base. This verse is the clearest window into Zophar's. One writer sorts them by the ground each man stands on:
In short, Eliphaz went by personal experience. He said, "As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same" (Job 4:8). Bildad is the voice of tradition and the authority of the past. He said, "Inquire, please, of bygone ages, and consider what the fathers have searched out" (Job 8:8). Zophar displayed law and religiousness. He said, "If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away … then you will lift up your face without blemish" (Job 11:14-15).
The instruction is not wrong. What is wrong is the picture of Job it takes for granted — a man with sin gripped in his fist, refusing to let go.
Zophar's closing words of counsel (verses 13-20) also have truth in them. One translation renders verse 14, "If you put far away the iniquity which is in your hand." That is, he again assumes, as the others do, that Job is an evil man after all, holding tight to his sins. Here he was wrong. His counsel to put away evil and turn to God was good, and his description of the happy result was correct enough.
If iniquity in the hand was never Job's problem, what was God dealing with? One writer names it:
"If iniquity is in your hand" — that was not what it was. It was not a question of iniquity, but of God dealing with Job's satisfaction with himself. Job was a truly devout, God-fearing man; but he had a high idea of his own character. That is what no soul should ever allow. It is completely wrong for a person to rest in himself. That holds no matter how blameless he may be, and no matter how truly he waits on God day by day. There is no rest in any creature, least of all in ourselves.
Zophar widens the charge from Job's hand to his tents. Now it is not a general call to repent. It is a claim about how Job got his wealth, and that is what breaks his patience.
But Zophar spoils the dignity of what he has just said. He calls on Job to repent as an evildoer with a store of ill-gotten wealth in his tents. This complete lack of discrimination stirs Job to anger. It exposes how shallow the friends' theory is.
The verse hangs on an "if". Zophar builds his whole speech that way: do this, and then that will follow. The "if" shows what he thinks God is like. It also collapses as soon as a man tries to meet it.
These words have a strong flavour of legality. They prove very clearly that Zophar had no right sense of God's character. He did not know God. No one with a true knowledge of God could speak of Him as opening His lips against a poor afflicted sinner. Nor could such a person say He demands anything from a needy, helpless creature. God is not against us, but for us, blessed be His Name for ever! He is not a stern collector of debts, but a generous giver. Then Zophar says, "If you prepare your heart." But if not, what then? A man ought to prepare his heart, but he is not right. So when he sets about preparing his heart, he finds nothing there but evil. He finds himself completely powerless. What is he to do? Zophar cannot tell.
The same writer draws the line that separates accurate statements from help:
They only darkened counsel with words without knowledge. Not one of the three friends understood Job. What is more, they did not know God's character or His purpose in dealing with His dear servant. … Instead of leading him to self-judgment, they only fed a spirit of self-defence. They did not bring God into the scene. They said some true things; but they did not have the truth.
- True things. Zophar's call to put evil away and turn to God is good advice. The fault is not in the words but in who he aims them at.
- True things, wrong man. He assumes Job is holding tight to his sins and storing wealth he gained wrongly. The assumption is false, and it pushes Job into self-defence instead of self-judgment.
- True things, wrong God. Zophar builds everything on "if you do this, then". That presents God as a stern collector of debts, not a generous giver. It leaves a helpless man with no answer.
- True things, wrong problem. God was not dealing with iniquity in Job's hand. He was dealing with Job's satisfaction with himself. No one, however blameless, may rest in himself.
- True things are not the truth. Statements can be accurate and still darken counsel. The test is whether they bring God into the scene.
Surely then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot, and thou shalt be stedfast and shalt not fear
Zophar ends his speech with a promise: get rid of the sin, and the shame and the fear go with it. Everything rests on that "if" — has Zophar judged Job rightly, and can any sufferer meet such a condition?
Each of Job's three friends argues from a different base. This verse is the mark of the third:
Eliphaz went on personal experience. He said, "As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same" (Job 4:8). Bildad is the voice of tradition and the authority of the past. He said, "Inquire, please, of bygone ages, and consider what the fathers have searched out" (Job 8:8). Zophar showed law and religiousness. He said, "If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away … then you will lift up your face without blemish" (Job 11:14-15).
The promise hangs on a sin hidden in Job's hand. That was not Job's problem:
"If iniquity is in your hand" — that was not what it was. It was not a question of iniquity, but of God dealing with Job's satisfaction with himself. Job was a truly devout, God-fearing man; but he had a high idea of his own character. That is what no soul should ever allow. It is completely wrong for a person to rest in himself, no matter how blameless he may be, no matter how truly he may wait on God day by day. There is no rest in any creature, least of all in ourselves. It was One who was coming. And now there is One who has come. Zophar goes on to the end of the chapter in very proper language. But his thought was all wrong, because he assumed there was some great wickedness unseen and unknown. Why then did he assume it, if it was not seen and known?
The advice itself is not worthless. The fault lies in the man Zophar aimed it at:
Zophar's closing words of counsel (verses 13-20) also have truth in them. In verse 14 he again assumes, like the others, that Job is after all an evil man, holding tight to his sins. Here he was wrong, though his counsel to put away evil and turn to God was good, and his description of the happy result of doing so was correct enough.
A promise built on conditions shows what its speaker thinks God is like:
These words have a strong flavour of legality. They prove very clearly that Zophar had no right sense of the divine character. He did not know God. No one who truly knows God could speak of Him as opening His lips against a poor afflicted sinner. No one who knows Him could think of Him as demanding anything from a needy, helpless creature. God is not against us, but for us, blessed for ever be His Name! He is not a stern collector of debts, but a generous giver.
A face without blemish is what a guilty person needs and cannot produce. Zophar stops short at that point:
But he is not able to show Job how he can be a sinner and yet be justified. He can say that if Job were not a sinner, then all would be most blessed with him; and that is all that Zophar, or mere human light, can do. This is human religion. I must try not to be a sinner, and then I shall be happy, and God will not be against me. Still a hopeless effort — you find it so, don't you? You are a sinner. How then can you stand before a holy Judge? There is the difficulty.
Job did receive the honour Zophar held out, but by God's road, not Zophar's:
He paints everything in the rosiest colours, as if he knew what God would do for Job. The time did come when Job got richer blessings than those Zophar outlined. And Zophar's word that many would seek Job's favour came true when Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar had to humble themselves before this servant of God.
- Standpoint — Zophar speaks for law and religion. Clean hands first, then a face lifted without blemish.
- Misread — The "if" assumed hidden sin in Job's hand. The real issue was Job's satisfaction with himself, and no one can rest in himself.
- Sound advice, wrong address — Put away evil, turn to God, and the happy outcome follows. The error was aiming that word at a man who was not holding on to sin.
- Missing God — A God who demands and speaks against the sufferer is not the God who is for us. He is a generous giver, not a stern collector.
- Missing gospel — Zophar can say a righteous man would be blessed. He cannot say how a sinner is justified. In the end God gave Job richer blessing than Zophar promised, and his accusers had to bow.
For thou shalt forget misery; as waters that are passed away shalt thou remember it;
These words are a promise, not a fact: Zophar, the third of Job's friends, tells Job what life could look like if he admits hidden sin and turns from it. But is the promise true, and was Zophar the man to make it?
The bright words come at the end of a call to repent, and the call rests on guilt that Zophar never names.
He too believes that Job is a wicked man who has hidden iniquity, and that this must explain his affliction. So he turns preacher and calls on him to repent. Set your heart right, he tells Job; stretch out your hands towards Him. Put iniquity away, do not let iniquity stay in your tents! He talks as if he is very sure, more so than Eliphaz and Bildad, that Job is guilty of much sin. Then he draws a charming picture of the blessed results if Job confesses and repents. He would forget his misery "as waters that have passed away."
The picture is of floodwater that has already run past. One commentator ties the beauty of that picture to the emptiness of the charge behind it.
The ending is like singing songs to someone with a heavy heart. Zophar paints a beautiful outcome — one as imaginary as the sins he charged Job with. Job would then forget his present troubles, which would slip past him like flowing water. His darkness would turn to light. He would have safety and prosperity, and the men who had slandered him would bow before him.
Zophar offers a cure. The trouble is what he thinks he is curing.
He does not say what Job has been guilty of, but is sure he must be guilty of something… Zophar thought he was giving Job the remedy for his depressed condition, but his diagnosis was totally wrong and his remedy was therefore not what Job needed.
Zophar has no doubt what God's verdict on Job will be. That kind of certainty turns back on the person who holds it.
Zophar had not a doubt what the sentence would be. He had not learned that we should not judge, or we will be judged, and that our judgments really judge us. A sound and gracious judgment proves that we dwell in God, because we dwell in love and walk in the light. A harsh judgment shows, just as clearly, how far we are ruled by thoughts and feelings that come from nothing higher than self.
What Zophar described did eventually happen, but not because his theory was right.
He paints everything in the rosiest colours, as if he knew what God would do for Job. The time did come when Job got richer blessings than the ones Zophar described. And what Zophar said — "many shall make suit to you" in the older wording, that is, many would beg for Job's favour — did come true when Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar had to humble themselves before this Servant of God.
The restoration Job received came in an order Zophar's formula could not produce.
God blessed Job richly. He restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. He did this when Job had prayed for his friends — and not till then… Yet God did not let that tide of blessing roll in on Job again until he had been deeply changed in spirit and character. At last Job was brought near to God. He then acted as a priest in a way that reflected the goodness and kindness of God, and everything outward changed.
- Diagnosis. Zophar assumes a hidden sin he cannot name, so his cure targets an illness Job does not have.
- Prescription. Put sin away, he says, and the misery drains off like floodwater that has passed. It is a lovely promise built on a false charge.
- Judgment. He is sure of God's verdict on another man. A harsh judgment measures the one who makes it.
- Reversal. His words about many seeking Job's favour did come true — when the three friends had to humble themselves before Job.
- Order. The blessing returned only after God had changed Job and Job had prayed for his friends. It was never payment for a formula.
And life shall arise brighter than noonday; though thou be enshrouded in darkness, thou shalt be as the morning,
Zophar ends his first speech with a picture of the future. Put away your sin, he tells Job, and your darkest days will shine like midday. That raises two questions. Is the promise true? And is Zophar offering it to the right man, for the right reason?
This verse sits in the closing part of Zophar's speech, where he paints the reward. One writer thinks little of that picture:
The conclusion is like singing songs to someone with a heavy heart. Zophar paints a beautiful outcome — as imaginary as the sins he charged Job with. He would then forget his present troubles, which would slip by him like passing waters. His darkness would be turned to light. He would have security and prosperity, and those who had slandered him would bow before him.
The picture is of a life rising, not just a life improving. An older translation brings that out more strongly. Where the ESV has the darkness becoming like the morning, it reads:
And the future shall rise brighter than noonday; you shall soar — you shall be as the morning.
Zophar never names a single sin. He assumes one is there, then prescribes a cure. This verse is the result he promises:
Zophar thought he was giving Job the remedy for his depressed condition. But his diagnosis was completely wrong, so his remedy was not what Job needed.
Zophar's counsel has real truth in it. The trouble is the charge hidden underneath it:
Zophar's final words of counsel (verses 13-20) also have truth in them. Verse 14 in the New Translation begins, "If you put far away the iniquity which is in your hand." That is, he again assumes, like the others, that Job is after all an evil man, holding tight to his sins. Here he was wrong. His counsel to put away evil and turn to God was still good, and his description of the happy result of doing so was correct enough.
Reduce this verse to a formula and you get a bargain: behave, and life turns bright. One writer names that bargain for what it is, and shows where it collapses:
He can tell that if Job were not a sinner, then things would be most blessed with him; and that is all that Zophar, or mere human light, can do. This is human religion. I must try not to be a sinner, and then I shall be happy, and God will not be against me. It is still a useless effort, isn't it? You are a sinner. How then can you stand before a holy Judge? There is the difficulty.
Zophar aimed his counsel at hidden sin. One writer says Job's real trouble lay somewhere else:
"If iniquity be in your hand" — that was not what it was. It was not a question of iniquity, but of God dealing with Job's satisfaction with himself. Job was a truly godly, God-fearing man; but he had a high idea of his own character. That is what no soul should ever allow.
The book does end with Job's darkness turning to light. But the order of events undoes Zophar's formula:
God blessed Job abundantly, turning his captivity and giving him twice as much as he had before. He did this when Job had prayed for his friends — and not till then… Yet God held back that tide of blessing. It came only after Job had been changed deep down, in spirit and character.
- Position. This verse is the payoff of Zophar's speech. It is the reward he promises if Job repents of sins Zophar cannot name.
- Picture. This is not mild relief. It is sunrise: trouble remembered like water already gone, life rising brighter than noonday.
- Prescription. The remedy sounds right, and the outcome is real. But the diagnosis behind it is wrong, so the counsel misses the man.
- Problem. Turn the verse into a rule and you get human religion: stop sinning and be happy. It leaves the real question untouched. How can a sinner stand before a holy Judge?
- Proof. Job's morning did come. But it came only after a deep change in him, and after he had prayed for the friends who accused him — God's route, not Zophar's.
And thou shalt have confidence, because there shall be hope; and having searched about [thee], thou shalt take rest in safety.
Zophar ends his speech by holding out a bright picture to Job: put your sin away, and life will come back — confidence, safety, quiet sleep. But was that promise true? And did it fit Job's case at all?
The security of verse 18 is not a free gift. It comes at the end of a list of conditions, and one writer tests those conditions against Job's real case.
Zophar thinks he has proved Job's guilt. He also thinks he has shown Job something of the greatness of God. So he urges Job to change his ways. He does not say what Job is guilty of, but he is sure Job must be guilty of something. "If you prepare your heart … if iniquity is in your hand, put it far away … Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish; you will be secure and will not fear" … Zophar thought he was giving Job the remedy for his depressed state. But his diagnosis was completely wrong, so his remedy was not what Job needed.
Zophar also reasons backwards. Job once had this very life, and he has it no longer. Zophar draws his conclusion from that change.
He would be secure and take rest in safety, he would lie down without fear, and many would seek his favour (vv.18-19). Before Job's deep trial, many had indeed sought Job's favour. Zophar thought that since this was no longer true, the only reason could be Job's falling into sin.
The picture is warm and generous. It is useless because it fits a man who does not exist — the guilty Job of Zophar's imagination.
The conclusion is like singing songs to someone with a heavy heart. Zophar paints a beautiful outcome — as imaginary as the sins he charged Job with.
The flaw is not in the words about hope and safety. It lies in the thinking behind them: blessing as payment owed for good behaviour.
Zophar replies, trying to convict him. He presses on Job that God "exacts of you less than your guilt deserves." If there were no iniquity, there would be present mercies. "You will lift up your face without blemish … and take your rest in security." Zophar makes man's acts the measure of God's dealings. He does not see that man is evil in himself, and therefore far from God, with no claim to any blessing.
Zophar's advice is still the most common religious advice in the world. It fails at the one point that matters.
He can say that if Job were not a sinner, then it would be most blessed for him. That is all that Zophar, or mere human light, can do. This is human religion. I must try not to be a sinner, and then I shall be happy, and God will not be against me. It is still a wasted effort. You find that, don't you? You are a sinner. How then can you stand before a holy Judge? There is the difficulty.
Zophar points Job to the wrong place. He tells Job to find steadiness in a clean record, but God was working on something else.
"If iniquity is in your hand" — that was not the issue. It was not a question of iniquity at all. God was dealing with Job's satisfaction with himself. Job was a truly devout, God-fearing man; but he had a high idea of his own character. That is what no soul ought ever to allow. It is altogether wrong for a person to rest in himself, no matter how spotless he may be, no matter how he may truly wait upon God day by day. There is no rest in any creature, least of all in ourselves.
Job could not reach the confidence his friends held out to him. One writer sets their offer beside the hope we have now.
His friends might hold out fresh, bright hopes if he would repent, turning night into day … But as for his own hope, the grave was his house, and his bed was spread in darkness … What a blessed contrast to such gloomy words from a believer is the strong encouragement we have! We have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us. It is an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and it enters the inner place behind the curtain.
- The offer. Zophar promises hope, safety and quiet sleep. But it all waits at the end of a list of conditions, and he never names one sin Job committed.
- The false diagnosis. Zophar read Job's lost prosperity backwards as proof of hidden guilt. The diagnosis was wrong, so the remedy was not what Job needed.
- The false measure. Zophar makes man's acts the measure of God's dealings. He never sees that man in himself has no claim to any blessing.
- The false cure. "Try not to be a sinner, and then God will not be against me" is human religion. It collapses because you are a sinner.
- The real rest. No creature can give rest, least of all ourselves. The hope that holds is already set before us — an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast.
Yea, thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; and many shall seek thy favour.
Zophar has told Job to put away his sin, and here he paints the reward: quiet sleep and neighbours seeking his favour. The picture is lovely, but Zophar holds it out to a man whose suffering had nothing to do with hidden sin, so the promise rests on a charge that was never true.
This verse belongs to the closing part of Zophar's speech, where he describes the happy life he says repentance would bring. Set beside Job's real condition, that picture wounds more than it comforts:
The conclusion is like singing songs to someone who is heavy of heart. Zophar paints a beautiful outcome — as imaginary as the sins he charged Job with. Job would then forget his present troubles, which would slip past him like water flowing away. His darkness would turn to light. He would have security and prosperity, and those who had slandered him before would bow to him. Little did Zophar and his friend dream that they would have to come to this. The closing verse is a warning which Zophar no doubt applies to Job.
The strange thing about Zophar's closing lines is that nothing in them is false in itself. Turning to God and putting away evil really does lead to rest. The error lies in the assumption buried in verse 14 — that Job was gripping his sin and refusing to let go:
Zophar's final words of counsel (verses 13-20) also have truth in them. Verse 14 in the New Translation begins, "If you put far away the iniquity which is in your hand." So he again assumes, like the others, that Job is after all an evil man, holding tight to his sins. Here he was wrong. Yet his counsel to put away evil and turn to God was good, and his description of the happy result was correct enough.
So a right remedy can still be useless. Another writer notes that Zophar never names a single sin. Yet he builds his whole cure on the certainty that one exists:
He does not say what Job has been guilty of, but is sure he must be guilty of something… Zophar thought he was giving Job the remedy for his depressed condition, but his diagnosis was completely wrong. So his remedy was not what Job needed.
Why did Zophar reach for this particular image of many seeking Job's favour? Because it described the man Job used to be. Zophar looked at the crowds that once courted Job, saw them gone, and drew a straight line from the loss to sin:
He would be secure and take rest in safety, he would lie down without fear, and many would court his favour (vv.18-19). Before Job's deep trial, many indeed had sought Job's favour. Since this was not true now, Zophar thought the only reason could be Job's falling into sin.
The promise, in other words, is an accusation turned inside out.
There is an irony in this verse that only the end of the book uncovers. The very thing Zophar predicted did happen — and he was among the ones it happened to:
He paints everything in the rosiest colours, as if he knew what God would do for Job. The time did come when Job received richer blessings than those Zophar outlined. And what Zophar said — that many would court Job's favour, or entreat him — did come true. Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar had to humble themselves before this servant of God.
Behind Zophar's sunny forecast lies a settled verdict about another man's heart. One commentator shows what such judging costs the judge, and what it reveals about him:
He had not learned that we should not judge, or we will be judged. Our judgments really judge ourselves. If they are solid and gracious, they prove that we dwell in God, as dwelling in love and walking according to light. If they are harsh, they show in the same measure how far thoughts and feelings that rise no higher than self are ruling us.
- Position. The verse sits at the close of Zophar's speech — the reward he says waits for Job if he repents.
- Diagnosis. The counsel to turn to God and put away evil was sound. But the charge of hidden sin was false, so the remedy missed the man.
- Reasoning. Once many sought Job's favour; now none did. Zophar read that loss backwards and called it proof of sin.
- Reversal. The promise came true — but it was the three friends who had to humble themselves before Job.
- Warning. A hard verdict on another's heart judges the one who makes it. It shows whether love or self is at work in him.
But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and [all] refuge shall vanish from them, and their hope [shall be] the breathing out of life.
Zophar ends his first speech with a threat dressed as a warning. The wicked man's eyes fail. Every escape route closes. His hope shrinks to one last breath. The words are true of the wicked as a class. But Zophar aims them at Job, whose case he never understood — and true words land badly in the wrong place.
The tone of this closing line matches the speaker.
Zophar was likely the youngest of the three men, and what he lacks in maturity he makes up for in bitter accusation against Job. He did not have Eliphaz's restraint or Bildad's skill in argument, and he does not hold back his bad temper. He did not appeal to what he had seen, as Eliphaz did, or to the traditions Bildad had learned. He appealed to his own intuition.
That confidence has a cause.
The fact is that a man who bases his argument on his own intuition is always very dogmatic and sure of himself. He has to be. It makes up for the lack of outside evidence that would back up his claims.
The three clauses of the verse describe a man whose sight, shelter and expectation all give out together. One rendering keeps the force of the final image — hope that amounts to nothing more than exhaling:
But the eyes of the wicked waste away, and refuge vanishes from them, and their hope is a breathing out of the soul.
Placed at the end of a list of promised blessings, the line works as an ultimatum:
Before Job's deep trial, many had indeed sought Job's favour. Since this was no longer true, Zophar thought the only reason could be that Job had fallen into sin. He implies this when he adds, "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." He is warning Job that if he does not take Zophar's advice he will not escape, but end in dreadful judgment.
Turn from evil and seek God, and things will go well — that much of Zophar's speech stands. The flaw sits underneath it, in an assumption he never proved.
Zophar's final words of counsel also have truth in them. Verse 14 begins, "If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away." That is, like the others, he again assumes that Job is after all an evil man, holding tight to his sins. Here he was wrong, though his counsel to put away evil and turn to God was good, and his description of the happy result of so doing was correct enough.
The problem with all three men ran deeper than tone.
They had no true grasp of God's character, so they could not understand His dealings with a soul. They had no proper sense of sin. So they did not know that if God is going to bless man, it must be wholly on the ground of grace. They did not know how to meet Job's case. They had said many true things, yet not one single right thing that fitted Job, because they did not understand him.
The problem was not that they lacked light; it was that they never noticed they lacked it.
Ignorance in a believer is not surprising. But it is sad when someone forgets the need of light from above and dares to judge anything before the time, before the Lord comes. He will bring the hidden things of darkness to light and make clear the purposes of hearts, and then each will have his praise from God.
When the book closes, the man Zophar threatened is the one whose prayer his accusers need.
The Lord restored Job's fortunes when he prayed for his friends, and gave him twice as much as he had before. The friends were only silenced. Job opens his mouth in full confession. So he wins forgiveness not only for himself but for them too, by praying for them.
As a general truth about the wicked, the words stand. Scripture sets a different expectation beside them.
For a wicked man death has a final word: he perishes. But after death, what? Hebrews 9:27 gives the solemn answer: after death comes judgment. So for the unjust, hope perishes too. Believers have a hope that is "a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul" (Heb. 6:19).
- Hope threatened. Zophar ends his speech by telling Job that a man who will not repent has nothing left to expect but his dying breath.
- Hope misjudged. The threat rests on intuition, not evidence — a self-confident man supplying certainty where proof is missing.
- Hope misapplied. The counsel to put away evil was sound; the assumption that Job was clinging to evil was false. The friends said many true things, but none of them fitted Job.
- Hope reversed. The friends ended in silence. Job confessed, prayed for them, and won forgiveness for them as well as himself.
- Hope secured. The wicked man's expectation does perish; the believer's hope is an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast.