“Should a multitude of words go unanswered, and a man full of talk be judged right?
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?
The Speaker
Commentators see a clear difference between the three friends, and Zophar's temper shows in his first line.
Samuel RidoutIt 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.
The Words in the Verse
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:
William KellyAnd 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.
An Unfair Charge
Job's speeches had been the cries of a man in agony. To file them under "talk" was to misread them completely.
Samuel RidoutIt 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:
William Kelly"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.
Why the Attack Came
The charge "you talk too much" often comes from someone who has run out of reply.
Leslie M. GrantHe 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.
William KellySo 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.
The Truth Inside a False Accusation
Zophar aimed the question at the wrong man, but the question itself is worth keeping.
H. P. BarkerGod 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.
Summary
- 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.