Should your babble silence men, and when you mock, shall no one shame you?
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?
The speaker
Zophar speaks last of the three friends. One writer weighs him against the two who spoke before him.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe 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.
The words he chose
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.
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? 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.
Grief misread as mockery
Zophar attacks how much Job says. One writer explains why: he cannot answer what Job says.
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 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.
The unfairness of the labels
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.
Samuel RidoutIt 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.
The tone of the whole speech
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.
F. B. HoleIn 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.
The mirror in the accusation
Zophar wants Job shamed. One writer turns the verse around: our judgments say more about us than about the person we judge.
William KellyZophar 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.
Summary
- 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.