that the exulting of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless but for a moment?
Zophar answers Job a second time, opening with a proverb he calls as old as mankind: the wicked man's celebration never lasts. The saying is true enough — but does Zophar have any right to aim it at the suffering man in front of him? (Older translations read "the triumphing of the wicked" and "the joy of the hypocrite," where the ESV has "exulting" and "godless.")
Where Zophar's answer came from
Zophar tells us what drives him: his thoughts and his hurry. One commentator takes him at his word.
William KellyHe gives us his "thoughts." It was in no way that the fear of God moved his lips, or any concern for His grace and truth. We have his own thoughts. "Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste" — which a believer does not.
Speed like that is not strength. One writer sees it as a symptom.
Samuel RidoutHe is not the first man to mistake passion for argument. His haste to pour out his feelings shows poverty of thought, not the weight of truth… As a matter of fact, wounded pride may be the real reason for his eagerness to speak.
A proverb aimed at Job
Zophar never names Job. But he has Job in mind. He reads Job's ruined prosperity backwards, as evidence.
Leslie M. GrantOf course Job knew this. But Zophar was thinking of Job's earlier history as the triumphing of the wicked, now cut short by his trouble. His joy being cut short was proof to Zophar that Job was a hypocrite.
A true statement, a false application
This is the heart of the problem with the whole speech.
F. B. HoleHere, as before, many true things are said. It is a fact that "the triumphing of the wicked is short," and "the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment." What was not true was the use he made of that fact. He offered it as the explanation of all Job's sorrows. The "pleasures of sin" are only "for a season," as we read in Hebrews 11. But saints too may be "for a season" in heaviness through many trials, as we read in 1 Peter 1. The thought of a godly man under severe trial and sorrow for a season never seems to have entered the minds of the three friends. They assumed that Job was getting what all along he had deserved.
(The ESV reads "the fleeting pleasures of sin" and "for a little while… you have been grieved by various trials.")
Zophar's whole world has only one category for suffering. Kelly presses the missing one:
William KellyIs that all that Zophar had ever learnt? Did he know of no dealings of God for the trial and good of His children here below? Had he no thought of God disciplining us?
The length of the wicked man's triumph
One commentator checks the saying against the earliest cases in Scripture.
Samuel RidoutThere is both truth and error in this statement. Cain was not cut off at once after he murdered his brother. On the contrary, God spared his life, and he settled down in the world with a city and many descendants. In the same way, the men before the flood lived long, enjoying their pleasures, possessions and inventions. It is so to this day. How often does the wicked seem to prosper, even to old age… God varies His dealings with men, so that in every possible way they may be left without excuse. Swift judgment, long patience, chastening and prosperity have all been tried, to lead men to repentance.
Zophar's error is not the proverb but the timetable he attaches to it.
Leslie M. GrantHowever, was the triumphing of the wicked always as short as Zophar implied? No. Asaph speaks of this in Psalm 73 when he "saw the prosperity of the wicked" (v.3). They might go through life with no real trouble. But their triumph is cut short at least when they die. Asaph learned this in the sanctuary: "I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end" (Ps. 73:17).
The words used rightly
Taken out of Zophar's mouth, the sentence has a proper home. One writer applies it to God's first promise of a Deliverer.
James BoydThis is the first hint of deliverance for ruined man, the first unfolding of God's good news. A Deliverer is promised. He is to be the seed of the woman. The humiliation of the enemy is to be absolute. The victory of God is to be complete. Truly the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment.
Summary
- Source. Zophar names his own motive: his thoughts and his haste. Commentators take him at his word — this is not the fear of God speaking.
- Aim. The proverb is not teaching but a charge. Zophar treats Job's ruined prosperity as proof that his earlier joy was a hypocrite's joy.
- Flaw. The statement is true, the application false. The friends had no category for a godly man suffering for a season.
- Timetable. Cain lived on, and the wicked often prosper into old age. Their triumph is cut short at death, as Asaph saw in the sanctuary.
- Fulfilment. The words fit best where Zophar never looked. God promised a Deliverer, the seed of the woman. The enemy's triumph is the short one.