Job 12:1–14:22 Job's Rebuke of His Three Friends

 ¹Then Job answered and said:

²“No doubt you are the people,

And wisdom will die with you!

³But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you.

Indeed, who does not know such things as these?

⁴“I am one mocked by his friends,

Who called on God, and He answered him,

The just and blameless who is ridiculed.

⁵A lamp is despised in the thought of one who is at ease;

It is made ready for those whose feet slip.

⁶The tents of robbers prosper,

And those who provoke God are secure—

In what God provides by His hand.

⁷“But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you;

And the birds of the air, and they will tell you;

⁸Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you;

And the fish of the sea will explain to you.

⁹Who among all these does not know

That the hand of the Lord has done this,

¹⁰In whose hand is the life of every living thing,

And the breath of all mankind?

¹¹Does not the ear test words

And the mouth taste its food?

¹²Wisdom is with aged men,

And with length of days, understanding.

¹³“With Him are wisdom and strength,

He has counsel and understanding.

¹⁴If He breaks a thing down, it cannot be rebuilt;

If He imprisons a man, there can be no release.

¹⁵If He withholds the waters, they dry up;

If He sends them out, they overwhelm the earth.

¹⁶With Him are strength and prudence.

The deceived and the deceiver are His.

¹⁷He leads counselors away plundered,

And makes fools of the judges.

¹⁸He loosens the bonds of kings,

And binds their waist with a belt.

¹⁹He leads princes away plundered,

And overthrows the mighty.

²⁰He deprives the trusted ones of speech,

And takes away the discernment of the elders.

²¹He pours contempt on princes,

And disarms the mighty.

²²He uncovers deep things out of darkness,

And brings the shadow of death to light.

²³He makes nations great, and destroys them;

He enlarges nations, and guides them.

²⁴He takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth,

And makes them wander in a pathless wilderness.

²⁵They grope in the dark without light,

And He makes them stagger like a drunken man.

¹“Behold, my eye has seen all this,

My ear has heard and understood it.

²What you know, I also know;

I am not inferior to you.

³But I would speak to the Almighty,

And I desire to reason with God.

⁴But you forgers of lies,

You are all worthless physicians.

⁵Oh, that you would be silent,

And it would be your wisdom!

⁶Now hear my reasoning,

And heed the pleadings of my lips.

⁷Will you speak wickedly for God,

And talk deceitfully for Him?

⁸Will you show partiality for Him?

Will you contend for God?

⁹Will it be well when He searches you out?

Or can you mock Him as one mocks a man?

¹⁰He will surely rebuke you

If you secretly show partiality.

¹¹Will not His excellence make you afraid,

And the dread of Him fall upon you?

¹²Your platitudes are proverbs of ashes,

Your defenses are defenses of clay.

¹³“Hold your peace with me, and let me speak,

Then let come on me what may!

¹⁴Why do I take my flesh in my teeth,

And put my life in my hands?

¹⁵Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so,

I will defend my own ways before Him.

¹⁶He also shall be my salvation,

For a hypocrite could not come before Him.

¹⁷Listen carefully to my speech,

And to my declaration with your ears.

¹⁸See now, I have prepared my case,

I know that I shall be vindicated.

¹⁹Who is he who will contend with me?

If now I hold my tongue, I perish.

²⁰“Only two things do not do to me,

Then I will not hide myself from You:

²¹Withdraw Your hand far from me,

And let not the dread of You make me afraid.

²²Then call, and I will answer;

Or let me speak, then You respond to me.

²³How many are my iniquities and sins?

Make me know my transgression and my sin.

²⁴Why do You hide Your face,

And regard me as Your enemy?

²⁵Will You frighten a leaf driven to and fro?

And will You pursue dry stubble?

²⁶For You write bitter things against me,

And make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.

²⁷You put my feet in the stocks,

And watch closely all my paths.

You set a limit for the soles of my feet.

²⁸“Man decays like a rotten thing,

Like a garment that is moth-eaten.

¹“Man who is born of woman

Is of few days and full of trouble.

²He comes forth like a flower and fades away;

He flees like a shadow and does not continue.

³And do You open Your eyes on such a one,

And bring me to judgment with Yourself?

⁴Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?

No one!

⁵Since his days are determined,

The number of his months is with You;

You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.

⁶Look away from him that he may rest,

Till like a hired man he finishes his day.

⁷“For there is hope for a tree,

If it is cut down, that it will sprout again,

And that its tender shoots will not cease.

⁸Though its root may grow old in the earth,

And its stump may die in the ground,

⁹Yet at the scent of water it will bud

And bring forth branches like a plant.

¹⁰But man dies and is laid away;

Indeed he breathes his last

And where is he?

¹¹As water disappears from the sea,

And a river becomes parched and dries up,

¹²So man lies down and does not rise.

Till the heavens are no more,

They will not awake

Nor be roused from their sleep.

¹³“Oh, that You would hide me in the grave,

That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past,

That You would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

¹⁴If a man dies, shall he live again?

All the days of my hard service I will wait,

Till my change comes.

¹⁵You shall call, and I will answer You;

You shall desire the work of Your hands.

¹⁶For now You number my steps,

But do not watch over my sin.

¹⁷My transgression is sealed up in a bag,

And You cover my iniquity.

¹⁸“But as a mountain falls and crumbles away,

And as a rock is moved from its place;

¹⁹As water wears away stones,

And as torrents wash away the soil of the earth;

So You destroy the hope of man.

²⁰You prevail forever against him, and he passes on;

You change his countenance and send him away.

²¹His sons come to honor, and he does not know it;

They are brought low, and he does not perceive it.

²²But his flesh will be in pain over it,

And his soul will mourn over it.”

Preamble: Job now rebukes his three friends, and though it begins with sarcasm (12:1-2), it quickly moves to great understanding. For with Job there is no confusing and strange analogies, for he does not use his friends empty and misapplied platitudes, rather there is clarity, and yet in his speeches Job continues trying to make a case that he is being wronged by God; and that is Job’s essential and ongoing error throughout all his discourses, an error which will lead him to say some very unjustifiable things about God, things that need to be corrected, and will be before it is all over.

Commentary

12:1-3 ¹Then Job answered and said:

²“No doubt you are the people,

And wisdom will die with you!

³But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you.

Indeed, who does not know such things as these?

Job having been mocked and belittled by his friends, clearly frustrated and angered by their insults and accusations now sarcastically replies to them all, saying, “No doubt you are the people and wisdom will die with you!” ^{vs. 2} For Job is not inferior to them; even though they now feel that way about him because of all of the troubles that has befallen him. And yet none of them has been able to explain or give any good reason as to why these things have befallen him, outside of charging him with things he has not done or did not do. For basically saying that sinners are punished for their deeds adds nothing to his understand, nor yours, nor mine. It just demonstrates a real arrogance on their part. 

12:4-6 ⁴“I am one mocked by his friends,

Who called on God, and He answered him,

The just and blameless who is ridiculed.

⁵A lamp is despised in the thought of one who is at ease;

It is made ready for those whose feet slip.

⁶The tents of robbers prosper,

And those who provoke God are secure—

In what God provides by His hand.

Job now decries their mocking of his person, even though he was once a revered Godly man in his community who had his prayers answered. But now through no fault of his own his standing as a just and blameless man has been reduced to being the object of ridicule and scorn by them all (vs. 4). Regarding this think of the Lord Jesus Christ while dying on the Cross and what people said to Him (Matt. 27:39-44). Job then offers up a metaphor to describe their feelings towards him saying: “A lamp is despised in the thought of one who is at ease; It is made ready for those whose feet slip.” Thus the lamp here is not to be taken literally as a light, but rather as a “burning,” i.e. an affliction, which in the arrogant eyes of those who are at ease is despised, because in their eyes it only comes to those whose feet slip, that is on those who fall into sin or error, and thus they hold them now in contempt. However Job quickly follows that up with some words that are only coming from a broken heart, and not sound wisdom when he bitterly says, 

“The tents of robbers prosper,

And those who provoke God are secure—

In what God provides by His hand.”

Obviously, Job is speaking out of frustration as he watches all those around him mock him in his plight. Nonetheless his words here must be and will be called into account.

12:7-10 ⁷“But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you;

And the birds of the air, and they will tell you;

⁸Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you;

And the fish of the sea will explain to you.

⁹Who among all these does not know

That the hand of the Lord has done this,

¹⁰In whose hand is the life of every living thing,

And the breath of all mankind?

Job continues mocking his friends by telling them to look to creation itself to instruct them, For what they declared and brought forth as insight and understanding with their metaphors and such from nature is not really wisdom at all. For all of creation knows that God is Sovereign, and that He does whatever He wishes in heaven and on earth. How have they then explained the reasons for Job’s troubles?

12:11 “Does not the ear test words

And the mouth taste its food?”

And so, Job rightly discerns that their doctrine is flawed, because it does not past either the hearing test, nor the taste test, for sound doctrine is always verifiable in one’s own life.

12:12 “Wisdom is with aged men,

And with length of days, understanding.”

Job now rebukes the young man Zophar, telling him that wisdom is with aged men and that length of day’s comes by understanding, thus refuting Zophar’s previous insult of him (see 11:12). Job then immediately breaks of into a long discourse about God, (12:13-25), that as the Most Aged of All, His Wisdom is Supreme.

12:13 “With Him are wisdom and strength,

He has counsel and understanding.”

God alone is Wise, and God alone is Strong, He alone gives Perfect Counsel and has Perfect Understanding. Men though often forget this when they compare one to another. That we are flawed only He is not. 

12:14-25 ¹⁴If He breaks a thing down, it cannot be rebuilt;

If He imprisons a man, there can be no release.

¹⁵If He withholds the waters, they dry up;

If He sends them out, they overwhelm the earth.

¹⁶With Him are strength and prudence.

The deceived and the deceiver are His.

¹⁷He leads counselors away plundered,

And makes fools of the judges.

¹⁸He loosens the bonds of kings,

And binds their waist with a belt.

¹⁹He leads princes away plundered,

And overthrows the mighty.

²⁰He deprives the trusted ones of speech,

And takes away the discernment of the elders.

²¹He pours contempt on princes,

And disarms the mighty.

²²He uncovers deep things out of darkness,

And brings the shadow of death to light.

²³He makes nations great, and destroys them;

He enlarges nations, and guides them.

²⁴He takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth,

And makes them wander in a pathless wilderness.

²⁵They grope in the dark without light,

And He makes them stagger like a drunken man.

God’s Sovereign work once again comes to the forefront, but this time very magnificently by Job who rightly sees God’s Sovereign Strength and Power not only in creation, but also in the affairs of man on earth, while emphasizing God doing Justice as he gives and takes away discernment and understanding, or as He raises up and brings down as He sees fit.. And so, Job begins by saying: “If God breaks something down it cannot be rebuilt, If He imprisons a man there can be no release” (14), to which I will add unless He Himself does so. Same with the necessary waters on earth, for is of the Lord God to bring them forth or withhold the waters on the earth as He Wills (vs. 15), for both the weather and the climate are in His Hands. Job goes on saying: With “God is Strength and Prudence; the deceived and the deceiver are His” (vs. 16); man, then does not prevail by his schemes, nor does one’s strength and prudence place one beyond His Reach and Judgment; for all Strength and Prudence belong to God. Now it is one thing to have all Strength and Power, it is quite another to know how and when to use it. And so it is God alone who leads counselors away plundered, who makes fools of the judges on earth (vs. 17), for He loosens the bonds of kings (i.e. those they have wrongly imprisoned), and binds their waists with a belt as a reprisal against them (vs. 18). God Himself then leads princes away plundered and He overthrows the mighty (vs. 19); depriving the trusted ones of speech and He takes away the discernment of the elders (vs. 20). The whole point being that Job’s friends should not think themselves above from being removed by God. “For He pours contempt on princes and disarms the mighty” (vs. 21); “He uncovers deep things out of darkness, And brings the shadow of death to light.” (vs. 22). Thus, all of their “secret” ways He already knows, therefore it is He who rebukes or established them. For “He makes nations great, and destroys them; He enlarges nations, and guides them.” (vs. 23). All nations then are either raised up and brought down by God alone. For even wicked nations are raised up for a season to serve a purpose before their own demise and ruin is accomplished. For “He takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth, And makes them wander in a pathless wilderness. ²⁵They grope in the dark without light, And He makes them stagger like a drunken man. (vs. 24-25). These last two verses make me think of Adolf Hitler who at the peak of his success and power in Europe turned away from his battling the British to make war with his Russian allies, which ultimately helped to bring about the ruin of entire the Nazi Empire, because fighting a war on two fronts is folly, and even the mighty Napoleon could not overcome the vast Russian territory before winter set in and decimated his forces. These things then came about because God Himself set about to bring Hitler and his Nazi regimes ruin. Men, then should always fear God because He can also give you over to do those things that can destroy you too if you set yourself against Him (consider Rom. 1:18-36; 2 Thess. 2:11-12).

13:1-19 ¹“Behold, my eye has seen all this,

My ear has heard and understood it.

²What you know, I also know;

I am not inferior to you.

³But I would speak to the Almighty,

And I desire to reason with God.

⁴But you forgers of lies,

You are all worthless physicians.

⁵Oh, that you would be silent,

And it would be your wisdom!

⁶Now hear my reasoning,

And heed the pleadings of my lips.

⁷Will you speak wickedly for God,

And talk deceitfully for Him?

⁸Will you show partiality for Him?

Will you contend for God?

⁹Will it be well when He searches you out?

Or can you mock Him as one mocks a man?

¹⁰He will surely rebuke you

If you secretly show partiality.

¹¹Will not His excellence make you afraid,

And the dread of Him fall upon you?

¹²Your platitudes are proverbs of ashes,

Your defenses are defenses of clay.

¹³“Hold your peace with me, and let me speak,

Then let come on me what may!

¹⁴Why do I take my flesh in my teeth,

And put my life in my hands?

¹⁵Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so,

I will defend my own ways before Him.

¹⁶He also shall be my salvation,

For a hypocrite could not come before Him.

¹⁷Listen carefully to my speech,

And to my declaration with your ears.

¹⁸See now, I have prepared my case,

I know that I shall be vindicated.

¹⁹Who is he who will contend with me?

If now I hold my tongue, I perish.

Having greatly expanded upon what Job’s friends have declared about God’s Sovereignty, Job now chastises his friends by telling them that he also knows all these things, that they have added nothing to his understanding, and so even though they now feel superior to him because of what has happened to him, Job says he is in no way inferior to them (13:1-2). Job then declares his desire to speak with the Almighty and reason with Him, because he believes that he will be vindicated, rather then condemned as his friends assume he already is, whom he now calls forgers of lies, for all of their false assumptions about him as to why he is suffering such things. Job then in rebuking them all now says it would better if they were silent and that would be their “wisdom”, rather then continuing on in their misusing and distorting the truth so as to vindicate their false assumptions about him (Vs. 3-6). Having then asked for their silence, Job once again asks for their understanding, that they truly listen to him and consider what he is saying (vs. 6), but first he begins with a warning to them, saying,

⁷Will you speak wickedly for God,

And talk deceitfully for Him?

⁸Will you show partiality for Him?

Will you contend for God?

⁹Will it be well when He searches you out?

Or can you mock Him as one mocks a man?

¹⁰He will surely rebuke you

If you secretly show partiality.

¹¹Will not His excellence make you afraid,

And the dread of Him fall upon you? ^13:7-11

Job now accuses his friends of speaking wickedly and deceitfully for God, of misusing their understand of Him and His ways to condemn him. Job then asks them, will it be well when He searches them out? Will they be so arrogant and confident when He examines them? For God is not mocked as man is; as they are now mocking him. For Job believes that God will surely rebuke them if they secretly show partially; that is if they continue on in their ways and don’t give Job a fair hearing; For truly God's excellence would make them afraid and the dread of Him would fall upon them with His examination of them. Job then continues his rebuke of them, calling their misleading and misapplied platitudes “proverbs of ashes” and their defenses only being like clay (vs.12). Anticipating a sudden response from them Job now tells them to hold their peace and let come on him what may (vs. 13). For he now feels compelled to speak, to make his case, even if it means incurring more bad things; he then asks them, “why do I take flesh in my teeth and put my life in my hands?” (vs. 14). Is it because you are right and I’m wrong? seems to be the implication. Job then tells them that even if God were to slay him, yet I will trust Him, (which is an amazing statement of faith, which is not heard from his friends, who seemingly will trust God just as long as all goes well with them), even so Job says if harm comes to him he will defend his own ways before Him. For Job believes that God will be his salvation, for Job knows that he has not been hypocritical in his ways before Him (vs. 15-16). Having then defended himself and his faith in God, Job now asks that they listen carefully to his speech; and thus, not be so quick to refute it; for Job has now prepared his case, and he believes he shall be vindicated by God (vs. 17-18). Therefore, Job confidently asserts, who is he who will contend with me? And then he says if he does not speak, he will perish (vs. 19), which maybe means truth and justice demands that he respond, or more likely he himself as a just man could never remain silent when such false charges have been laid against him.

13:20-28 ²⁰“Only two things do not do to me,

Then I will not hide myself from You:

²¹Withdraw Your hand far from me,

And let not the dread of You make me afraid.

²²Then call, and I will answer;

Or let me speak, then You respond to me.

²³How many are my iniquities and sins?

Make me know my transgression and my sin.

²⁴Why do You hide Your face,

And regard me as Your enemy?

²⁵Will You frighten a leaf driven to and fro?

And will You pursue dry stubble?

²⁶For You write bitter things against me,

And make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.

²⁷You put my feet in the stocks,

And watch closely all my paths.

You set a limit for the soles of my feet.

²⁸“Man decays like a rotten thing,

Like a garment that is moth-eaten.

Job now speaks to God alone (13:20-14:22). He begins by asking God to withdraw His hand from him and no longer fill him with dread, for if God does remove His hand from him, then Job says he will not hide himself from Him (vs. 20-21). Job must then feel that God is exceedingly angry with him. Having then made his request for a reprieve, Job now asks God to call him and he will answer Him, or if God prefers, let him speak and then God can respond to him (vs. 22). For Job believes if he speaks with God, unlike with his friends, he will find his vindication. Job then asks God, “How many are my iniquities and sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin.” (vs. 23). Job then wants to know why God is treating him like this, why he is suffering these things, for he then asks Him, “why do you hide Your face, and regard me as your enemy? (vs. 24). Job then goes on to ask God why is He being so stern with him? Describing himself metaphorically as like a little leaf shaken to and fro by the blowing breeze, for such is his own person as being so helpless before Him. Even asking God who is the Everlasting Fire, “will You pursue dry stubble.” (vs. 25). Job then says to God that He has been writing bitter things against him, essentially that He is the Author of all his miseries, that He is now making Job to inherit all the iniquities of his youth (vs. 26). For Job believes it is God who has put his feet in stocks; so that he cannot even run away from the terrors and troubles in his life; that He even watches all his paths so that there is no escaping from them. Sadly then Job believes that He has set a limit for the soles of his feet (vs. 27) to keep him in that place and state. Job then is wrestling with what he knows about God, and what has been happening to him, and trying to reconcile these things, while not knowing that it has been Satan who is so relentlessly tormenting him and stalking him down like prey. Job in self-mourning then goes onto describe his helplessness before Him, like a man who decays like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten, and thus becomes useless (vs. 28).

14:1-4 ¹“Man who is born of woman

Is of few days and full of trouble.

²He comes forth like a flower and fades away;

He flees like a shadow and does not continue.

³And do You open Your eyes on such a one,

And bring me to judgment with Yourself?

⁴Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?

No one!

⁵Since his days are determined,

The number of his months is with You;

You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.

⁶Look away from him that he may rest,

Till like a hired man he finishes his day.

Job now expounds on the theme of mans transience; but not as Eliphaz used it to excuse himself from offering Job any consolation (Job 5:7); rather here Job uses it as an appeal for God’s clemency (vs. 1), for as Job reasons, mans days are brief, like a flower that fades away, or a shadow that does bot remain (vs. 2). Job then in frustration asks God why He opens His eyes and looks so intently at him, (i.e. examines him so closely), is it only to bring him into judgment with Himself? For as Job says, “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one!” ^{vs. 4} Job then knows that there is no amount of excellence on his part that can ever remove the stain of sin from him. He needs God’s grace just like everyone does in order to be clean and pure in His sight. Job continues his passionate pleas with God saying, since God has already determined the number of his days, and that he cannot exceed them, why not then let him find some rest before he finishes his day like a hired man, who finds rest at the end of his work day (vs. 5-6). 

14:7-12 ⁷“For there is hope for a tree,

If it is cut down, that it will sprout again,

And that its tender shoots will not cease.

⁸Though its root may grow old in the earth,

And its stump may die in the ground,

⁹Yet at the scent of water it will bud

And bring forth branches like a plant.

¹⁰But man dies and is laid away;

Indeed he breathes his last

And where is he?

¹¹As water disappears from the sea,

And a river becomes parched and dries up,

¹²So man lies down and does not rise.

Till the heavens are no more,

They will not awake

Nor be roused from their sleep.

Job’s poignant and beautiful appeals for hope restored in his life continue, by his now using the tree (like the oak) which even if it is cut down, at the scent of water will shoot forth a new stem, even from a rotting stump (vs. 7-9). But man has no such ability, man when he dies is like the waters that disappear from the sea, or when a river dries up, for just as these cannot replenish themselves, so man who lies down in grave does not rise in of himself, for he cannot awaken himself from death (vs. 10-12).

14:13-22 ¹³“Oh, that You would hide me in the grave,

That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past,

That You would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

¹⁴If a man dies, shall he live again?

All the days of my hard service I will wait,

Till my change comes.

¹⁵You shall call, and I will answer You;

You shall desire the work of Your hands.

¹⁶For now You number my steps,

But do not watch over my sin.

¹⁷My transgression is sealed up in a bag,

And You cover my iniquity.

¹⁸“But as a mountain falls and crumbles away,

And as a rock is moved from its place;

¹⁹As water wears away stones,

And as torrents wash away the soil of the earth;

So You destroy the hope of man.

²⁰You prevail forever against him, and he passes on;

You change his countenance and send him away.

²¹His sons come to honor, and he does not know it;

They are brought low, and he does not perceive it.

²²But his flesh will be in pain over it,

And his soul will mourn over it.”

Even so, Job in wanting relief now asks God to hide him in the grave until His wrath is past; for then Job believes that God would then appoint him a day when he could speak with Him and thus be vindicated (vs. 13), just as all who live righteously will be vindicated at the resurrection of the just and the unjust, see John 5:24-30). Job in verse fourteen then touches on his and all of mankind’s hope and desire to know if there is life after death. Obviously, we now know the answer, as Jesus has said that there is a resurrection of the dead (John 5:24-30; 11:25-26; also, Daniel 12:2-3; Acts 24:15 etc.), but until then Job says he will wait until his change comes; a change that we who now live and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ have; for having been transferred from spiritual death to new and everlasting life, we are new creations in Christ by God's Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:13-14). For then Job believes that God who is Most Just shall once again desire the work of His hands, the just and righteous man, Job who walked and lived in His Image (vs. 14-15). Having expounded his future hope, or maybe better desire, Job once again reverts back to accusing God of only watching over him for harm and pleads with Him not to do so (vs. 16), reminding Him that then his transgression will be sealed up in a bag and then He will cover his iniquity (vs. 17). Returning then to his colorful and poignant metaphors, Job now compares his person and life to that of the mountains which fall and crumble away, or the rock that is moved from its place, or as water wears away stones and its torrents wash away the soil of the earth, so Job feels God has dealt with him, and so Job now accuses God of destroying the hope of man (vs. 18-19), something which is utterly unjustifiable. And though it is all worded with a skill of poet, sadly it is only being done to charge God with wrong, to charge Him with something that He has never done, to Job nor to anyone. For God is the God of all hope. Job then carries on mourning by saying to God that He prevails against man and causes him to pass from life to death (vs. 20). And so even if his sons come to honor, he does not know it, or if they are brought low, he does not perceive it, for in the grave he has no more connection with those living (vs. 21), nonetheless Job says even in the grave he will mourn for all his children (vs. 22).

 Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.

 

 

 

Job 11:1–20 Zophar's Opening Rebuke of Job

 ¹Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

²“Should not the multitude of words be answered?

And should a man full of talk be vindicated?

³Should your empty talk make men hold their peace?

And when you mock, should no one rebuke you?

⁴For you have said,

‘My doctrine is pure,

And I am clean in your eyes.’

⁵But oh, that God would speak,

And open His lips against you,

⁶That He would show you the secrets of wisdom!

For they would double your prudence.

Know therefore that God exacts from you

Less than your iniquity deserves.

⁷“Can you search out the deep things of God?

Can you find out the limits of the Almighty?

⁸They are higher than heaven—what can you do?

Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?

⁹Their measure is longer than the earth

And broader than the sea.

¹⁰“If He passes by, imprisons, and gathers to judgment,

Then who can hinder Him?

¹¹For He knows deceitful men;

He sees wickedness also.

Will He not then consider it?

¹²For an empty-headed man will be wise,

When a wild donkey’s colt is born a man.

¹³“If you would prepare your heart,

And stretch out your hands toward Him;

¹⁴If iniquity were in your hand, and you put it far away,

And would not let wickedness dwell in your tents;

¹⁵Then surely you could lift up your face without spot;

Yes, you could be steadfast, and not fear;

¹⁶Because you would forget your misery,

And remember it as waters that have passed away,

¹⁷And your life would be brighter than noonday.

Though you were dark, you would be like the morning.

¹⁸And you would be secure, because there is hope;

Yes, you would dig around you, and take your rest in safety.

¹⁹You would also lie down, and no one would make you afraid;

Yes, many would court your favor.

²⁰But the eyes of the wicked will fail,

And they shall not escape,

And their hope—loss of life!”

Preamble: Unlike the previous two men who spoke before him; Zophar who is believed to be youngest, (because he speaks lasts); is clearly the most zealous of the three friends.

Commentary

Vs. 1-2 ¹Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

²“Should not the multitude of words be answered?

And should a man full of talk be vindicated?

³Should your empty talk make men hold their peace?

And when you mock, should no one rebuke you?

Zophar from the get go holds back nothing but comes at Job with both guns blazing, saying that Job’s words demand a rebuke, that such speech cannot be vindicated, (God will later though), reducing Job’s at times very moving words to being nothing more then empty talk, talk which must be rebuked, for in Zophar eyes Job has  not only challenged their “theology”, but he has by his reasonings even mocked it and them. Therefore in Zophar’s eyes Job must now be most sternly rebuked. Now Job has said some things about God that need to be rebuked, (and they will be later), but Zophar’s zeal here is so misinformed, misapplied and cruel it takes away any possible good that could come through him to Job.

Vs. 4-6 ⁴For you have said,

‘My doctrine is pure,

And I am clean in your eyes.’

⁵But oh, that God would speak,

And open His lips against you,

⁶That He would show you the secrets of wisdom!

For they would double your prudence.

Know therefore that God exacts from you

Less than your iniquity deserves.

Zophar begins his case against Job, accusing Job of elevating his wisdom and reasonings above theirs, of claiming his doctrine to be pure and his life to be clean. Now as to the first that is debatable, as to the second Job was once regarded by them as a just and blameless man before these things happened to him. But now Zophar and his friends only deny him that he was ever even righteous. How quickly then men forget all that you once were when you fall into trouble, trouble that is not even of his own making. And so because Job has questioned some of their long held ideas, Zophar now wishes that God would speak and open His lips against him and show Job the secrets of wisdom; basically, Zophar believes that if God did  He would side with them; (something that He does not do in the end); for then Zophar believes that God’s rebuke of Job would double his prudence, basically Zophar feels then Job would be more careful with his words and not challenge any of theirs. Zophar then immediately reverts back to his wrath and tells Job that God exacts from him less than his iniquity deserves. Which is an incredibly cold and heartless statement to make to make to him given all of Job's looses. Therefore Zophar’s unrelenting zealous words against Job (an upright and blameless man) only say much about him, (and those like him), not Job.

Vs. 7-12 ⁷“Can you search out the deep things of God?

Can you find out the limits of the Almighty?

⁸They are higher than heaven—what can you do?

Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?

⁹Their measure is longer than the earth

And broader than the sea.

¹⁰“If He passes by, imprisons, and gathers to judgment,

Then who can hinder Him?

¹¹For He knows deceitful men;

He sees wickedness also.

Will He not then consider it?

¹²For an empty-headed man will be wise,

When a wild donkey’s colt is born a man.

Zophar now questions Job's understanding and picks up on some themes of the themes of God’s Sovereignty that Job in searching for answers previously expounded upon; saying to Job that the deep things of God he cannot search out, same with the limits of the Almighty, saying that they are higher than the heavens and deeper than Sheol, (the place of the dead), thus God’s Wisdom is infinitely far out of the reaches of man, for its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea. Thus, Job has no grounds for questioning God, much less of complaining to Him about what is happening to him (vs. 7-9). Zophar then gives his justification for this in verses ten and eleven by picking up on Job’s previous themes of God’s imperceivably by us as well as His Absolute Sovereignty in Judgment (Job 9:11-13), in his condemning Job, saying:

“If He passes by, imprisons, and gathers to judgment,

Then who can hinder Him?

¹¹For He knows deceitful men;

He sees wickedness also.

Will He not then consider it?

Thus, Zophar only sees Job’s troubles as God’s direct judgment on him, that a mediator wouldn’t help him, (as Job previously pleaded for) because Zophar believes that God has now rendered His verdict against Job as being only a deceitful and wicked man. Therefore, in a mocking and scathing insult of Job, Zophar now says before their friends that “an empty-headed man will be wise, when a wild donkey’s colt is born a man.” ^{Vs. 12} One can only imagine how infuriating such words must have made Job feel; and these only coming from a self-deceived, self righteous arrogant youth. Nonetheless even then Job holds his peace, and keeps to the decorum of granting each person their say.

Vs. 13-20 ¹³“If you would prepare your heart,

And stretch out your hands toward Him;

¹⁴If iniquity were in your hand, and you put it far away,

And would not let wickedness dwell in your tents;

¹⁵Then surely you could lift up your face without spot;

Yes, you could be steadfast, and not fear;

¹⁶Because you would forget your misery,

And remember it as waters that have passed away,

¹⁷And your life would be brighter than noonday.

Though you were dark, you would be like the morning.

¹⁸And you would be secure, because there is hope;

Yes, you would dig around you, and take your rest in safety.

¹⁹You would also lie down, and no one would make you afraid;

Yes, many would court your favor.

²⁰But the eyes of the wicked will fail,

And they shall not escape,

And their hope—loss of life!”

Zophar having judged Job as living as a wicked man; like Eliphaz and Bildad before him; now calls upon Job to repent. Telling Job to prepare his heart (that is get rid of all of his “foolish” questions to God and stretch out his hands towards Him, putting iniquity far away from himself, and not let wickedness dwell anymore in his tents; even implying that Job and children’s lives were wicked (thus their demise); then says Zophar, Job could lift his face without spot (meaning Job would be healed of his painful boils), yes says Zophar, Job would be steadfast in his faith again, and he would be able to live without any fear (vs. 15); for then says Zophar Job would forget all his misery and remember it as waters that have passed away (vs. 16). Zophar continues telling Job that his life would be brighter than the noonday, that darkness would never overtake him (vs. 17), that he would be secure, that then Job could take his rest in safety (vs. 18); remember Job had previously complained that changes and war are ever with him (Job 10:17); yes Zophar promises Job that then he could lie down in peace and safety and that many would court his favor (vs. 19). Now all of the things Zophar promises Job here have a basis in truth, but his use of them is not to declare the truth to Job, but only to get Job to align himself with their false and wicked judgment of him, something the righteous Job will not do. Zophar in concluding though will only turn back from his relatively positive speech to a dark condemnation and warning to Job if he doesn’t, saying: “But the eyes of the wicked will fail, And they shall not escape, And their hope—loss of life!” ^{Vs. 20} Zophar than in concluding his discourse to Job now sinks so low as to even seize upon Jobs previous desire to die rather than carry on in his tormented state as another justification for their finding Job guilty and thus condemning him as under the judgment of God.

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.