The big picture
Zophar, another friend visiting Job in his suffering, now speaks. Job has asked God to explain the charge against him and has insisted that his pain is not proof of wickedness. Zophar treats those words as empty talk and lies. He appeals to God's wisdom, which exceeds human understanding, then claims to know that Job deserves worse. His promise of renewed peace depends on Job accepting guilt that the friend has not demonstrated.
In this chapter
- Zophar Calls the Protest Guilty Talk Job 11:1-6
Zophar asks whether Job's flood of words should go unanswered.
- God's Unsearchable Wisdom Becomes an Accusation Job 11:7-12
Can Job fully know God?
- Restoration Is Offered on an Unproved Condition Job 11:13-20
Zophar tells Job to set his heart right, pray and remove wickedness from his hands and home.
Central truth
Zophar uses God's vast wisdom to accuse Job without evidence, then promises security if Job puts away the wickedness he assumes is there.
Scripture beside the summary
Job · King James Version · 20Job 11:1-6
Zophar Calls the Protest Guilty Talk
Zophar asks whether Job's flood of words should go unanswered. He calls the speech lies and mockery and says someone must put Job to shame. He presents Job as claiming pure teaching and complete innocence before God. Zophar wishes God would speak and reveal hidden wisdom against him. He then declares that God is demanding less than Job's wrongdoing deserves. The friend has moved from demanding an answer to issuing a verdict. The claim of hidden guilt is his own. God has not said this about Job.
In everyday life
The insurance assessor hears a homeowner protest a rejected claim and treats the protest itself as proof of fraud. She says the full file would probably reveal worse, though she has not shown any evidence. Her tone turns a request for reasons into another accusation. Zophar claims knowledge of God's judgement against an already devastated man.
Notice
Job 11:6 Zophar says the punishment is lighter than Job deserves. That claim goes further than admitting God's wisdom is hidden; it assumes knowledge of guilt the friend has not proved.
Job 11:1-6
King James Version1Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
2Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified?
3Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?
4For thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes.
5But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;
6And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.
Job 11:7-12
God's Unsearchable Wisdom Becomes an Accusation
Can Job fully know God? Zophar puts this question to him. Divine greatness reaches higher than heaven, deeper than the grave, longer than earth and wider than sea. Nobody can stop God when he confines or gathers people for judgement. God sees emptiness and wrongdoing, Zophar says, and takes account of them. He compares foolish humanity with a wild donkey's colt struggling to become wise. The speech rightly stresses human limits, but Zophar applies those limits mainly to Job. He does not ask whether his own account of Job's pain is true.
In everyday life
The geology lecturer points at a vast cliff face while telling a visitor how little of its history any one person knows. Then she dismisses his careful question as proof that he understands nothing. A real limit to knowledge becomes a way to silence inquiry. Zophar uses God's immeasurable wisdom while still claiming to know Job's hidden guilt.
Notice
Job 11:7 The question asks whether a human can fully know God. It also raises a difficulty for Zophar's own claim to know exactly what Job's suffering means.
Job 11:7-12
King James Version7Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?
8It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?
9The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
10If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him?
11For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?
12For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass’s colt.
Job 11:13-20
Restoration Is Offered on an Unproved Condition
Zophar tells Job to set his heart right, pray and remove wickedness from his hands and home. Then, he promises, Job will stand without shame or fear. Misery will fade like water already passed downstream. Life will become bright, hope will bring safety, and others will seek his favour. The wicked, by contrast, will find no escape and will hope only for death. The images offer relief, but the route assumes Job is hiding evil. Zophar has not shown that Job needs this change.
In everyday life
The careers adviser tells a dismissed worker to admit dishonesty and promises that confidence and opportunities will return. The plan sounds hopeful only if the accusation is true. The worker has asked for evidence, but receives a path built on surrendering that question. Zophar's offer concerns restoration by God and presumes wrongdoing without proving it.
Notice
Job 11:14 Removing wickedness is the condition Zophar sets before his promises. The hope rests on a charge against Job. Zophar has still not proved that charge.
Job 11:13-20
King James Version13If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him;
14If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.
15For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear:
16Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away:
17And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.
18And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.
19Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee.
20But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Job 11:1 begins with “Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,”
Where the chapter turns
Job 11:10 forms a natural hinge: “If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him?”
The final note
Job 11:20 leaves the reader with “But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words canst, eyes, find, hope, iniquity, know help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- unto
- to
- thee
- you
- thou
- you
- thy
- your
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
