Zophar’s First Speech to Job

¹Then Zophar the Naamathite spoke up and said:

²“Should not this abundance of words be answered,[#tc The LXX, Targum Job, Symmachus, and Vulgate all assume that the vocalization of רֹב (rov, “abundance”) should be רַב (rav, “great”): “great of words.” This would then mean “one who is abundant of words,” meaning, “a man of many words,” and make a closer parallel to the second half. But the MT makes good sense as it stands.tn There is no article or demonstrative with the word; it has been added here simply to make a smoother connection between the chapters.; #tn The Niphal verb יֵעָנֶה (ye’aneh, “he answered”) would normally require a personal subject, but “abundance” functions as the subject in this sentence. The nuance of the imperfect is obligatory.]

or should this talkative man

be vindicated?

³Will your idle talk reduce people to silence,[#tn The word means “chatter, pratings, boastings” (see Isa 16:6; Jer 48:30).; #tn The verb חָרַשׁ (kharash) in the Hiphil means “to silence” (41:4); here it functions in a causative sense, “reduce to silence.”]

and will no one rebuke you when you mock?

⁴For you have said, ‘My teaching is flawless,[#tn The word translated “teaching” is related etymologically to the Hebrew word “receive,” but that does not restrict the teaching to what is received.]

and I am pure in your sight.’

⁵But if only God would speak,[#tn The wish formula מִי־יִתֵּן (mi yitten, “who will give”; see GKC 477 §151.b) is followed here by an infinitive (Exod 16:3; 2 Sam 19:1).]

if only he would open his lips against you,

⁶and reveal to you the secrets of wisdom –

for true wisdom has two sides –

so that you would know

that God has forgiven some of your sins.

⁷“Can you discover the essence of God?[#tn The verb is מָצָא (matsa’, “to find; to discover”). Here it should be given the nuance of potential imperfect. And, in the rhetorical question it is affirming that Job cannot find out the essence of God.; #tn The word means “search; investigation”; but it here means what is discovered in the search (so a metonymy of cause for the effect).]

Can you find out

the perfection of the Almighty?

⁸It is higher than the heavens – what can you do?[#tn The Hebrew says “heights of heaven, what can you do?” A. B. Davidson suggested this was an exclamation and should be left that way. But most commentators will repoint גָּבְהֵי שָׁמַיִם (govhe shamayim, “heights of heaven”) to גְּבֹהָה מִשָּׁמַיִם (gÿvohah mishamayim, “higher than the heavens”) to match the parallel expression. The LXX may have rearranged the text: “heaven is high.”]

It is deeper than Sheol – what can you know?

⁹Its measure is longer than the earth,

and broader than the sea.

¹⁰If he comes by and confines you[#tn The verb יַחֲלֹף (yakhalof) is literally “passes by/through” (NIV “comes along” in the sense of “if it should so happen”). Many accept the emendation to יַחְתֹּף (yakhtof, “he seizes,” cf. Gordis, Driver), but there is not much support for these.; #tn The verb is the Hiphil of סָגַר (sagar, “to close; to shut”) and so here in this context it probably means something like “to shut in; to confine.” But this is a difficult meaning, and the sentence is cryptic. E. Dhorme (Job, 162) thinks this word and the next have to be antithetical, and so he suggests from a meaning “to keep confined” the idea of keeping a matter secret; and with the next verb, “to convene an assembly,” he offers “to divulge it.”; #tn The pronoun “you” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation.]

and convenes a court,

then who can prevent him?

¹¹For he knows deceitful men;[#tn The pronoun is emphatic implying that Zophar indicates that God indeed knows Job’s sin even if Job does not.; #tn The expression is literally “men of emptiness” (see Ps 26:4). These are false men, for שָׁוְא (shavÿ’) can mean “vain, empty, or false, deceitful.”]

when he sees evil, will he not consider it?

¹²But an empty man will become wise,

when a wild donkey’s colt is born a human being.

¹³“As for you, if you prove faithful,[#tn The pronoun is emphatic, designed to put Job in a different class than the hollow men – at least to raise the possibility of his being in a different class.; #tn The Hebrew uses the perfect of כּוּן (kun, “establish”) with the object “your heart.” The verb can be translated “prepare, fix, make firm” your heart. To fix the heart is to make it faithful and constant, the heart being the seat of the will and emotions. The use of the perfect here does not refer to the past, but should be given a future perfect sense – if you shall have fixed your heart, i.e., prove faithful. Job would have to make his heart secure, so that he was no longer driven about by differing views.]

and if you stretch out your hands toward him,

¹⁴if iniquity is in your hand – put it far away,[#tn Verse 14 should be taken as a parenthesis and not a continuation of the protasis, because it does not fit with v. 13 in that way (D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 256).; #tn Many commentators follow the Vulgate and read the line “if you put away the sin that is in your hand.” They do this because the imperative comes between the protasis (v. 13) and the apodosis (v. 15) and does not appear to be clearly part of the protasis. The idea is close to the MT, but the MT is much more forceful – if you find sin in your hand, get rid of it.]

and do not let evil reside in your tents.

¹⁵For then you will lift up your face[#tn The absolute certainty of the statement is communicated with the addition of כִּי (ki) (see GKC 498 §159.ee).]

without blemish;

you will be securely established

and will not fear.

¹⁶For you will forget your trouble;[#tn For a second time (see v. 13) Zophar employs the emphatic personal pronoun. Could he be providing a gentle reminder that Job might have forgotten the sin that has brought this trouble? After all, there will come a time when Job will not remember this time of trial.; #sn It is interesting to note in the book that the resolution of Job’s trouble did not come in the way that Zophar prescribed it.]

you will remember it

like water that has flowed away.

¹⁷And life will be brighter than the noonday;[#tn Some translations add the pronoun to make it specifically related to Job (“your life”), but this is not necessary. The word used here has the nuance of lasting life.; #tn Heb “and more than the noonday life will arise.” The present translation is an interpretation in the context. The connotation of “arise” in comparison with the noonday, and in contrast with the darkness, supports the interpretation.]

though there be darkness,

it will be like the morning.

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

you will be protected

and will take your rest in safety.

¹⁹You will lie down with no one to make you afraid,[#tn The clause that reads “and there is no one making you afraid,” is functioning circumstantially here (see 5:4; 10:7).]

and many will seek your favor.

²⁰But the eyes of the wicked fail,[#tn The verb כָּלָה (kalah) means “to fail, cease, fade away.” The fading of the eyes, i.e., loss of sight, loss of life’s vitality, indicates imminent death.]

and escape eludes them;

their one hope is to breathe their last.”