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Job Chapter
Eleven
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO JOB 11
In
this chapter Zophar the Naamathite, Job's third friend, attacks him, and the
with great acrimony and severity, and with much indecency; he charges him not
only with loquacity, and vain babbling, but with lying, and with scoffing at
God, and good men, Job 11:1; which he
attempts to support by some things Job had said, misrepresented by him, Job 11:4; and
wishes that God would take him in hand, and convince him of the wisdom of the
divine proceedings with him, and of his lenity and mercy to him, Job 11:5; and then
discourses of the unsearchableness of God in his counsels, and conduct; of his
sovereignty, and of his power, and of the vanity and folly of men, Job 11:7; and as
his friends before him, having insinuated that Job was guilty of some heinous
sin, or sins, and especially of hypocrisy, advises him to repentance and
reformation, and then it would be well with him; and he should enjoy much
comfort, peace, and safety, even to old age, Job 11:13; and
concludes it should go ill with the wicked man and the hypocrite, such as he
suggests Job was, Job 11:20.
Job 11:1 Then
Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:
YLT
1And Zophar the Naamathite
answereth and saith: --
Then answered Zophar the Naamathite,.... The third of Job's
friends, that came to visit him; see Gill on Job 2:11; and who
perhaps might be the youngest, since his turn was to speak last; and he appears
to have less modesty and prudence, and more fire and heat in him; than his
other friends; though he might be the more irritated by observing, that their
arguments were baffled by Job, and had no manner of effect on him, to cause him
to recede from his first sentiments and conduct:
and said; as follows.
Job 11:2 2 “Should not the multitude
of words be answered? And should a man full of talk be vindicated?
YLT
2Is a multitude of words not
answered? And is a man of lips justified?
Should not the multitude of words be answered?.... Zophar
insinuates, that Job was a mere babbler, a talkative man, that had words, but
no matter; said a great deal, but there was nothing in what he said; that his
words were but wind, yea, in effect that he was a fool, who is commonly full of
words, and is known by the multitude of them; and whereas he might think to
bear down all before him in this way, and to discourage persons from giving him
an answer; this Zophar suggests should not be the case, nor would he be
deterred hereby from giving one, which he now undertook: some supply it, as Bar
Tzemach, "should not a man of a multitude of words"F19הרב דברים "an abundans
verbis", Beza; "an multus verbis", Mercerus, so Kimchi & Ben
Melech; and most Hebrew writers take רב for an
adjective. , &c. a verbose man, a dealer in many words, and nothing else,
should not he be "answered?" if he uses nothing but words, and there
is no argument in them, they seem not to deserve an answer, unless it be to
show the emptiness of them, expose a man's folly, and pull down his pride and
vanity:
and should a man full of talk be justified? or "a
man of lips"F20איש שפתים "vir labiorum", Montanus, Beza, Drusius,
Vatablus, Mercerus, Bolducius, Cocceius, Schmidt, Michaelis. , an eloquent man,
or one that affects to be so; a man of a fine speech, who artfully colours
things, and makes a show of wisdom and truth, when there are neither in what he
says; is such a man to be justified? he would seem to be in his own eyes at
least, if not in the eyes of others, if not answered; he would be thought to
have carried his point, to have had the better of the argument, and to have got
the victory by dint of words and power of oratory; for this is not to be
understood of justification before God; for as no man is heard and accepted by
him for his "much speaking", as was the opinion of the Heathens, so
neither are any justified on account of their many words, any more than their
many works; since, in a multitude of words there are often not only much folly
and weakness, but vanities and sins, Proverbs 10:19;
there is indeed a sense in which a man is justified by his words, Matthew 12:37; when
he confesses Christ, and professes to be justified by his righteousness, and
believes in that, and pleads it as his justifying righteousness; he is
justified by that righteousness; which is contained in the confession and
profession of his faith; but this is not here meant.
Job 11:3 3 Should your empty talk
make men hold their peace? And when you mock, should no one rebuke you?
YLT
3Thy devices make men keep
silent, Thou scornest, and none is causing blushing!
Should thy lies make men hold their peace?.... By which
he means, either lies in common, untruths wilfully told, which are sins of a
scandalous nature, which good men will not dare to commit knowingly; and to
give a man, especially such a man, the lie, is very indecent; and to charge a
man falsely with it is very injurious: or else doctrinal ones, errors in judgment,
falsehoods concerning God and things divine; which not only are not of the
truth, for no lie is of the truth, but are against it; and indeed where the
case is notorious in either sense, men should not be silent, or be as men deaf
and dumb, as the wordF21So Ben Melech. signifies, as if they did not
hear the lies told them, or were unconcerned about them, or connived at them:
David would not suffer a liar to be near him, nor dwell in his house, Psalm 101:7; a
common liar ought to be reproved and rejected; and doctrinal liars and lies
should be opposed and resisted; truth should be contended for, and nothing be
done against it, but everything for it: it is criminal to be silent at either
sort of lies; nor should the bold and blustering manner in which they are told
frighten men from a detection of them, which perhaps is what may be hinted at
hereF23בדיך "jactantias tuas",
Cocceius. ; some render the wordsF24"Tuane argumenta mortales
consternabunt?" Codurcus. , "should thine iniquity frighten
men?" they are not so strong and nervous as to appear unanswerable, and
deter men from undertaking a reply unto them:
and, when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed? here Job is
represented as a mocker of God, which is inferred from Job 10:3; and at
his friends, and the arguments they used, and the advice they gave, which is
concluded from his words in Job 6:25; and as
one hardened, who was not, and could not be made ashamed of what he had said
against either, by anything that had been offered for his reproof and
conviction: to make a mock of God, or a jest of divine things, or scoff at good
men, is very bad; indeed it is the character of the worst of men; and such
should be made ashamed, if possible, by exposing their sin and folly; and if
not here, they will be covered with shame hereafter, when they shall appear
before God, the Judge of all, who will not be mocked, and shall see the saints
at the right hand of Christ, whom they have jeered and scoffed at: but this was
not Job's true character; he was no mocker of God nor of good men; in this he
was wronged and injured, and had nothing of this sort to be made ashamed of.
Job 11:4 4 For you have said, ‘My
doctrine is pure, And I am clean in your eyes.’
YLT
4And thou sayest, `Pure [is]
my discourse, And clean I have been in Thine eyes.'
For thou hast said,.... What follows is produced to support the
charge, especially of lying, which seems to be founded on what he had said in Job 6:10,
my doctrine is pure; free from error,
unadulterated, unmixed, not blended with Heathenish principles and human
doctrines; but tending to purity of heart and life, as every word of God, and
doctrine that comes from him, is pure, yea, very pure, like silver purified
seven times; and such was Job's doctrine which he "received" from
God, "took"F25לקחי
"doctrina aut oratio mea et sententia mente accepta", Michaelis; so
Cocceius; "id quid ab aliis acceptum", Drusius. up and professed,
taught and delivered to others, so far as was agreeable to the will of God, and
the revelation he had then made: and it appears that Job had very clear and
sublime notions of God, of his being and perfections, of his works of nature,
providence, and grace; of Christ his living Redeemer, of redemption and
justification by him, and of the resurrection of the dead; and had purer and
better notions of divine things than his friends had, and spoke better things
of God than they did, God himself being witness, Job 42:7; some
interpret this of the purity of his life and conversation: he is further
charged with saying:
and I am clean in thine eyes: speaking to God, as
Jarchi observes; and indeed so he was, and every believer is, in an evangelic
sense; as to the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness,
is without sin, and cannot commit it; and as washed from all sin in the blood
of Christ, and as clothed with his righteousness, in which the saints are
faultless before the throne, and are unblamable and irreprovable in the sight
of God: but Zophar's meaning is, that Job had asserted that he was entirely
free from sin in himself, was wholly without it, and did not commit any; and
had appealed to God, as knowing it to be true; and which he seems to have
grounded on what he had said, Job 10:7; through a
mistake of his sense; which was not that he was free from sin entirely, but
from any gross notorious sin, or from a wicked course of living, and
particularly from the sin of hypocrisy, his friends suggested he was guilty of;
otherwise he confesses himself a sinner, and prays for the pardon of his sins,
and disclaims perfection in himself; see Job 7:20; and
indeed there is no creature in itself clean in the sight of God, either angels
or men; every man is naturally unclean; no good man is without sin, without the
being, indwelling, and commission of it; nor will any truly gracious man say he
is; he knows otherwise, and acknowledges it; he that says he is must be an
ignorant man, or a vain and pharisaical man; yea, must not say the truth: some
have suspected the first part of the words to be Job's, "and I am
clean": and the other Zophar's explaining them; that is, "in thine
eyes"F26Vid. Schultens in loc. ; in his own apprehension, as if
he had a high and conceited opinion of himself.
Job 11:5 5 But oh, that God would
speak, And open His lips against you,
YLT
5And yet, O that God had
spoken! And doth open His lips with thee.
But O that God would speak,.... To Job, and stop his
mouth, so full of words; convict him of his lies, reprove him for his mocks and
scoffs, and make him ashamed of them; refute his false doctrine and oppose it,
and show him his folly and vanity in imagining it to be pure, and in conceit
thinking himself to be free from sin, and even in the sight of God himself:
Zophar seems by this wish to suggest, that what his friends had as yet spoke
had had no effect upon Job, and signified nothing; and that he despaired of
bringing him to any true sense of himself and his case, but that God only could
do it; and therefore he entreats he would take him in hand, and speak unto him;
as he had by his providences in afflicting him, so by his spirit in teaching
and instructing him; and he adds:
and open his lips against thee; or rather, "with
thee", or "to thee"F1עמך μετα σου, Sept.
"tecum", Pagninus, Montanus, Beza, Vatablus, Mercerus, Cocceius,
Schmidt, Michaelis; "tibi", V. L. "ad te", Piscator. ;
converse with thee; speak out his mind freely; disclose the secrets of his
wisdom, as in Job 11:6, and that
for thy good; fully convince thee of thy sins, mistakes, and follies: for,
notwithstanding all the heat and warmth of Zophar's spirit, yet, being a good
man, as it cannot be thought he should wilfully and knowingly slander Job, and
put a false gloss on his words, so neither could he desire any hurt or injury
to be done him, or that God would deal with him as an enemy; only convince and
reprove him for his sin, and justify himself and his own conduct, which he
imagined Job had arraigned.
Job 11:6 6 That 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.
YLT
6And declare to thee secrets
of wisdom, For counsel hath foldings. And know thou that God forgetteth for
thee, [Some] of thine iniquity.
And that he would show thee the secrets of wisdom,.... Either of
sound doctrine, in opposition to his own doctrine he had such a vain opinion
of; and then he would see, as he thought, that it was not so pure as he
imagined it to be: the Gospel, and the doctrines of it, are the wisdom of God,
the produce of it, and in which it is displayed; as in the doctrines of
election to grace and glory, of redemption by Christ, of justification by his
righteousness, and pardon by his blood; by which all the divine perfections are
glorified, the justice and holiness of God, as well as his grace and mercy: and
there are "secrets" or mysteries in this wisdom of God, 1 Corinthians 2:6;
of mysterious doctrines, which, though revealed, yet the "modus", or
manner of them, is not to be searched out and understood; such is the trinity
of Persons in the Godhead, the union of the two natures in Christ, the saint's
union to God and communion with him, the resurrection of the dead, &c. and
these and such like them are only shown by the Lord; men cannot come at them of
themselves, by their own natural reason and understanding; it is God that
reveals them, in his word, and by his spirit, and gives his people an
increasing knowledge of them, 1 Corinthians 2:9;
or it may be rather the secrets of the wisdom of Divine Providence, in the
government of the world, and the ordering of all things in it according to the
counsel of God, may be here meant; there is a great display of the wisdom of
God in Providence, and there are secrets in it undiscoverable by creatures; his
ways are past finding out, they are in the deep waters, and his footsteps are
not known, nor to be traced; though sometimes he makes his judgments manifest,
and his mind in them; and what he does now, which men know not, he shows them
hereafter; especially his own people, and particularly when in the sanctuary of
the Lord, and in the way of their duty, when everything appears right and
beautiful they before were ready to complain of; see Romans 11:33; and
then it is seen:
that they are double to that which is! or to
"wisdom"F2לתושיה
"sapientiae", de Dieu, Schmidt, Michaelis; so the Targum. ; as the
word is rendered in Proverbs 2:7; that
is, to human wisdom; and then the sense is, that the secrets of divine wisdom
displayed, whether in the doctrines of grace or in the methods of Providence,
being shown and made manifest, would appear to be "double"; that is,
vastly, yea, infinitely to exceed the wisdom of men; and that these, which men
are apt to arraign as weak and wrong, are the effects of the highest wisdom, or
they then appear so "to a man of wisdom"F3"Viro
sapientiae", Drusius. ; so the supply may be made, as is in Micah 6:9; or else
the sense is, were Job let in to the secret wisdom of God more, and into the
purity and holiness of his law, which some understand by "that which
is", or "wisdom", and render it "according to the law"F4"Secundum
legem vel ordinationem", Vatablus. and see what that requires, and how
much short he comes of it, and what and how many were his transgressions and
violations of it; it then would be plain to him, that the punishment that God,
in wisdom, and according to his righteous law, might inflict upon him, would be
double; or, greatly, yea, infinitely exceed those afflictions he was now
exercised with, and therefore he had no reason to complain; to which agrees
what follows:
know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine
iniquities deserve; or punishes, afflicts, or chastises, less
than the deserts of sin; see Ezra 9:13; some
render it, "God exacteth of thee something of thine iniquity";
so Junius and Tremellius; according to which version the sense is, that sins
are debts, and these many; and that payment of part of the debt of punishment
for them is only required, which is not truth; for, though there is a debt of
punishment due to justice for sin, yet it is not part of it only that is
required of the sinner, but the whole, if any; for indeed no part of it is
exacted of God's people, since the whole has been exacted of Christ, and he has
answered and paid the whole debt, and blotted out the handwriting against them;
wherefore the word used has rather the signification of forgetfulness, and may
be rendered, either "God hath caused", or "suffered thee to
forget part of thine iniquity"F5כי
ישה לך אלוה
מעונך "oblivisci facit te Deus, aliquid de
iniquitate tua", some in Mercer so Gersom & Ben Melech, &
Gussetius, p. 510. ; or thou couldest never say that thou wert clean in his
eye, and free from sin; or, "God himself has forgot part of thine
iniquity"F6"Quod obliviscatur tibi Deus ab iniquitate
tua", Piscator; Vid. Gusset ib. ; in that he has afflicted thee so mildly,
and with so much lenity; or, "hath forgotten thee for thine iniquity"F7"Quod
oblitus tui est propter iniquitatem tuam", Pagninus, Mercerus. ; forsook
him, hid his face from him, laid his hand on him, and sorely chastised him, so
that he seemed to be forgotten by him, or he to forget to be gracious to him;
all which were owing to his sins, these were the causes of it; or, "will condemn
thee for thine iniquity"F8So some in Ben Melech. .
Job 11:7 7 “Can you search out the
deep things of God? Can you find out the limits of the Almighty?
YLT
7By searching dost thou find
out God? Unto perfection find out the Mighty One?
Canst thou by searching find out God?.... God is
not to be found out by human search; that there is a God may be found out by
inquiring into the book of nature, by considering the creatures that are made,
who all proclaim some first cause or maker of them, who is God; but then it
cannot be found out what God is, his nature, being, and perfections: an Heathen
philosopherF9Simonides, apud Cicero, de Nat. Deor. l. 1. , being
asked by a certain king what God was, required a day to give in his answer;
when that was up he desired a second, and still went on asking more; and being
demanded the reason of his dilatoriness, replied, the more he had considered
the question, the more obscure it was to him: the world by wisdom, or the wiser
part of the Heathen world, knew not God; though they knew there was one, they
knew not who and what he was; and therefore in some places altars were erected
to the unknown God, Acts 17:23, and
though some of the perfections of God may be investigated from the works of
nature, such as the power, wisdom, and goodness of God, Romans 1:19; yet
not all his perfections, such as his grace, mercy, &c. proclaimed and
displayed in Christ; nor indeed his counsels, purposes, and decrees, which lie
in his eternal mind, are the thoughts of his heart, the deep things of God,
which none but the Spirit of God searches, knows, and reveals; and since
Zophar's request was, that God should show to Job "the secrets of
wisdom", these may be meant here, either evangelical wisdom, the wisdom of
God in a mystery hid in his heart from everlasting, and the mysterious truths
and doctrines or it, things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it
entered into the heart of man to conceive of; these are not to be found out by
human search, but are by the revelation of God; or else the reasons of the
proceedings of God in Providence, which are out of the reach of men, dark,
intricate, mysterious, unsearchable, and past finding out:
canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? to the
uttermost of his nature and perfections; all his attributes, the last of them,
and the extremity thereof: that God is perfect and entire, wanting nothing, and
is possessed of all perfections, may be found out, or otherwise he would not be
God; but his essence and attributes, being infinite, can never be traced and
comprehended by finite minds; there are some perfections of God we have no idea
of, but are lost in confusion and amazement as soon as we think of them and
reason about them, as his eternity and immensity particularly; for, when we
have rolled over in our minds millions and millions of ages, we are as far off
from eternity as when we began; and when we have pervaded all worlds, and every
space and place, we have got no further into immensity than at first; we are
confounded when we think of a Being without beginning and without bounds,
unoriginated, and unlimited; yea, even it is but a small part of the works of
God in creation that is known by men, or of God in and by them; nay, by divine
revelation, which gives the clearest and most enlarged view of him, whereby he
has proclaimed his name, a God gracious and merciful, &c. yet it is only
his back parts that are shown, not his face; it is only through a glass,
darkly, we now see; indeed, in the other world, we shall see him face to face,
and as he is, yet then never comprehend his essence: and, after all, it is only
in Christ that God is to be found, to saving purposes; in him is the most
glorious display of him; being the brightness of his glory, and the express
image of his person; and not only all his perfections are in him, as a divine
Person, but they are glorified by him as Mediator; every step in salvation is
taken in Christ, and every blessing of grace comes through him; what of the
divine Presence and communion with God is enjoyed is by him; and he will be the
medium of the enjoyment of God, and of all the glory and happiness of the
saints in the world to come.
Job 11:8 8 They are
higher than heaven— what can you do? Deeper than Sheol— what can you know?
YLT
8Heights of the heavens! --
what dost thou? Deeper than Sheol! -- what knowest thou?
It is as high as
heaven; what canst thou do?.... Or, "is higher than the
heavens"F9גבהי שמים
"altior est altissimis coelis", Junius & Tremellius. ; either the
wisdom of God and the secrets of it; the perfection of his wisdom, by which he
has made the heavens; or evangelical wisdom, hid in his heart, and which the
highest of creatures, the angels, come at the knowledge of only by revelation;
and therefore, what can man do to find it out, unless God reveals it? or wisdom
displayed in dark providences, which can never be accounted for until the
judgments of God are made manifest: or else, "he that is God",
as the Vulgate Latin version, is "higher than the heavens"; the
heaven is his throne on which he sits, and therefore he must be higher than
that; the heavens, and heaven of heavens, cannot contain him; he fills up the
infinite space beyond them; how is it possible therefore to find him out, to
comprehend him?
deeper than hell; what canst thou know? meaning,
neither the grave nor the place of the damned, for both which "Sheol"
is sometimes used, but the centre or lowest part of the earth; there is a depth
in God, in his essence, in his thoughts, in his wisdom, displayed in nature,
providence, and grace, that is unfathomable; we can know nothing of it but what
he is pleased to make known; see Psalm 92:5; the
Targum of the verse is,"in the height of heaven, what canst thou do? in
the law, which is deeper than hell, what canst thou know?'
Job 11:9 9 Their measure is
longer than the earth And broader than the sea.
YLT
9Longer than earth [is] its
measure, And broader than the sea.
The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader
than the sea. Length is generally ascribed to the earth, and width to the sea;
the ends of the earth are used for a great distance, and the sea is called the
great and wide sea; seeF11"Quid oceano longius inveriri
potest", Cicero. Orat. 36. Psalm 72:1; but God
and his perfections, particularly his wisdom and understanding, are infinite, Psalm 147:5; and
will admit of no dimensions; as his love, so his wisdom, has an height which
cannot be reached, a depth that cannot be fathomed, and a length and breadth
immeasurable; see Ephesians 3:18;
from hence it appears that God is omniscient, omnipresent, and
incomprehensible; and since he is to be found in Christ, and in him only, it is
in vain for us to seek for him elsewhere: next the sovereignty of God is
discoursed of.
Job 11:10 10 “If He passes by,
imprisons, and gathers to judgment, Then who can hinder Him?
YLT
10If He pass on, and shut up,
and assemble, Who then dost reverse it?
If he cut off,.... The horns, power, dominion, and
authority of the wicked; or the spirits of princes, or kingdoms and states,
whole nations, as he did the seven nations of Canaan; or families, as Job's,
his servants, and his children; or particular persons, by diseases, or by
judgments, by famine, sword, and pestilence; there is none can hinder him; he
will do what he pleases: or, as others render it, "if he changes"F12אם יחלוף "si permutet
proprie", Mercerus, Heb. "si mutabit locum", Piscator. ; if he
makes revolutions in governments, changes in families, and in the estates of
men, as in Job's; or changes men's countenances by death, and sends them out of
time into eternity, there is no opposing him: or, "if he passes
through"F13"Si transmeabit", Junius & Tremellius,
Piscator; "si pervadat", Cocceius; "si transiverit",
Michaelis. , as the word is sometimes used; see Isaiah 8:8; if he
comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth, and goes through
a kingdom and nation, making or suffering to be made devastations everywhere,
as he went through the land of Egypt and smote all the firstborn in it, there
is no stopping him: or, "if he passes on"F14"Si
abierit", Schmidt. , or "from" hence, or goes away; see 1 Samuel 11:3; or
departs from a people or particular person, even his own people, and hides his
face from them, and is long, at least as they think, before he returns; who can
behold him, or find him out, or cause him to show himself? see Job 23:3; or,
"if he subverts"F15"Si subverterit omnia", V. L.
and overturns things, or should reduce the world and all things in it to a
chaos, as at the deluge, or as he overturned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah,
or should set on fire the whole course of nature, and burn up the whole world
and all in it, and reduce it to ashes, as he will; there is none can stay his
hand, and obstruct him in his designs and measures:
and shut up; should he do so; shut up in a civil sense, either in a prison,
as Gersom, or in the hands of an enemy, by giving them unto them, to be
enclosed and straitened by them, there is none can deliver; Psalm 31:8; or to
shut them up as he did Noah in the ark, by protecting them by his power and
providence, and so appear to be on their side, and for them; who then can be
against them? or what does it signify if any are, if the Lord shuts them up and
keeps them close? or in a spiritual sense, if he concludes men in sin, and
shuts them up in unbelief, and under the law; who but himself can set them
free? or, if good men are shut up in their frames, and straitened in their
souls, that they cannot come forth in the lively exercise of grace, and free
discharge of duty; there is no opening for them till he pleases, Psalm 88:8,
or gather together, then who can hinder him? either
gathers them into one place, in a civil sense; or in a gracious manner, with
great mercies and everlasting kindness to himself, to have communion with him;
to his son, to participate of the blessings of his grace, and to his church and
people, to enjoy all spiritual privileges with them; or, gathers men at and by
death; see Job 34:14; and as
he will gather them at the last day, even all nations, before him, the tares,
and burn them and his wheat, and put them into his garner; and when he does any
and every of these things, who can hinder him or turn him back from doing what
he pleases: Job says much the same in Job 9:12; the
Targum is,
"if
he passes through and shuts up the heavens with clouds, and gathers armies, who
can turn him back?"
Job 11:11 11 For He knows deceitful
men; He sees wickedness also. Will He not then consider it?
YLT
11For he hath known men of
vanity, And He seeth iniquity, And one doth not consider [it]!
For he knoweth vain men,.... Or, "men of
vanity"F16מתי שוא
"homines vanitatis", Vatablus, Drusius, Bolducius, Mercerus, Schmidt,
Michaelis. , as all men are; men of low degree are vanity, and men of high
degree a lie, and they are both lighter than vanity, Psalm 62:9; and the
Lord knows them, and knows them to be so; he knows all men, and all that is in
them; he knows the vanity of their minds, and the vain thoughts that are in
them; all their vain and idle words, and their vain lives and conversations;
and therefore it is no wonder he does the above things at his pleasure:
he seeth wickedness also; the wickedness of their
hearts and lives, their secret and open wickedness, their wicked thoughts,
words, and actions; or, "men of wickedness"; even wicked men; they
are all seen by him; nothing is or can be hid from him; he is God omniscient,
the searcher of the hearts and trier of the reins of the children of men:
will he not then consider it? so as to punish or
correct for it? he will: or, "he does not consider"F17ולא יתבונך "et non
cousiderat", Cocceius; "et non advertit", Schmidt. ; he seems as
if he did not; as if he took no notice of wicked men, and of their wickedness,
because he does not immediately punish or correct for it; or, he has no need to
take any time to consider thereof, he sees and knows at once what it is, and
what men are: Gersom reads this clause in connection with the former; "he
sees the men of wickedness", and him who does "not
consider" the ways of the Lord; or, the man does not consider that God
sees him; so Ben Melech.
Job 11:12 12 For an empty-headed man
will be wise, When a wild donkey’s colt is born a man.
YLT
12And empty man is bold, And
the colt of a wild ass man is born.
For vain man would be wise,.... Or
"hollow"F18נבוב
"concavus", Montanus; "cavus", Drusius; "vacuus",
Pagninus, Beza, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Michaelis. , empty man;
empty of all that is good, though full of all unrighteousness; without God, the
knowledge, love, and fear of him; without Christ, the knowledge of him, faith
in him, and love to him; destitute of the Spirit, and of his grace, having no
good thing in him: yet such a man "would be wise"; not desirous of
true wisdom, but would be thought to be wise; he in conceit thinks himself that
he is very wise, and he would fain have others think so of him; or is, or
"may", or "will be wise"F19ילבב
"fiat vel fit cordatus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; so
Broughton, Beza. ; may be made wise by the chastisements of God through
afflictions, being sanctified to him by the grace of God; though he is a vain
man, and also is what is after said of him; afflicting dispensations are
sometimes teaching ones, and in the school of afflictions many useful lessons
are learnt, whereby men become wiser; see Psalm 94:12; though
some understand the word in a very different sense, and interpret it bold,
audacious, proud, and haughty; man takes heartF20"In superbiam
erigitur", V. L. "audaciam sumit", Schmidt. , and lifts up
himself against God, stretches his hand, and hardens his heart against him:
though man be born like a wild ass's colt; foolish and
stupid, without understanding of divine and spiritual things; given to lust and
wantonness, to serve divers lusts and pleasures; not subject to the yoke of the
law of God, stubborn, refractory, and untameable, but by the grace of God; the
ass, and especially the wild ass, and the colt of one, being a very stupid
creature, and a very lustful and wanton one, chooses to be free, will not bear
the yoke, but ranges about in desert places; see Job 39:5; some
render the words, "and a wild ass's colt is", or "may be born a
man"F21"Pullus onager homo nascitur", Cocceius,
Schmidt; "nascatur", Schultens. ; that is, one that is by his first
birth, and by his life and conversation, like a wild ass's colt, is or may be
born again, and be made a new man, as Jarchi also interprets it, and so become
a wise, knowing, and good man, which is a great truth; but whether the truth in
this text, is not so clear: the Targum seems to incline this way;"a
refractory, youth that grows wise shall become a great man.'
Job 11:13 13 “If you would prepare your
heart, And stretch out your hands toward Him;
YLT
13If thou -- thou hast
prepared thy heart, And hast spread out unto Him thy hands,
If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands towards
him. In this and the following verses Zophar proceeds to give some
advice to Job; which, if taken, would issue in his future happiness, but
otherwise it would be ill with him; he advises him to pray to God with an heart
prepared for such service; so some render the last clause in the imperative,
"stretch out thine handsF23"Expande ad eum manus
tuas", De Dieu. towards him"; that is, towards God; for, though not
expressed, is implied, whose immensity, sovereignty, and omniscience, Zophar
had been discoursing of; and, though stretching out the hands is sometimes a
gesture of persons in distress and mournful circumstances, thereby signifying
their grief and sorrow, and of others in great danger, in order to lay up
anything for safety; and of conquered persons resigning themselves up into the
hands of the conqueror; and of such who are desirous of being in friendship,
alliance, and association with others; yet it is also sometimes used as for the
whole of religious worship, Psalm 44:20; so
particularly for prayer, Psalm 88:9; and
this was what all Job's friends advised him to, to humble himself before God,
to pray for the forgiveness of his sins, and for the removal of his afflictions
and deliverance from them; see Job 5:8; in order
to which it is proper the "heart should be prepared"; as it is
requisite it should be to every good work by the grace of God so to this: and
then may it be said to be prepared for such service, when the spirit of God is
given as a spirit of grace and supplication, whereby the heart is impressed
with a sense of its wants, and so knows what to pray for; and arguments and fit
words are put into the mind and mouth, and it knows how to pray as it should;
and is enabled to approach the throne of grace with sincerity, fervency, and in
the exercise of faith, being sprinkled from an evil conscience by the blood of
Jesus, and resigned to the divine will, in all its petitions it is directed to
make: now this is the work of God, to prepare the heart; the preparation of the
heart, as well as the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord; he is prayed to
for it, and it is affirmed he will do it, Proverbs 16:1; but
it is here represented as if it was man's act, which is said not to suggest any
power in man to do it of himself; at least this is not the evangelic sense of
such phrases; for Zophar might be of a more legal spirit, and not so thoroughly
acquainted with the evangelic style; but this might be said, to show the
necessity of such a preparation, and to stir up to a concern for it, and to
expect and look for it from and by the grace of God.
Job 11:14 14 If iniquity were in
your hand, and you put it far away, And would not let wickedness dwell
in your tents;
YLT
14If iniquity [is] in thy
hand, put it far off, And let not perverseness dwell in thy tents.
If iniquity be in thine hand,.... For, as the heart
must be prepared for the stretching out of the hand in prayer to God, so it is
not any hand that is to be stretched out or lifted up unto God; not hands full
of blood, or defiled with sin, but holy hands; see Isaiah 1:15, 1 Timothy 2:8; it
is not said, if iniquity be in thine heart, or on thy conscience,
put it far away; for sin cannot be put away out of the
heart, it will have a place there as long as we live; though it should not be
regarded, cherished, and nourished there; if so, God will not hear prayer, Psalm 66:18; and
nothing can put away or remove afar off guilt from the conscience but the blood
of Jesus; which, being sprinkled, purifies the heart and purges the conscience
from dead works; but it is said, if it is in thine hand, which is the
instrument of action, and may signify the commission of sin, and a series and
course of sinning, which Job's friends suspected he was privately guilty of;
and therefore advise him to leave off such a sinful course, and abstain from
all appearance of evil, and live a holy and godly conversation:
and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles; in any room
or apartment of his house; some restrain this, and iniquity in the former clause,
to ill gotten goods, obtained by rapine and oppression, which he is advised to
restore to those that had been injured by him; but there is no need to limit it
to any sin: besides, wickedness may be put for wicked men, and the sense be,
that, as he should not indulge to any iniquity himself, so neither should he
suffer wicked men to dwell in his house, but make a general reformation in
himself and in his family.
Job 11:15 15 Then surely you could lift
up your face without spot; Yes, you could be steadfast, and not fear;
YLT
15For then thou liftest up
thy face from blemish, And thou hast been firm, and fearest not.
For then shall thou lift up thy face without spot,.... Either
before men, being in all good conscience, walking in all the commandments and
ordinances of the Lord, blameless, exercising a conscience void of offence
towards God and men; and so be able to say as Samuel did, "whose ass have
I taken?" &c. 1 Samuel 12:3; or
rather before God, as in Job 21:26; using an
holy boldness and an humble confidence with him at the throne of grace, in the
view of the blood, righteousness, and sacrifice of his living Redeemer he had
knowledge of, as every true believer may; who, though he is not without spot in
himself, yet, being washed in the blood of Christ, and clothed in his
righteousness, he is all fair, and without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing;
and may stand before the throne without fault, and appear before God, and in
his sight, unblamable and irreprovable:
yea, thou shalt be steadfast: firm and solid, rooted
and grounded in the love of God; having a firm persuasion of interest in it,
and that nothing shall separate from it; being built on the foundation of
Christ, and established in the exercise of faith on him; the affections being
steady towards him, and fixedly set on divine and heavenly things; continuing
steadfast in the doctrines of grace, and not carried about with strange
doctrines, or every wind of doctrine; as well as constant and immovable in the
work of the Lord, always employed in his service, and doing his will, from
which nothing can move; not reproach, affliction, and persecution; and to be
thus steady and fixed is a great privilege:
and shalt not fear; evil tidings of evil times; of wars and
rumours of wars, famine, pestilence, earthquakes, and other judgments; of
changes and revolutions in kingdoms and states, or of what is coming upon the
world, according to promise and prophecy, the heart being fixed and well
established, trusting in the Lord; nor be afraid of evil men or devils, or any
enemies whatever, nor of death, the king of terrors, that being one of the
believer's blessings, and a friend of his; nor of hell and damnation, or the
second death, or wrath to come; from all which the saints are secure.
Job 11:16 16 Because you would forget your
misery, And remember it as waters that have passed away,
YLT
16For thou dost forget
misery, As waters passed away thou rememberest.
Because thou shall forget thy misery,.... Former
afflictions and distresses; having an abundance of prosperity and happiness,
and long continued; and so, in process of time, the miseries and distresses
before endured are forgotten; thus it was with Joseph in his advanced state,
and therefore he called one of his sons Manasseh, Genesis 41:51; and
as it is with convinced and converted persons and believers in Christ, who,
under first convictions and awakenings, are filled with sorrow and distress, on
a view of their miserable estate by nature; but when Christ is revealed to them
as their Saviour and Redeemer, and the love of God is shed abroad in their
hearts, and they have faith and hope in Jesus, and a comfortable view of heaven
and happiness, and eternal life, by him, they forget their spiritual poverty,
and remember their misery no more, unless it be to magnify the riches of the
grace of God; see Proverbs 31:6;
and remember it as
waters that pass away; either the waters of the stream in a river,
which, when gone, are seen and remembered no more or as waters occasioned by
floods in the winter season, which when over, and summer is come, are gone and
are no more discerned; and as they pass from the places where they were, so from
the minds of men: or it may be respect is had to the waters of Noah's flood,
which, according to the divine promise and oath, should no more go over the
earth, Genesis 9:15; and
being past and gone, and no fear or danger of their returning, are forgotten.
Job 11:17 17 And your life would
be brighter than noonday. Though you were dark, you would be like the
morning.
YLT
17And above the noon doth age
rise, Thou fliest -- as the morning thou art.
And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday,.... That is,
the remainder of his days; the latter part of his life, which was yet to come,
should be no more attended with the darkness of adversity; but the light of prosperity
should shine upon him, and exceed the light of the sun at noonday: the phrase
is expressive of the wonderful change there should be in his state and
circumstances; see Isaiah 58:10;
thou shall shine forth; like the rising sun, or
as when it breaks forth out of a cloud; in a temporal sense, it may be
understood of his enjoying health, wealth, and friends, the candle of the Lord
shining upon him, as in days past; and in a spiritual sense, of his being
favoured with the light of God's countenance, the Sun of righteousness rising
upon him, with healing in his wings; the graces of the Spirit being brightened,
and in lively exercise, and a large share of spiritual light and knowledge
being given: the word used has a contrary sense, and signifies darkness and
obscurity, and may be rendered "although thou art", or hast been, or
mayest "be dark"F24תעפה
"tenebresces", Montanus, Drusius, Mercerus; to the same sense,
Tigurine version, Cocceius, Schmidt, Schultens; so Ben Melech. ; under dark and
afflictive providences, as he had been, and still was and in darkness of soul,
under the hidings of God's face: yet
thou shall be as the morning; whose light breaks forth
suddenly, and makes everything gay and cheerful; especially a morning without
clouds, when it is bright and clear, and is increasing more and more: by this
metaphor is signified, that Job would at once emerge out of his darkness,
afflictions, and trouble, and have abundance of joy and comfort, which would be
increasing in every sense; see Proverbs 4:18.
Job 11:18 18 And you would be secure,
because there is hope; Yes, you would dig around you, and take your rest
in safety.
YLT
18And thou hast trusted
because their is hope, And searched -- in confidence thou liest down,
And thou shall be secure,.... From coming into
like darkness, difficulties, and distress again, and from every evil and enemy;
nothing shall come nigh to disturb and hurt, nothing to be feared from any
quarter, all around: or "shalt be confident"F25ובטחת "et confides", Mercerus, Piscator, Schmidt;
"et habebis fiduciam", V. L. ; have a strong faith and full assurance
of it, in the love of God, in the living Redeemer, and in the promises which
respect the life that now is, and that which is to come:
because there is hope; of the mercy of God, of
salvation by Christ, and of eternal glory and happiness, as well as of a
continuance of outward prosperity; faith and hope mutually assist each other;
faith is the substance of things hoped for, and hope of better and future
things on a good foundation encourages faith and confidence:
yea, thou shalt dig about thee; to let in
stakes for the pitching and fixing of tents to dwell in, and for more
commodious pasturage; or for wells of water, for the supply both of the family
and the flocks; or rather, for ditches and trenches to secure from thieves and
robbers, or for drains to carry off floods of water:
and thou shalt take thy rest
in safety; lie down on the bed and sleep in the night season in peace and
quietness, having nothing to fear; being well entrenched, and secure from
depredations and inundations; and, more especially being hedged about and
protected by the power and providence of God; see Psalm 3:5; the
Targum is,
"thou
shall prepare a grave, and lie down, and sleep secure.'
Job 11:19 19 You would also lie down,
and no one would make you afraid; Yes, many would court your
favor.
YLT
19And thou hast rested, And
none is causing trembling, And many have entreated thy face;
Also thou shall lie down, and none shall make thee afraid,.... Either
lie down on his bed, as before, or by his flocks, and where they lie down, and
none should disturb him or them; not thieves and robbers, such as the Chaldeans
and Sabeans had been to him, nor lions, bears, and wolves;
yea, many shall make suit unto thee; make their
supplications, present their requests and petitions for relief under
necessitous circumstances, or for protection from the injuries and insults of
others; as the poor and needy, the widow and fatherless, had done to him in
times past, when in his prosperity, and when he was a friend unto them, and the
father of them; see Proverbs 19:6; or,
"the great onesF26רבים "magnates",
Vatablus, Bolducius. shall make suit to thee"; to have his favour and
friendship, his counsel and advice, his company and conversation; he should be
applied unto and courted by men of all sorts, which would be no small honour to
him; see Psalm 45:12.
Job 11:20 20 But the eyes of the wicked
will fail, And they shall not escape, And their hope—loss of life!”
YLT
20And the eyes of the wicked
are consumed, And refuge hath perished from them, And their hope [is] a
breathing out of soul!
But the eyes of the wicked shall fail,.... Either
through grief and envy at Job's prosperity, and with looking for his fall into
troubles again; or rather through expectation of good things for themselves,
and for deliverance out of trouble, but all in vain; see Lamentations 4:17;
and they shall not escape; afflictions and calamities
in this life, nor the righteous judgment, nor wrath to come: or, "refuge
shall perish from them"F1ומנוס אבד מנהם "et refugium
peribit ab eis", Pagninus, Montanus, Bolducius; "perfugium",
Junius & Tremellius; "effugium", Mercerus, Cocceius, Schmidt, Schultens.
; there will be none to betake themselves unto for safety; in vain will they
seek it from men; refuge will fail them, and no man care for them; and in vain
will they fly to rocks and mountains to fall upon them:
and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost; it is with
them as when a man is just expiring, and it is all over with him, and there is
no hope of his reviving; so the hope of wicked men is a dying hope, a lost
hope; it is not hope, but despair; their hope is gone, and they are lost and
undone; and if they retain their hope in life, when they come to die they have
none; though the righteous has hope in his death, their hope dies with them, if
not before them: or, "their hope is the giving up of the ghost"F2"Spes
vel expectatio eorum est, vel erit efflatio animae", Mercerus, Cocceius. ;
all they have to hope and wish for is death, to relieve them from their present
troubles and agonies they are in; and sometimes are left amidst their guilt,
despair, and horror, to destroy themselves: now Zophar by all this would
suggest, that should not Job take his advice, he would appear to be such a
wicked man, whose eyes would fail for his own help, and would not escape the
judgments of God here and hereafter, and would die without hope, in black
despair; or at least without any hope that would be of any avail.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》