BOOK 18 OF 66 · WISDOM & POETRY · KING JAMES BIBLE

Job 11

Job book home•Chapter 11 of 42•20 verses

Chapter overviewAt a glance + deeper study

REVIEWED OVERVIEW

Job 11 Overview

Zophar accuses Job of empty talk and wishes God would expose him. He claims Job is receiving less punishment than he deserves, then points to the unfathomable depth of divine wisdom and urges Job to put away iniquity so his life can become secure and bright.

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11Chapter

20Verses

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Before you read Job 11

Coming from

Job’s lament asked God why his carefully formed life had become a scene of suffering.

In this chapter

Zophar answers by assuming Job’s guilt and treating greater suffering as what Job actually deserves.

Leads into

Chapter 12 begins Job’s long reply to all three friends, rejecting their claim to have a monopoly on wisdom.

Key understandingExplore deeper

Zophar rightly says God’s wisdom exceeds human searching, but he immediately acts as though he has searched out Job’s hidden moral case. That contradiction is central to the failure of the friends.

Major truths in this chapterExplore deeper

Truth 1

Human beings cannot measure the full wisdom of God.

Truth 2

Correct statements about God’s greatness do not authorize unsupported accusations against another person.

Truth 3

Zophar’s promise of restored security depends on a confession of wrongdoing that the narrative has not established.

Connections to the rest of ScriptureExplore deeper

Connection 1

Romans 11:33 celebrates the unsearchable depth of God’s wisdom and judgments.

Connection 2

Isaiah 55:8-9 emphasizes the difference between God’s thoughts and human thoughts.

Connection 3

Job 42:7-9 later shows that Zophar’s certainty did not amount to speaking rightly about God.

What is clear, and where care is neededExplore deeper

Keep this clear 1

Do not accept “God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth” as God’s own verdict on Job.

Keep this clear 2

Zophar’s call to put away sin would be appropriate for known sin, but he has not demonstrated the hidden wickedness he assumes.

Keep this clear 3

Statements about the incomprehensibility of God should produce humility, not dogmatic accusation.

Read Job 11 watching for…

Zophar’s impatience with Job’s many words.

His claim that Job deserves worse.

His description of God’s unsearchable wisdom.

The conditional promise of a brighter life.

The tension between humility before mystery and Zophar’s certainty about Job.

Chapter outline3 sections

1-6Zophar rebukes Job’s many words and wishes that God would answer him 7-12Zophar speaks of the height and depth of God’s wisdom and knowledge 13-20Zophar urges Job to prepare his heart and put away iniquity so that hope may return

Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,

Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified?

Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?

For thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes.

But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;

And 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.

Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?

It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?

The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.

If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him?

For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?

For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt.

If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him;

If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.

For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear:

Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away:

And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.

And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.

Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee.

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.

STUDY THIS VERSE

Job 11:6

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