Job 11


Job 11 is the eleventh chapter of the Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is anonymous; most scholars believe it was written around 6th century BCE. This chapter records the speech of Zophar the Naamathite, which belongs to the Dialogue section of the book, comprising Job 3:1–31:40.

Text

The original text is written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 20 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC; some extant ancient manuscripts of this version include Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, and Codex Alexandrinus.

Analysis

The structure of the book is as follows:
  • The Prologue
  • The Dialogue
  • The Verdicts
  • The Epilogue
Within the structure, chapter 11 is grouped into the Dialogue section with the following outline:
  • Job's Self-Curse and Self-Lament
  • Round One
  • *Eliphaz
  • *Job
  • *Bildad
  • *Job
  • *Zophar
  • **Zophar's Fundamental Position
  • **The Depths of God Are beyond Human Knowing
  • **A Way Forward
  • *Job
  • Round Two
  • Round Three
  • Interlude – A Poem on Wisdom
  • Job's Summing Up
The Dialogue section is composed in the format of poetry with distinctive syntax and grammar.
Chapter 11 starts with an introduction of Zophar, Job's third friend to speak, followed by the exposition of Zophar's fundamental stand. Zophar argues that human cannot fathom God's depths, but he believes that reward will come to the repentant righteous, ended with a warning that the wicked will be destroyed.

Zophar's fundamental position (11:1–12)

Zophar thinks that Job is a man of full of empty talk and has to be silenced and shamed, because he regards anyone protesting to God is mocking God. Zophar's statements imply that God's wisdom is a secret kept from Job, but not from Zophar, so Zophar can speak on behalf of God. Zophar focuses on God's greatness in creation to tell Job about the punishment of the wicked, as Zophar perceives Job as a worthless, hollow-minded person in contrast to God's wisdom.
At the end of the book, it is stated that Zophar is wrongly claiming to speak for God, so Zophar words actually are his own view.

Verse 3

  • "Empty talk": translated from the Hebrew word baddim, which appears six times, always in the plural, in the Hebrew Bible and can be rendered as "idle talk" or "babble".
  • "Hold their peace": or "be silent"; from Hebrew verb in Hiphil form from the stative root חָרַשׁ, kharash.

Zophar proposes a way forward (11:13–20)

In this section Zophar shows the positive results of several conditions to gain God's favor, concluded by a warning about the destruction of the wicked, based on Zophar's conviction that Job is wicked. Many of Zophar's words ring true, but they don't apply to Job's circumstances. Compared to Eliphaz's thought that Job's suffering can be a temporary setback or Bildad's attempt to distinguish the greater sins of Job's children with Job's sin, Zophar insists that Job is getting off lightly, because of his belief that the degree of sufferings is proportional to one's wickedness.

Verse 20

  • "Will fail": from the Hebrew verb כָּלָה, kalah, which can mean “to fail, cease, fade away”; in this case "the fading of the eyes", that is, "loss of sight", "loss of life’s vitality", also indicating "imminent death".
  • "The giving up of breath": or "the breathing out of life". Job stated that 'his days are speeding by without hope', and here Zophar rephrases it negatively to conclude his speech.