Job 11 Study Notes

11:13-14 Only if Job had a pure heart and clean hands (Ps 24:4), could he expect God’s forgiveness and blessing (Is 1:15-17). The image is that of welcoming injustice as though it were a guest. To dwell in your tents is used metaphorically of sharing in someone’s blessings (Gn 9:27) or occupying another’s land (Ps 78:55). The tent is also used in the Bible to signify man’s earthly body (2Co 5:1).

11:15-16 Zophar believed that confessed sin and a change of lifestyle would restore Job’s honor and his position before God and man. Although Job had gone through deep water (see note at Ps 69:1-2), these would pass and be only a distant memory.

11:17-18 Zophar’s encouraging words stood in stark contrast to Job’s opening lament (3:4-7), to Eliphaz’s observations about the fate of crafty schemers (5:12-14), and to Bildad’s warning about evildoers (8:20).

11:19 Zophar assured Job that with restoration his fame and reputation would return. To be “sought out” functions at times idiomatically for the bringing of gifts (see 42:11; Ps 45:12).

11:20 Zophar concluded his speech with a dire warning. Unlike the blessings offered to a repentant sinner that he had just described, the unrepentant wicked could expect only suffering. Their prosperity would fail, and their only hope of relief would be death itself.