Verses 1-20
5. Zophar’s first speech ch. 11
Zophar took great offense at what Job had said. He responded viciously with an aggressiveness that outdid both Eliphaz and Bildad. Zophar was a dogmatist.
"He . . . attempted heavy handed shock treatment to get through to Job." [Note: Smick, "Job," p. 917.]
"The Naamathite is the least engaging of Job’s three friends. There is not a breath of compassion in his speech. . . . His censorious chiding shows how little he has sensed Job’s hurt. Job’s bewilderment and his outbursts are natural; in them we find his humanity, and our own. Zophar detaches the words from the man, and hears them only as babble and mockery (Job 11:2). This is quite unfair. Zophar’s wisdom is a bloodless retreat into theory. It is very proper, theologically familiar and unobjectionable. But it is flat beer compared with Job’s seismic sincerity." [Note: Andersen, p. 156.]
"What Job needed was a helping hand, not a slap in the face." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 26]
"How sad it is when people who should share ministry end up creating misery." [Note: Ibid. Cf. Romans 12:15.]
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