성경 주석서

Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,

Then answered Zophar the Naamathite — With a most bitter invective, savouring more of passion than charity. Zophar rejoineth, or rather revileth innocent Job, misinterpreting his meaning, Job 11:4 , and laying to his charge, 1. Loquacity, or talkativeness; 2. Lying; 3. Scoffing at God’s good providence, and men’s good counsel; 4. Self-conceitedness and arrogance, besides rashness, boldness, … For want of better arguments against him, he falls foul upon him in this sort. And if the adversaries of the truth do the like by us (as our Saviour saith they will, Matthew 5:11 , and as himself, after Job and many other of his members, had the experience of it), we must not be overly troubled. Zophar signifieth a watcher, he watched for Job’s halting, and took him up before he was down; he is styled the Naamathite from Naamah (a city in the land of Uz, eighteen miles from Job’s Pyramis, saith Adricomius), which signifieth fair. But he dealeth not so fair with his friend as had been fit, for he giveth him no honour or respect at all, but treateth him with singular sharpness and violence, or rather virulence, of speech: hear him else.

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

Should not the multitude of words be answered? — Should not he who speaketh what he will, hear what he would not? Nunquid qui multa loquitur, non et audiet? (Vulg.) Yes, Job shall now, or you will want of your will; but if Job have talked more than his part came to (the truth is, his speeches are longer than any of those of his three friends, which are all, except that first made by Eliphaz, Job 4:1-21 Job 5:1-27 , comprehended in one chapter, whereas his take up by two, three, or more), he may well be excused, considering the sharpness of his disease, the ungentleness of his friends, and the sense of God’s displeasure, which his soul laboured under. Zophar and the rest looked upon him as a wretched hypocrite, and were angry that he would not yield himself so; they accused his former conversation as wicked; what way he had therefore to defend and assert his own integrity, but by words? And must he yet pass for a prattling fellow, a man of lips, a very wordy man, one that loveth to hear himself talk, because he will not be by them outtalked, and overly borne by their false charges? Most sure it is, that profane and profuse babblings are to be avoided, and to bring fulness of matter in fewness of words it is very commendable. Quam multa quam paucis! said Cicero of Brutus’s laconical epistle; how much is here in a little! but, 1. Every man cannot be a short spoken Spartan. It is reported that in Luther’s house was found written, Melancthon hath both matter and words; Luther hath matter, but wants words; Erasmus hath words at will, but wants matter. Every one hath his own share: all are not alike gifted. 2. He is to be accounted talkative who uttereth unprofitable words, and far from the purpose, beside the point; and so Zophar himself was to be blamed in this whole discourse of his, wherein he talketh much, but speaketh little. Concerning the infinite and unsearchable wisdom of God, he argueth truly and gravely, but yet nothing fitly to convince Job, who himself had said as much and more of the same subject. The counsel also that therehence he giveth Job doth little or nothing concern him; it being the same in effect that Eliphaz and Bildad had said before him: Zophar therefore was the locutuleius, the talkative man here mentioned, rather than Job, the lips man, adversus sua ipsius vitia facundus satis; and as Bion was wont to say, that the grammarians of his time could discourse well about the errors of Ulysses, but not at all see their own; so it befell Zophar.

And should a man full of talk be justified? — Heb. A man of lips, so called, as if he were made all of lips, and had no other members. Shall such a one be ever a whit the better thought of? Not among wise men surely, whatever he may amongst his fellow fools; for in multiloquio stultiloquium: in much speaking is much foolishness, some gravel and mud passeth away with much water; some vanity with much talk; it is no wisdom for a man to lay on more words than the matter will well bear. A good orator, saith Plutarch, will see that his words and his matter be matches. And Hesiod saith, that words, as a precious treasure, should be thriftily husbanded and warily wasted: especially since an account is to be rendered, as our Saviour assureth us, Matthew 12:36 ; yea, by thy words (he saith not, for thy words) thou shalt be justified, and by thy words (if superfluous and sinful, waste and wicked) thou shalt be condemned, Matthew 12:37 .

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

Should thy lies make men hold their peace? — Or, thy toys, toilsome toys, hammered in thine own head, hatched in thine own heart, which is deceitful above all things, and so a fit shop to frame lies in; but should we be silent at the hearing of them, and so become guilty of thy sin by a tacit consent? Can any mortal wight hear what thou hast said in behalf of thine own imaginary innocence, Job 6:29-30 , and how bold an appeal thou hast made to God as a witness thereof, Job 10:7 , and not reply upon thee, and reprove thee? The truth is, had Job been a liar, as Zophar would make of him (even mendaciorum loquacissimum, as Tertullian saith of Tacitus, one that fearing his many words would not carry his cause, had intermixed various untruths, the better to grace the business), he ought not to have been forborne by Zophar or any else that wished well to his soul: but it was far from good Job to be guilty of this foul sin, so hated of God, so like the devil, so inconsistent with religion. Christianus est, non mentietur, he is a Christian, you may be sure he will not lie, was the old argument; he will rather die than lie. David indeed, in a distress, roundly told two or three lies together to Abimelech the high priest, who suspected that he fled as a proscribed person, 1 Samuel 21:2 ; 1 Samuel 21:8 ; 1 Samuel 27:10 . But that he allowed not this sin in himself it appeareth in that, 1. He had chosen the way of truth, his election was truth, Psa 119:30. And, 2. He prayed against the contrary evil, "remove from me the way of lying," Psalms 119:29 . He was not one of those that took fast hold of deceit, as Jeremiah phraseth it, Job 8:5 . Much less was Job; however, Zophar was mistaken in him, as he was much more in his next charge, wherein he maketh him a scoffer of God and good people.

And when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed? — Job is made a mocker here; yea, a scorner, and derider, as the word signifieth, such as David describeth, Psalms 22:6 , and the author to the Hebrews, Hebrews 11:36 , where he speaks of cruel mockings, such as the Scripture everywhere (but especially in the Proverbs) brandeth for the worst sort of sinners. See Psalms 1:1 , where the Septuagint translate for scorners, pests; as elsewhere incorrigible, Proverbs 21:1 ; naught, Proverbs 9:12 ; λοιμοι, ακολαστος, κακος , proud, Proverbs 3:34 ; workers of iniquity, υπερηφανοι παρηνομουν , Psalms 119:51 . But where did Job mock in Zophar’s judgment? First, he spoke contemptuously (as he thought) of God, as Job 10:3 , "Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress?" … And whereas he spake better sometimes of God’s wisdom and righteousness, Zophar thought it was but from the teeth outward; but poor Job had little list or leisure to mock and jeer. Next, he mocked his friends for saving that he was justly afflicted, saying that they were cold comforters, void of God s fear, merciless men, … This they took in very ill part, and Zophar thinks to make him ashamed of it; for saith he,

Shall no man make thee ashamed? — sc. By refuting thee, and by bringing thee to a due sight of thine error. This good office he that shall undertake to do for another, must be sure that he be able to do it effectually, else better not to attempt it. When Carolostadius opposed Luther’s consubstantiation only weakly and insufficiently, Zuinglius said, he was sorry that so good a cause lacked shoulders, Non satis humerorum haberet.

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

For thou hast said — Thou hast confidently affirmed; and this he makes to be a loud lie, and not an idle word only. But where and when had Job said it? Did not Zophar openly play the sophister, so interpreting what Job had spoken, Job 6:10 ; Job 9:22 ; Job 10:7 , in defence of his innocence, as if Job had maintained that he was free from all sin; whereas, notwithstanding, he had very often witnessed and confessed himself to be a sinner, insomuch as that albeit he were without sin, yet he could not be accounted clear and pure in the sight of God? But Zophar took these for good words only, and was therefore so sharply set against him. So Cyril and Theodoret mistook one another, and objected heresy mutually; when afterwards it appeared that they were both of one judgment. Charity would have taught Zophar to have taken Job in a better sense, and to have said of him, as Cruciger did of Luther, eum commodius sentire quam loquitur dum effervescit, that he held right, though in his heat he spake not so fitly as might be wished. Good men’s words are reverenter glossanda (as one said of the laws), to have a reverent gloss put upon them, and not, by a spiritual unmannerliness, to be taken with the left hand, when they might and ought to be taken with the right.

My doctrine is pure — Clear as crystal, transparent as a crystal glass with a light in the midst; you may see through it, and find no flaw or filth in it. Job was no professed preacher, yet he had "not concealed the words of the Holy One," Job 6:10 . As he had received the knowledge of the truth from parents and teachers (the word here rendered doctrine comes from a root that signifieth to receive), so he had freely and purely imparted it to others, commending it unto them as sound and sincere, and therefore well worthy of all acceptation. But that which troubled Zophar and his two fellows was, that Job should affirm that God did afflict good men in this world as heavily as bad men, which yet was an irrefragable truth, such as Job resolved to live and die in.

And I am clean in thine eyes — i.e. I am not sinless, but sincere and upright, no hypocrite (as you have charged me), no worker of iniquity, but one that would be cleansed from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and do, by the daily practice of mortification, purify myself as God is pure. More than this Job said not, though Zophar thought he did, and therefore wisheth in the next words that God himself would convince him of his error.

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

But oh that God would speak, … — For we do but lose our sweet words upon thee, since thou art set, and so wedded and wedged to thine own will and way, that thou canst not be removed and rectified, but by an extraordinary touch from the hand of heaven: oh therefore that God would speak and open his lips against thee, and for us; for so Zophar doubts not but he would do; but if it proved otherwise, Job 42:7-10 , Job was justified, and these three condemned, because they had not spoken of God (or to God, as in this text), the thing that was right, Job 11:7 , but had been Satan’s instruments to discourage Job, and to drive that good man to many passionate speeches. Some men (and women too, as Sarah, Genesis 16:5 ) are overly hasty to send for God, as it were, by a post, to decide their controversies; who, if he should come at their call, would certainly pronounce against them. Fret not thyself therefore to do evil, Psalms 37:1 ; be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything in this way before God, Ecclesiastes 5:2 , or to interest him in thy quarrels and controversies, for he will surely pass an impartial sentence; neither is there any iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respecting of persons, nor receiving of gifts, 1 Chronicles 19:7 . One interpreter from this wish of Zophar noteth, that it is an ordinary practice of heretics (Satan’s factors) to mention God, as approving of their errors, if by speaking he would from heaven declare himseff plainly, and that therefore we should take heed of those that labour to work upon us this way, when by right reason they are able to evince nothing that they say.

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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].

And that he would show thee the secrets of wisdom — This may be understood as God’s law (saith Diodati), or as the hidden ways of his providence; which if God would show Job, he should at once see that he mistook much, and knew little of those many mysteries that are both in the word and works of God, in all divine dispensations, which are such as none can unriddle but God himself; neither can we see them till he show them. It is well observed, that the word here rendered show signifieth to interpret and expound that which is dark, mysterious, and enigmatical; and till God show us in this sort we remain ignorant both in the book of the creatures and in the book of the Scriptures. Oh, pray that ye may be all taught of God, that he would show you great and mighty things which you know not, Jeremiah 33:3 , that he would so open your eyes, that ye may behold wondrous things out of his law, Psalms 119:18 .

That they are double to that which is — Sunt enim Deo iudiciorum duo genera, so the Tigurines translate the words, for God hath judgments of two several sorts, viz. open and secret, such as thou with all thy skill canst not dive into. The Hebrew is, doubles to the being; that is, saith one, manifold more than is by thee apprehended; and although God hath afflicted thee according to what he hath revealed, yet he might afflict thee more if he should proceed according to the height of his secret wisdom; thy plagues should be double to that which is, if God should deal rigorously with thee; there is reason therefore thou shouldest be patient, since thy sins are far more than thy sufferings.

Know, then, that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth — This is a meditation that may be of special use, as to humble us, so to stanch murmuring, and to strengthen patience under present pressures. See Ezra 9:13 , with the note. Junius rendereth it, acknowledge at least that God exacteth somewhat of thee for thine iniquity; somewhat it is, and but somewhat, since hell is the just hire of the least sin, and it is the Lord’s mercy that we are not consumed, Lamentations 3:22 .

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

Canst thou by searching find out God? — i.e. The nature of God, or the course of his providence, and the reason of his proceedings? thou canst never do it. Neither did Job ever take upon him to do it, but had excellently and accurately set out the same things, Job 9:4 , …, that Zophar here doth; so that he might well have spared his pains in this discourse as to Job; but that being too pertinacious in his evil opinion of him, he chose rather to thwart him than to close with him, as contentious people use to do.

Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? — No, nor the brightest angel in heaven, the highest graduate in glory. Find him we may possibly, but not find him out, much less find him out to perfection. Tantum recedit, quantum capitur, so much slips away and how much is retained, saith Nazianzen. The nearer you draw unto God the farther off he is from you, and you are as much to seek as ever; he is indeed like the pool Polycritus writeth of (cited by Aristotle), which in compass at the first scarce seemed to exceed the breadth of a shield, but if any went in to wash, it extended itself more and more. A country fellow thinks, if he were upon such a mountain he could touch heaven, and take a star in his hand; but when he comes thither heaven is as far off as it was, … So it is here, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard," …, 1 Corinthians 2:9 . Chrysostom, speaking of God’s love in Christ, saith, I am like a man digging in a deep spring; I stand here, and the water riseth up upon me, and I stand there, and still the water riseth upon me. What the apostle saith of this infinite love of God, that it passeth knowledge, as having all the dimensions, Ephesians 3:18-19 , the same is true of the wisdom of God, as Zophar setteth forth in the following verses.

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

It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? — And much higher; it is as the highnesses of heaven (so the Hebrew hath it), which is so high that one would wonder we should be able to behold the starry sky (which yet is but as the marble wall round about the palace), and the very eye not be tired in the way. See Trapp on " Proverbs 25:3 " How high that second heaven is may hereby be gathered, in that the stars (whereof those of the first magnitude are said to be every one above 107 times as large again as the whole earth) do yet seem to us but as so many small sparks or spangles; but how high the third heaven is above them cannot be conjectured, Ephesians 4:10 . And yet the wisdom of the Almighty is far above that. But what meaneth Zophar by these cutted questions of his, What canst thou do? and what canst thou know? He thought, belike, that either Job considered not what he had said when he so set forth God’s wisdom, and his own shallowness; or else that he contradicted himself when he nevertheless stood so much upon his own integrity, and complained so greatly of his misery, as of an injury.

Deeper than hell — Which, wherever it is, appeareth, by this and other texts of Scripture, as Revelation 14:11 Deuteronomy 32:22 Psalms 55:15 Proverbs 15:24 , …, to be below, Ubi sit, sentient, qui curiosius quaerunt, saith one; where it is they shall find one day who too curiously inquire. The word here rendered hell signifieth the lower and more remote parts of the earth; and David telleth us that the wicked shall be turned into hell, into the lowest part of it, as the He locale there implieth, Psalms 9:17 .

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