Zophar’s Second Speech
June 16, 2019
Commentary
Zophar is the final speaker in this round. Today, we might say he thinks in fixed formulas: certain actions always produce certain results. He ignores Job’s cry for pity and reacts instead to what he sees as insults (vv. 1–3). Zophar launches into another forceful speech about the fate of the wicked. He argues that throughout history, any joy a sinner experiences is brief (vv. 4–5). No matter how high a person rises, position cannot change the outcome (v. 6). If someone is wicked, he insists, they will perish and disappear (vv. 7–9). He repeatedly focuses on wealth and how temporary it is, even hinting that Job gained riches dishonestly (v. 10). Sinful pleasure, he says, turns bitter and is quickly taken away without offering comfort (vv. 11–15).
Zophar continues by saying wealth gained through sin becomes like deadly poison, bringing painful consequences (v. 16). The wicked will not enjoy lasting abundance, and even if they see it, they cannot keep it (vv. 17–18). What is gained through oppression and violence is destined to be lost (v. 19). Greed, he argues, can never be satisfied. The more the wicked chase pleasure, the more they destroy their ability to enjoy anything at all, leaving hearts empty inside (vv. 20–21).
Zophar then describes a vivid and frightening end. Though the wicked try to escape, God’s judgment finds them (vv. 22–25). Fire and destruction overtake all they trusted in (vv. 26–28). He concludes that this is what God assigns to those who live in sin (v. 29). His speech sounds confident but shows little compassion, offering certainty without comfort to Job’s deep pain or hope for true healing. His certainty wounds deeper, mistaking rigid doctrine for compassion alone. Job hears judgment, but receives no mercy, patience, or hope.
Application
How I think about suffering and success. Do I use formulas like Zophar, judging without listening? When I see pain, do I speak with certainty or compassion? Do I listen before speaking to others? I ask God to guard my heart from pride and harsh words. I will listen gently, and trust justice without using it to wound others.
Job 20:1–29 (NET)
1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered:
2 “This is why my troubled thoughts bring me back — because of my feelings within me.
3 When I hear a reproof that dishonors me, then my understanding prompts me to answer.
4 “Surely you know that it has been from old, ever since humankind was placed on the earth,
5 that the elation of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.
6 Even though his stature reaches to the heavens and his head touches the clouds,
7 he will perish forever, like his own excrement; those who used to see him will say, ‘Where is he?’
8 Like a dream he flies away, never again to be found, and like a vision of the night he is put to flight.
9 People who had seen him will not see him again, and the place where he was will recognize him no longer.
10 His sons must recompense the poor; his own hands must return his wealth.
11 His bones were full of his youthful vigor, but that vigor will lie down with him in the dust.
12 “If evil is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his tongue,
13 if he retains it for himself and does not let it go, and holds it fast in his mouth,
14 his food is turned sour in his stomach; it becomes the venom of serpents within him.
15 The wealth that he consumed he vomits up, God will make him throw it out of his stomach.
16 He sucks the poison of serpents; the fangs of a viper kill him.
17 He will not look on the streams, the rivers that are the torrents of honey and butter.
18 He gives back the ill-gotten gain without assimilating it; he will not enjoy the wealth from his commerce.
19 For he has oppressed the poor and abandoned them; he has seized a house which he did not build.
20 For he knows no satisfaction in his appetite; he does not let anything he desires escape.
21 “Nothing is left for him to devour; that is why his prosperity does not last.
22 In the fullness of his sufficiency, distress overtakes him. The full force of misery will come upon him.
23 “While he is filling his belly, God sends his burning anger against him, and rains down his blows upon him.
24 If he flees from an iron weapon, then an arrow from a bronze bow pierces him.
25 When he pulls it out and it comes out of his back, the gleaming point out of his liver, terrors come over him.
26 Total darkness waits to receive his treasures; a fire that has not been kindled will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.
27 The heavens reveal his iniquity; the earth rises up against him.
28 A flood will carry off his house, rushing waters on the day of God’s wrath.
29 Such is the lot God allots the wicked, and the heritage of his appointment from God.”
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