Chap. 11
Verses 1-6
Job 11:1-6 1 Then began Zophar the Naamathite, and said: 2 Shall the torrent of words remain unanswered,
And shall the prater be in the right? 3 Shall thy vain talking silence the people,
So that thou mockest without any one putting thee to shame, 4 And sayest: my doctrine is pure,
And I am guiltless in Thine eyes? 5 But oh that Eloah would speak,
And open His lips against thee, 6 And make known to thee the secrets of wisdom,
That she is twofold in her nature -
Know then that Eloah forgetteth much of thy guilt.
When Job has concluded his long speech, Zophar, the third and most impetuous of the friends, begins. His name, if it is to be explained according to the Arabic Esauitish name el-assfar,[1] signifies the yellow one (flavedo), and the name of the place whence he comes, pleasantness (amaenitas). The very beginning of his speech is impassioned. He calls Job's speech דברים רב, a multitude of words (besides here, Pro 10:19; Ecc 5:2), and asks whether he is to remain unanswered; יענה לא, responsum non feret, from נענה, not the sense of being humbled, but: to be answered (of the suppliant: to be heard = to receive an answer). He calls Job שׂפתים אישׁ, a prater (distinct from דברים איש, a ready speaker, Exo 4:10), who is not in the right, whom one must not allow to have the last word. The questions, Job 11:2, are followed by another which is not denoted by the sign of a question, but is only known by the accent: Shall not thy בּדּים, meaningless speeches (from בדד = בטא, βαττολογεῖν),
- ↑ Vid., Abulfeda's Historia anteislamica ed. Fleischer, p. 168.
