Job 11:18

World English Bible

Contextual Overview

¹³ "If you set your heart aright, Stretch out your hands toward him. ¹⁴ If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, Don't let unrighteousness dwell in your tents. ¹⁵ Surely then shall you lift up your face without spot; Yes, you shall be steadfast, and shall not fear: ¹⁶ For you shall forget your misery; You shall remember it as waters that are passed away, ¹⁷ Life shall be clearer than the noonday; Though there is darkness, it shall be as the morning. ¹⁸ You shall be secure, because there is hope; Yes, you shall search, and shall take your rest in safety. ¹⁹ Also you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid; Yes, many shall court your favor. ²⁰ But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, They shall have no way to flee; Their hope shall be the giving up of the spirit."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

because: Job 6:11, Job 7:6, Job 22:27-29, Psalms 43:5, Proverbs 14:32, Romans 5:3-5, Colossians 1:27

thou shalt take: Leviticus 26:5, Leviticus 26:6, Psalms 3:5, Psalms 4:8, Proverbs 3:24-26

Cross-References

Luke 3:35
the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And thou shall be secure,.... From coming into like darkness, difficulties, and distress again, and from every evil and enemy; nothing shall come nigh to disturb and hurt, nothing to be feared from any quarter, all around: or "shalt be confident" y; have a strong faith and full assurance of it, in the love of God, in the living Redeemer, and in the promises which respect the life that now is, and that which is to come:

because there is hope; of the mercy of God, of salvation by Christ, and of eternal glory and happiness, as well as of a continuance of outward prosperity; faith and hope mutually assist each other; faith is the substance of things hoped for, and hope of better and future things on a good foundation encourages faith and confidence:

yea, thou shalt dig [about thee]; to let in stakes for the pitching and fixing of tents to dwell in, and for more commodious pasturage; or for wells of water, for the supply both of the family and the flocks; or rather, for ditches and trenches to secure from thieves and robbers, or for drains to carry off floods of water:

[and] thou shalt take thy rest in safety; lie down on the bed and sleep in the night season in peace and quietness, having nothing to fear; being well entrenched, and secure from depredations and inundations; and, more especially being hedged about and protected by the power and providence of God; see Psalms 3:5; the Targum is,

"thou shall prepare a grave, and lie down, and sleep secure.''

y ובטחת "et confides", Mercerus, Piscator, Schmidt; "et habebis fiduciam", V. L.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And thou shalt be secure - You will feel confident that your prosperity will be permanent, and you will be free from the distressing anxieties and fears which you now have.

Thou shalt dig about thee - The Chaldee renders this, “thou shalt prepare for thyself a sepulchre, and shalt lie down in safety.” The word used here (חפר châphar) has two significations. It means,

(1) “to dig” - as, e. g. a well, and under this signification to search out, to explore; and,

(2.) to be ashamed, to blush, Isaiah 1:29.

According to Gesenius, the latter here is the signification. “Now thou art ashamed, then thou shalt dwell in quiet,” Lexicon. So Noyes renders it. Dr. Good translates it, “yea, thou shalt look around;” Rosenmuller, “thou art suffused with shame.” This is, probably, the true sense; and the idea is, that though he was now covered with shame, yet he would lie down in peace and safety if he would return to the Lord.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 11:18. And thou shalt be secure — Thou shalt not fear any farther evils to disturb thy prosperity, for thou shalt have a well-grounded hope and confidence that thou shalt no more be visited by adversity.

Yea, thou shalt dig — I believe this neither refers to digging his grave, nor to curiously investigating surrounding circumstances; but to the custom of digging for water in the places where they pitched their tents. It was a matter of high importance in Asiatic countries to find good wells of wholesome water; and they were frequently causes of contention among neighbouring chiefs, who sometimes stopped them up, and at other times seized them as their own. Through envy of Isaac's prosperity the Philistines stopped up all the wells which Abraham had digged, Genesis 26:12-16. And we find the herdsmen of Gerar contending with Isaac's servants about the wells which the latter had digged; so that they were obliged to abandon two of the chief of them, and remove to a distance in order to dig and find quiet possession. See Genesis 31:17-22. Zophar, in reference to all these sorts of contentions and petty wars about wells and springs, tells Job that in the state of prosperity to which he shall be brought by the good providence of God, he shall dig-find wells of living water; none shall contend with him; and he shall rest in safety, all the neighbouring chieftains cultivating friendship with him; see on Job 5:23; Job 5:24; and that this is the meaning of the passage the following verse shows: Thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee. Thou shalt be in perfect security; no enemy shall molest thee, and many shall seek thy friendship.