Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Job 11:8

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Job 11:8. It is as high as heaven — High as the heavens, what canst thou work? Deep below sheol, (the invisible world,) what canst thou know? Long beyond the earth, and broad beyond the sea, is its measure. These are instances in the immensity of created things, and all out of the reach of human power and knowledge; and if these things are so, how incomprehensible must he be, who designed, created, preserves, and governs the whole!

We find the same thought in Milton: -

"These are thy glorious works, Parent of good!

Almighty! Thine this universal frame:

How wondrous fair! Thyself how wondrous then!"

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Zophar speaks (11:1-20)

Angered at what he considers to be Job’s irreverent talk, Zophar can keep silent no longer (11:1-3). He rebukes Job for claiming to be an innocent victim of injustice, and asserts that if Job really suffered according to his sin, his suffering would be much worse (4-6). God’s wisdom is limitless and therefore his judgments must be true. People should neither oppose him nor expect to understand his ways (7-10). No one can deceive God, for he sees people as they really are. Only stupid people ask the sorts of questions Job has been asking (11-12).
What Job must do, says Zophar, is acknowledge his sin and turn from it (13-14). In return God will bless him with a genuinely clear conscience and a feeling of security and confidence. The miserable past will be forgotten; a bright future is assured (15-19). But if he stubbornly refuses to repent, Job can expect only increased suffering, which will lead finally to death (20).
The impression we gain from the speeches of Zophar is that he is the shallowest thinker of the three. Not surprisingly, he is also the most dogmatic and hot tempered. He has no experience such as Eliphaz’s dream to support him; he does not have Bildad’s knowledge of teachings handed down from the past; but he is totally confident that his view is right and all others wrong.

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

ZOPHAR ACCUSES JOB OF BEING IGNORANT OF GOD

"Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is high as heaven; what canst thou do? Deeper than Sheol; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, And broader than the sea. If he pass through, and shut up, and call unto judgment, Then who can hinder him? For he knoweth false men: He seeth iniquity also, even though he consider it not. But vain man is void of understanding, Yea, man is born as a wild ass's colt."

The things Zophar said in this passage were just as applicable to himself as they were to Job; but men with a plank in their own eye love to gouge for the mote in their brother's eye. In the last analysis, God Himself finally opened his lips, as Zophar suggested in Job 11:5, flatly declaring that Zophar and Job's other friends had not spoken "that which was right" about God (Job 42:7). How wrong he was!

Some of the generalities Zophar here uttered about God were of course true; but his thinly veiled suggestions that Job was ignorant (Job 11:8), that he could not hinder God (Job 11:10), that Job was one of the "false men" (Job 11:11), that God could see Job's sin (Job 11:11), that Job was a vain man void of understanding (Job 11:12), and that he was as ignorant as a wild ass's colt (Job 11:12) - all of this speech by Zophar must have been a very bitter thing for Job to hear.

Zophar had pretended to know that Job was a sinner, but without any evidence whatever. "So in these verses (Job 11:7-12), Zophar supported his charges by appealing to God's infinity"!Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 471.

The greatest insult of all from Zophar is in Job 11:12, which in the RSV is rendered thus: A stupid man will get understanding when a wild ass's colt is born a man. "This is a statement of the utter impossibility of a stupid man's attaining wisdom."Layman's Bible Commentary, Vol. 8, p. 83.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

It is as high as heaven - That is, the knowledge of God; or the subject is as high as heaven. The idea is, that man is incompetent to examine, with accuracy, an object that is as far off as the heavens; and that as the knowledge of God must be of that character, it is vain for him to attempt to investigate it fully. There is an energy in the Hebrew which is lost in our common translation. The Hebrew is abrupt and very emphatic: “The heights of the heavens!” It is the language of one looking up with astonishment at the high heavens, and over-powered with the thought that the knowledge of God must be higher even than those distant skies. Who can hope to understand it? Who can be qualified to make the investigation? It is a matter of simple but sublime truth, that God must be higher than these heavens; and when we take into view the amazing distances of many of the heavenly bodies, as now known by the aid of modern astronomy, we may ask with deeper emphasis by far than Zophar did. “Can we, by searching, find out God?”

Deeper than hell - Hebrew “Than Sheol” - משׁאול mesh^e'ôl. The Septuagint renders this, “the heaven is high, what canst thou do? And there are things deeper than in Hades - βαθύτερα τῶν ἐν ᾃδου bathutera tōn en Hadou - what dost thou know?” On the meaning of the word Sheol, see Isaiah 5:14, note; Isaiah 14:9, note. It seems to have been supposed to be as deep as the heavens are high; and the idea here is, that it would be impossible for man to investigate a subject that was as profound as Sheol was deep. The idea is not that God was in Sheol, but that the subject was as profound as the abode of departed spirits was deep and remote. It is possible that the Psalmist may have had this passage in his eye in the similar expression, occurring in Psalms 139:0:

If I ascend into heaven, thou art there;

If I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Shall we turn to the eleventh chapter of the book of Job.

And in chapter 11 we hear from Job's third friend, old Zophar, and he gets his two cents worth in. Now for you that weren't here last Sunday night, we remember that the sons of God were presenting themselves to God and Satan came with them. And God did a little bragging on his servant, Job. And Satan said, "Yes, but You've so prospered him. Job, or anybody for that matter, would serve You if they were blessed as much as Job is. And You've put a hedge around the fellow; I can't get to him. Take away the hedge. Let me take away his possessions; he'll curse You to Your face." And so the Lord said, "All right. You can take away his possessions, but you leave him alone." And so Satan, operating within the limitations that God placed upon him. And Satan stripped Job of all of his possessions, his children even. And when Job received the word finally that his children were wiped out, he fell on his face and he said, "Naked I came into the world, naked I am going out. The Lord has given; the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." And in all of these things Job did not curse God, nor did he charge God foolishly.

So it came to pass in another day that the sons of God were presenting themselves to God, and Satan also came with them. And God said the Satan, "Where have you been?" And he said, "Oh, going around the earth." The Lord said, "Have you considered my servant Job? Good man. He's upright. He's perfect. He loves good; he hates evil. And in spite of all of what you've done, you were wrong about him. He didn't curse Me." And so Satan offered, really, a second suggestion concerned Job in which he expressed really what the psychologists tell us are the basic instincts of man, and that is self-preservation. Skin for skin. Yea, all that a man has will he give for his skin. Will he give for his life. "You see, You haven't let me touch him. Let me hit him. Let me get at him and he'll curse You to Your face." So God said, "All right, do what you would want, but don't take his life. Spare his life."

So Job was afflicted with these horrible boils from the head to the toe. Running, putrid sores. Painful. He lay out in the dust, in the ashes. As the sores would dry they would just form clods on his body. He'd take a piece of broken clay and just scrape himself. Absolutely miserable condition. His wife looked at him one day and said, "Honey, why don't you get it over with? Why don't you just curse God and die?" Job said, "We've received good from God, should we not also receive evil?"

There were three men from the east, reputed wise men who knew Job because Job was the greatest man in all of the east because of the abundance of his possessions prior to his being stripped. And they came to commiserate with him in his misery. And they sat there in silence for seven days as they saw the misery of their friend. And after seven days, Job opened up his mouth and cursed the day that he was born. Cursed the fact that he was alive. Cried out for death. And his friends began to more or less rebuke him. They began to suggest and intimate that no one could suffer this much unless he was some kind of a horrible sinner. That though he appeared outwardly to be a good man, yet he must be hiding some dreadful sin, or seeking to hide it, but God wouldn't let him hide it, and this surely is punishment from God for the evil that he has done.

Now, we know better than that because we had the first two chapters where we got the insight to what was happening. So we know how wrong is the evaluation of man concerning the situation. It's interesting how that we so often think that we know all the answers. And this is sort of Zophar's position. You know, he really knows just what it's all about. He knows all about God, and he's a religious dogmatist. And he now makes his speech as we get here to chapter 11, and rebukes Job, and again the innuendoes of evil and so forth in Job. So these are the discourses that the friends will speak and then Job will answer them. And then the next friend will speak up and try to put Job down, and Job will answer him. And the conversation is going back and forth between Job and his friends. A friend will speak, then Job responds, and this is the way the book of Job moves.

Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, Should not the multitude of words be answered? Should a man full of talk be justified? ( Job 11:1-2 )

Job, do you think you can just justify yourself with your mouth? A man who says all of the things you're saying, should you just let it go?

Should your lies make men hold their peace? ( Job 11:3 )

Now you see, he's accusing him of being a liar.

and when you mock, shall no man make thee ashamed? For you have said, My doctrine is pure, I am clean in thine eyes. But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee ( Job 11:3-5 );

Well, the first chapter God did speak. God said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? An upright man. He loves good. He hates evil." You see, God had spoken and given His evaluation of Job. Now this friend Zophar said, "Oh, if God would only speak! You know, tell us what He knows about you."

He would show thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know ye therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserves ( Job 11:6 ).

"Job, you listen, if God would really lay it on for all you're got coming, it'd be worse than what you've got now." Isn't that a great way to comfort a friend who's really hurting? No wonder Job cried out, "Miserable comforters are all of you." What a way to comfort a man. "Hey, man, you've got it easy. If God would really lay it on you like you've got coming to you, you'd be in much worse shape that this."

And so, an interesting question though. He said, "Can you by searching find out God? Can you find out the Almighty unto perfection?" And the answer is really no. Man, through an intellectual quest, cannot find out God. You will never understand God completely. Now one of our problems is that we are always seeking to understand God. We are always asking God, "Why, Lord, did You allow this? Why, God, has this happened to me? Why, Lord, am I in this condition?" We're trying to understand God. But I have found that why's can be a cesspool. You can drown in it. "Why did God?" The answer is, we don't know the why's of God. God does many things that I do not understand. I don't understand why a child is born blind. I don't understand why someone is crippled for life. I don't understand why children starve to death. There are a lot of things that I don't understand. I don't understand why we have to suffer. I don't understand why we experience sorrow. I don't understand why my brother and father were killed in a plane crash. A lot of things I don't understand.

That is why it is important that you have certain foundational truths upon which you stand. You see, there are certain things that I know. They are foundational truths, they are underneath, I rest upon these, I stand upon these. I know this: that God loves me. In spite of what happens, I know God loves me. In spite of what I might experience, I know God loves me. What tragedy might befall me in my path of life, I know that God loves me. And it's important that you know this. It's important that you have this as an undergirding, foundational truth. Because when you don't understand what's happening, you've gotta fall back on what you do understand, and I do understand God loves me. I do understand that God is far wiser than I am and He can see much more than I can see. I do know that my vision is very limited. I know that the spectrum that I can see is very small. I know that God has a much broader vision than I have. He can see the end from the beginning. Not only is His vision much broader than mine, but His wisdom is much expanded from mine. And though I do not understand, thank God I no longer have to understand all of the things that have happened to me. As long as I understand that God loves me and my life is in His hand and that He is working in me according to love and His wisdom, doing what is best for me as He knows what is best. I, by faith, rest there. Lord, You know what's best for me. Lord, You love me. Lord, You're in control of my life. So, whatever. I don't understand why God allowed His own Son to suffer on the cross in order to redeem such as me. There are a lot of things about God that I don't understand. But it isn't necessary or important that I do understand them. It is only necessary that I commit my life completely to God, come what may.

Now if you only commit yourself as far as you understand, if you're only, "Because I am blessed, I'm prospered and all, and therefore I love God and serve God because, you know, I'm prospered so much by God," then what are you going to do in the day of adversity? Should you be stripped of that which you have? What can you do then? But if you've learned to trust in God completely and commit to God completely your life, then you can handle the things that come along your path. So who by searching can find out God? You can't. This is one of the problems man has run up against. He sought to intellectually search for God and understand God, but God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. No matter how much you may search for God intellectually, there always comes that point where you've got to leave the area of reason and take the step of faith to touch Him. Now my intellect can tell me an awful lot about God. My intellect surely brings me to the consciousness and the awareness that God exists. I'm not so stupid as to think this whole thing could have come about through spontaneous generation, or just fortunate accidents. All of the life forms, the variables of the life forms, witness to me of the wisdom of the Divine Creator.

I love nature. I love to study nature. I love the quirks of nature. I love to study the little fish down in Panama that shoots water at the bugs that are on the twigs. Quite accurate. Hits them with a blob of water, they fall, and then his swims up and grabs them. Now how long did it take for that little fish to develop the capacity to spit that little bit of water, to develop the accuracy? How did he survive before he learned how to do it? Things like that fascinate me. Surely there is a Creator. Surely there is an original cause. My intellect can carry me a long way, but there comes the place where I have to, ultimately, to really reach God, leave the realm of the intellect and take the step of faith. "All right, God. I believe. I trust. I commit." A step of faith. I'll never understand God completely; God said I won't. He said, "My ways are not your ways. My ways are beyond your finding out" ( Isaiah 55:8 ). So who can understand God perfectly?

It is as high as heaven; what can you do? deeper than hell; what can you know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, it's broader than the sea. If God decides to cut off, or shut up, or gather together, who can hinder God? [Who can stop the purposes of God?] For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it? For vain men would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt. If you prepare your heart, and stretch out your hands towards him; If iniquity be in your hand, put it far away, let not wickedness dwell in your tents ( Job 11:8-14 ).

So he's now turning to Job and saying, "Look, you know, if you prepare your heart and stretch out your hand to God, make sure you don't have any wickedness in your hands, and let your tabernacles be clean."

For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be steadfast, and shall not fear: Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as the waters that pass away: and thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; and shine forth, and thou shalt be as the morning. And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yes, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety. Also thou shalt lie down, and none will make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee [or shall come to thee and do obeisance]. But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost ( Job 11:15-20 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

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.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Zophar’s praise of God’s Wisdom 11:7-12

Eliphaz and Bildad had spoken mainly of God’s justice. Zophar extolled His wisdom. He rightly explained that God’s wisdom is unfathomable, but he inadvertently claimed to fathom it by saying Job deserved more punishment than he was getting. Job 11:12 may have been a proverb common in Job’s day. It means that it is harder for a fool (empty head) to learn wisdom than for a wild donkey, notorious for its stupidity, to give birth to a man. In Zophar’s view, Job was extremely foolish because he failed to see the truth of what Eliphaz and Bildad had said.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

[It is] as high as heaven; what canst thou do?.... Or, "is higher than the heavens" i; either the wisdom of God and the secrets of it; the perfection of his wisdom, by which he has made the heavens; or evangelical wisdom, hid in his heart, and which the highest of creatures, the angels, come at the knowledge of only by revelation; and therefore, what can man do to find it out, unless God reveals it? or wisdom displayed in dark providences, which can never be accounted for until the judgments of God are made manifest: or else, "he [that is] God", as the Vulgate Latin version, is "higher than the heavens"; the heaven is his throne on which he sits, and therefore he must be higher than that; the heavens, and heaven of heavens, cannot contain him; he fills up the infinite space beyond them; how is it possible therefore to find him out, to comprehend him?

deeper than hell; what canst thou know? meaning, neither the grave nor the place of the damned, for both which "Sheol" is sometimes used, but the centre or lowest part of the earth; there is a depth in God, in his essence, in his thoughts, in his wisdom, displayed in nature, providence, and grace, that is unfathomable; we can know nothing of it but what he is pleased to make known; see Psalms 92:5; the Targum of the verse is,

"in the height of heaven, what canst thou do? in the law, which is deeper than hell, what canst thou know?''

i גבהי שמים "altior est altissimis coelis", Junius & Tremellius.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      7 Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?   8 It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?   9 The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.   10 If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him?   11 For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?   12 For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt.

      Zophar here speaks very good things concerning God and his greatness and glory, concerning man and his vanity and folly: these two compared together, and duly considered, will have a powerful influence upon our submission to all the dispensations of the divine Providence.

      I. See here what God is, and let him be adored.

      1. He is an incomprehensible Being, infinite and immense, whose nature and perfections our finite understandings cannot possibly form any adequate conceptions of, and whose counsels and actings we cannot therefore, without the greatest presumption, pass a judgment upon. We that are so little acquainted with the divine nature are incompetent judges of the divine providence; and, when we censure the dispensations of it, we talk of things that we do not understand. We cannot find out God; how dare we then find fault with him? Zophar here shows, (1.) That God's nature infinitely exceeds the capacities of our understandings: "Canst thou find out God, find him out to perfection? No, What canst thou do? What canst thou know?" Job 11:7; Job 11:8. Thou, a poor, weak, short-sighted creature, a worm of the earth, that art but of yesterday? Thou, though ever so inquisitive after him, ever so desirous and industrious to find him out, yet darest thou attempt the search, or canst thou hope to speed in it? We may, by searching find God (Acts 17:27), but we cannot find him out in any thing he is pleased to conceal; we may apprehend him, but we cannot comprehend him; we may know that he is, but cannot know what he is. The eye can see the ocean but not see over it. We may, by a humble, diligent, and believing search, find out something of God, but cannot find him out to perfection; we may know, but cannot know fully, what God is, nor find out his work from the beginning to the end,Ecclesiastes 3:11. Note, God is unsearchable. The ages of his eternity cannot be numbered, nor the spaces of his immensity measured; the depths of his wisdom cannot be fathomed, nor the reaches of his power bounded; the brightness of his glory can never be described, nor the treasures of his goodness reckoned up. This is a good reason why we should always speak of God with humility and caution and never prescribe to him nor quarrel with him, why we should be thankful for what he has revealed of himself and long to be where we shall see him as he is, 1 Corinthians 13:9; 1 Corinthians 13:10. (2.) That it infinitely exceeds the limits of the whole creation: It is higher than heaven (so some read it), deeper than hell, the great abyss, longer than the earth, and broader than the sea, many parts of which are to this day undiscovered, and more were then. It is quite out of our reach to comprehend God's nature. Such knowledge is too wonderful for us,Psalms 139:6. We cannot fathom God's designs, nor find out the reasons of his proceedings. His judgments are a great deep. Paul attributes such immeasurable dimensions to the divine love as Zophar here attributes to the divine wisdom, and yet recommends it to our acquaintance. Ephesians 3:18; Ephesians 3:19, That you may know the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, of the love of Christ.

      2. God is a sovereign Lord (Job 11:10; Job 11:10): If he cut off by death (margin, If he make a change, for death is a change; if he make a change in nations, in families, in the posture of our affairs),--if he shut up in prison, or in the net of affliction (Psalms 66:11),-- if he seize any creature as a hunter his prey, he will gather it (so bishop Patrick) and who shall force him to restore? or if he gather together, as tares for the fire, or if he gather to himself man's spirit and breath (Job 34:14; Job 34:14), then who can hinder him? Who can either arrest the sentence or oppose the execution? Who can control his power or arraign his wisdom and justice? If he that made all out of nothing think fit to reduce all to nothing, or to their first chaos again,--if he that separated between light and darkness, dry land and sea, at first, please to gather them together again,--if he that made unmakes, who can turn him away, alter his mind or stay his hand, impede or impeach his proceedings?

      3. God is a strict and just observer of the children of men (Job 11:11; Job 11:11): He knows vain men. We know little of him, but he knows us perfectly: He sees wickedness also, not to approve it (Habakkuk 1:13), but to animadvert upon it. (1.) He observes vain men. Such all are (every man, at his best estate, is altogether vanity), and he considers it in his dealings with them. He knows what the projects and hopes of vain men are, and can blast and defeat them, the workings of their foolish fancies; he sits in heaven, and laughs at them. He takes knowledge of the vanity of men (that is, their little sins; so some) their vain thoughts and vain words, and unsteadiness in that which is good. (2.) He observes bad men: He sees gross wickedness also, though committed ever so secretly and ever so artfully palliated and disguised. All the wickedness of the wicked is naked and open before the all-seeing eye of God: Will he not then consider it? Yes, certainly he will, and will reckon for it, though for a time he seem to keep silence.

      II. See here what man is, and let him be humbled, Job 11:12; Job 11:12. God sees this concerning vain man that he would be wise, would be thought so, though he is born like a wild ass's colt, so sottish and foolish, unteachable and untameable. See what man is. 1. He is a vain creature--empty; so the word is. God made him full, but he emptied himself, impoverished himself, and now he is raca, a creature that has nothing in him. 2. He is a foolish creature, has become like the beasts that perish (Psalms 49:20; Psalms 73:22), an idiot, born like an ass, the most stupid animal, an ass's colt, not yet brought to any service. If ever he come to be good for any thing, it is owing to the grace of Christ, who once, in the day of his triumph, served himself by an ass's colt. 3. He is a wilful ungovernable creature. An ass's colt may be made good for something, but the wild ass's colt will never be reclaimed, nor regards the crying of the driver. See Job 39:5-7. Man thinks himself as much at liberty, and his own master, as the wild ass's colt does, that is used to the wilderness (Jeremiah 2:24), eager to gratify his own appetites and passions. 4. Yet he is a proud creature and self-conceited. He would be wise, would he thought so, values himself upon the honour of wisdom, though he will not submit to the laws of wisdom. He would be wise, that is, he reaches after forbidden wisdom, and, like his first parents, aiming to be wise above what is written, loses the tree of life for the tree of knowledge. Now is such a creature as this fit to contend with God or call him to an account? Did we but better know God and ourselves, we should better know how to conduct ourselves towards God.