Job 11:16

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 11:13-20

Zophar, as the other two, here encourages Job to hope for better times if he would but come to a better temper. I. He gives him good counsel (Job 11:13, 14), as Eliphaz did (Job 5:8), and Bildad, Job 8:5. He would have him repent and return to God. Observe the steps of that return. 1. He must look within, and get his mind changed and the tree made good. He must prepare his heart; there the work of conversion and reformation must begin. The heart that wandered from God must be reduced?that was... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 11:16

Because thou shall forget thy misery ,.... Former afflictions and distresses; having an abundance of prosperity and happiness, and long continued; and so, in process of time, the miseries and distresses before endured are forgotten; thus it was with Joseph in his advanced state, and therefore he called one of his sons Manasseh, Genesis 41:51 ; and as it is with convinced and converted persons and believers in Christ, who, under first convictions and awakenings, are filled with sorrow and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 11:16

Because thou shalt forget thy misery - Thou shalt have such long and complete rest, that thou shalt scarcely remember thy labor. As waters that pass away - Like as the mountain floods, which sweep every thing before them, houses, tents, cattle, and the produce of the field, and are speedily absorbed by the sandy plains over which they run, so shalt thou remember thy sufferings: they were wasting and ruinous for the time, but were soon over and gone. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 11:1-20

Zophar, the Naamathite, the third of Job's comforters ( Job 2:11 ), and probably the youngest of them, now at last takes the word, and delivers an angry and violent speech. He begins by accusing Job of having spoken at undue length, and at the same time, boastfully and mockingly (verses 2-4). He then expresses a wish that God would take Job at his word, and really answer him, since he is sure that the result would be to show that Job had been punished much less than he. deserved to be... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 11:1-20

Humble yourselves beneath the mighty hand of God. Zophar, the youngest of the friends, now comes forward once more to beat down the complaint of Job with the old arguments and commonplaces. To support his words, he does not appeal to a vision like Eliphaz, nor rely on the wisdom of the ancients like Bildad, but depends on his own understanding and zealous though narrow instinct for God. His whole speech is an example of the beauty and, at the same time, the defect of religious zeal. In... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 11:13-19

The invitation to repentance. All Job's friends would lead him to repentance. They see the judgments of God upon him in his afflictions. They know of no other cause for afflictions than as a punishment for wrong-doing. The conclusion is clear, "Thou hast sinned." This underlies all their speeches. But they have rightly seized the truth—God forgiveth the iniquity of the repentant. Therefore they urge their entreaty to their friend in one word, "Repent." And Zophar reveals to Job the method... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 11:13-19

The blessedness of returning to God. Zophar draws a beautiful picture of the joys and blessings of restoration to God, and, though its implied background must have spoilt it for Job by suggesting that the patriarch was a great sinner needing repentance, in itself the picture is true and helpful. I. THE PROCESS OF RETURNING TO GOD . 1 . By a right condition of the heart. The heart is first to be set right. We can only return to God with our heart. The heart wandered; the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 11:13-20

Zophar to Job: 3. An exhortation to repentance. I. THE ACTINGS OF PENTIENCE . 1 . Preparation of the heart. "If thou prepare [literally, 'direct'] thy heart '" i.e. towards God. True penitence is a heart-work, beginning in the heart, relating to the heart, and carried on by the heart, though not without Divine assistance ( Proverbs 16:1 ). 2 . Elevation of the soul. "If thou stretch out thine hands towards him," i.e. God; the lifting up and stretching forth of the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 11:16

Because thou shalt forget thy misery . All thy past misery shall be clean swept away from thy remembrance, because of the happy condition whereto thou shalt be raised (see Job 11:18 , Job 11:19 ). "Sorrow's memory" is not always "a sorrow still." And remember it as waters that pass away ; i.e. remember it no more than a man remembers the shower that has passed away or the pool that is dried up. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 11:16

And remember it as waters that pass away - As calamity that has completely gone by, or that has rolled on and will return no more. The comparison is beautiful. The water of the river is borne by us, and returns no more. The rough, the swollen, the turbid stream, we remember as it foamed and dashed along, threatening to sweep everything away; but it went swiftly by, and will never come back. So with afflictions. They are soon gone. The most intense pain soon subsides. The days of sorrow pass... read more

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