Job 11:13
in Job 11As for you, if you direct your heart and lift up your hands to Him,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If thou set thy heart aright, And stretch out thy hands toward him;
KJV
If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him;
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This verse in Job 11
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
If thou prepare thine heart - Zophar now proceeds to state that if Job even yet would return to God, he might hope for acceptance. Though he had sinned, and though he was now, as he supposed, a hollow-hearted and an insincere man, yet, if he would repent, he might expect the divine favor. In this he accords with the sentiment of Eliphaz, and he concludes his speech in a manner not a little resembling his; see Job 5:17-27. And stretch out thine hands toward him - In the attitude of supplication.
This site's exposition
if you direct your heart
on Job 11:13-15
Zophar's call to repentance, "if you direct your heart and lift up your hands to Him", rests on a charge Job has denied. The clause "if you put away the iniquity in your hand" assumes the guilt the friends have yet to prove.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Here times are changed, and the meaning is, "If you want to obey me, open your arms in prayer to God with a pure heart, and you will never commit iniquity or transgression, and those things which Zophar mentions later will happen to you." And …
Zophar introduces himself as teacher and exhorts Job with the words, "Even if you are very clean, so clean that you stretch your hands continuously in prayer and ask for God's gifts, be still prepared to reject the evil that remains within you. Iniquity shall …
The Medieval Church2 voices
Thou hast set firm thine heart, and stretched out thine hands towards Him. The heart is not here said to be 'set firm' by virtue but by insensibility, for every soul that submits itself to the consideration of the interior severity, is directly softened by the fear thereof; and the shaft of divine dread enters into him, in that he carries weak bowels through humility. But he that is hardened by obstinacy in insensibility, as it were sets his heart firm, that the darts of heavenly fear may not pierce it.
He seemed to say this as an insult to Blessed Job because he takes Job's words as an argument with God as with an equal when he said, "May he withdraw his rod from me, let terror of him not frighten me. I will speak …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands towards him.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The apodosis to the "If" is at Job 11:15. The preparation of the heart is to be obtained (Pr 16:1) by stretching out the hands in prayer for it (Ps 10:17;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
If thou prepare thine heart - Make use of the powers which God has given thee, and be determined to seek him with all thy soul. And stretch out thine hands toward him - Making fervent prayer and supplication, putting away iniquity out of thy hand, and not permitting wickedness to dwell in thy tabernacle; then thou shalt lift up thy face without a blush, thou wilt become established, and have nothing to fear, Job 11:14, Job 11:15. There is a sentiment in Pro 16:1, very similar to that in the Job 11:13, which we translate very improperly: - לאדם מערכי לב leadam maarchey leb. To man are the preparations of the heart: ומהוה מענה לשון umeyehovah maaneh lashon. But from Jehovah is the answer to the tongue. It is man’s duty to pray; it is God’s prerogative to answer. Zophar, like all the rest, is true to his principle. Job must be a wicked man, else he had not been afflicted. There must be some iniquity in his hand, and some wickedness tolerated in his family. So they all supposed.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
But an empty man a hollow man, without a heart [i.e., understanding], who did not understand His way.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Distance iniquity from your hand, and do not allow injustice to dwell in your tents.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| אַ֭תָּ֗ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| הֲכִינ֣וֹתָ | hakhinota | you have directed | H3559 → | 217 times |
| לִבֶּ֑ךָ | libekha | heart your | H3820 → | 595 times |
| וּפָרַשְׂתָּ֖ | ufarasta | and you will spread out | H6566 → | 67 times |
| אֵלָ֣יו | ʾelav | to him | H413 → | 5510 times |
| כַּפֶּֽךָ׃ | kapekha | palms your | H3709 → | 192 times |
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
אַ֭תָּ֗הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
הֲכִינ֣וֹתָyou have directed
hakhinotaH3559 →217 times
לִבֶּ֑ךָheart your
libekhaH3820 →595 times
וּפָרַשְׂתָּ֖and you will spread out
ufarastaH6566 →67 times
אֵלָ֣יוto him
ʾelavH413 →5510 times
כַּפֶּֽךָ׃palms your
kapekhaH3709 →192 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Samuel 7:3Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and Ashtoreths among you, prepare your hearts…
it leads to
- Luke 4:8
But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
- Deuteronomy 13:4
You are to follow the LORD your God and fear Him. Keep His commandments and listen to His voice; serve Him and hold fast to Him.
- Matthew 4:10
“Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus declared. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
- Deuteronomy 6:13
Fear the LORD your God, serve Him only, and take your oaths in His name.
- Isaiah 55:7
Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely…
- Luke 4:8
Through
Psalms 143:6I stretch out my hands to You; my soul thirsts for You like a parched land. Selah
it leads to
- Psalms 63:1
O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.
- Psalms 63:1
Through
Psalms 78:8Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.
it leads to
- Psalms 78:37
Their hearts were disloyal to Him, and they were unfaithful to His covenant.
- Exodus 32:9
The LORD also said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.
- Psalms 78:37
About Job
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON JOB 11:13-14; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book X; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Olympiodorus of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON JOB 11:13-14 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.