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Job 11:5

in Job 11

But if only God would speak and open His lips against you,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

But oh that God would speak, And open his lips against thee,

KJV

But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;

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This verse in Job 11

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Gregory the Dialogist

Morals on the Book of Job, Book X · Written before 604.

But oh that God would speak with thee, and open His lips unto thee! For man by himself speaks to himself when in all that he thinks he is not withdrawn by the Spirit of the Divine Being from the sense of carnal wisdom; when the flesh puts forth a sense, and inviting the mind as it were to the understanding of it, sends it forth abroad. And hence 'Truth' saith to Peter, who was still full of earthly notions, For thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

This site's exposition

if only God would speak

on Job 11:5-6

Zophar wishes that God would "speak and open His lips against you", sure that the verdict would go against Job. Verse 6 ends with the harshest sentence any of the three friends speaks to Job's face, "God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves".

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Job · Written before 1274.

proposed

However, one should be careful to note that since sin is a turning aside from the law of God, one cannot know if something is a sin or its magnitude, if one does not know the law of God for "The straight line is the …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Speak - Plead with thee according to thy desire: he would soon put thee to silence. We are commonly ready with great assurance to interest God in our quarrels. But they are not always in the right, who are most forward, to appeal to his judgment, and prejudge it against their antagonists.
But O that God would speak,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

But O that God would speak - How little feeling, humanity, and charity is there in this prayer!
But oh that God would speak - Hebrew, “and truly, who will give that God should speak.” It is the expression of an earnest wish that God would address him, and bring him to a proper sense of his ill desert. The meaning is, that if God should speak to him he would by no means find himself so holy as he now claimed to be.

The words behind it

8 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְֽאוּלָ֗םand but

    veulamH199 →19 times

  • מִֽי־who?

    mi-H4310 →423 times

  • יִתֵּ֣ןwill he give

    yitenH5414 →2011 times

  • אֱל֣וֹהַּGod

    ʾeloahH433 →57 times

  • דַּבֵּ֑רto speak

    daberH1696 →1141 times

  • וְיִפְתַּ֖חand he may open

    veyiftachH6605 →144 times

  • שְׂפָתָ֣יוlips his

    sefatavH8193 →176 times

  • עִמָּֽךְ׃with you

    ʾimakhH5973 →1050 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

8 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Job 38:1–2Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:3 worksJob 33:6–18I am just like you before God; I was also formed from clay.2 worksJob 23:3–7If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat.2 worksJob 40:1–5And the LORD said to Job:2 worksJob 40:8Would you really annul My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?2 worksJob 42:7After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as My servant Job has.2 works
The other 2 cross-references, with their words ▾
Job 31:35(Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser compose an indictment.2 worksJob 13:3Yet I desire to speak to the Almighty and argue my case before God.2 works

The walk

5 stops

Each 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

    Job 40:8

    Would you really annul My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?

    it leads to

    • Romans 3:4

      Certainly not! Let God be true and every man a liar. As it is written: “So that You may be proved right when You speak and victorious when You judge.”

    • Job 32:2

      This kindled the anger of Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram. He burned with anger against Job for justifying himself rather than God,

    • Isaiah 28:18

      Your covenant with death will be dissolved, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be trampled by it.

    • Job 10:3

      Does it please You to oppress me, to reject the work of Your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked?

    • Isaiah 14:27

      The LORD of Hosts has purposed, and who can thwart Him? His hand is outstretched, so who can turn it back?

About Job

Job Hears of His Misfortunes, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Job Hears of His Misfortunes, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Job: the study guide →Read Job 11 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book X; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.

Read on in Job 11 →