Job 11:11

For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(11) He knoweth vain men.—Though he regardeth it not: that is, seemeth not to see it.

Benson Commentary

Job 11:11. For he knoweth vain men — Though men know but little of God, and therefore are very unfit judges of his counsels and actions, yet God knows man exactly. He knoweth that every man in the world is guilty of much vanity and folly, and therefore seeth sufficient reason for his severity against the best men. He seeth wickedness also — He perceiveth the wickedness of evil men, though it be covered with the veil of religion. Will he not then consider — Shall he only see it as an idle spectator, and not observe it as a judge to punish it?

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

11:7-12 Zophar speaks well concerning God and his greatness and glory, concerning man and his vanity and folly. See here what man is; and let him be humbled. 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 unteachable and untameable. Man is a vain creature; empty, so the word is. Yet he is a proud creature, and self-conceited. He would be wise, would be thought so, though he will not submit to the laws of wisdom. He would be wise, 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. Is such a creature as this fit to contend with God?

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For he knoweth vain men - He is intimately acquainted with the heart; he knows human beings altogether. The word "vain" here (שׁוא shâv'), means properly vanity, emptiness, falsehood, a lie, iniquity. "Men of vanity," here may mean people whose opinions are valueless, or it may mean people of deceit, falsehood, hypocrisy. Most probably it means the latter, and the indirect reference may be to such men as Job. The sense is, that God is intimately acquainted with such men. They cannot deceive him, and their wickedness will be found out.

Will he not then consider it? - Various ways have been proposed of explaining this. By some it is supposed to mean, "He seeth iniquity, where they do not observe it;" that is, he perceives it, where people do not themselves. This would express a thought which would accord well with the connection, but it is doubtful whether the Hebrew will bear this construction. By another explanation it is supposed to mean, as in our common version, "Will not God observe it, and bring it to trial? Will he suffer it to pass unnoticed?" This makes good sense, and the Hebrew will admit of this interpretation. But there is another view still, which is preferable to either. According to this it means, that God perceives the iniquity in man, though he does not seem to notice it; see the notes at Job 11:6. He appears to pass over a part of it, but he sees it notwithstanding, and is intimately acquainted with all the depravity of the heart. The main reference here is to Job, and the object is to show him that he was guilty, though he had asserted his innocence in so decided a manner. Though he seemed to himself to be innocent, yet Zophar labors to show him that he must be guilty, and that he had seen but a small part of his sins.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

11. (Ps 94:11).

consider—so as to punish it. Rather, from the connection, Job 11:6, "He seeth wickedness also, which man does not perceive"; literally, "But no (other, save He) perceiveth it" [Umbreit]. God's "wisdom" (Job 11:6), detects sin where Job's human eye cannot reach (Job 11:8), so as to see any.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

He knoweth vain men: though men know but little of God, and therefore are very unfit judges of all his counsels and actions; yet God knows man exactly, and his vanity, or falsehood, or folly, or rashness; for all these this word signifies. He knoweth that every man in the world is guilty of much vanity and folly, and therefore seeth sufficient reason for his severity against the best men, such as thou, O Job, fanciest thyself to be; and if thou wert so, thou hast no reason to wonder at or quarrel with his proceedings; and if thy quarrel be that he shuts thee up, or cuts thee off, when he gathers others under his wing and protection, whom thou thinkest or knowest to be worse than thyself, while thou dost impeach his justice, thou dost but betray thy own vanity and folly; for he knows both whom he chastiseth, and whom he spareth, and why he doth it, though he do not acquaint thee with the reasons of all his actions.

He seeth wickedness also; as he knoweth the vanity of all men, so he exactly perceiveth the wickedness of evil men, though it be covered with the veil of religion. He seeth thy evil heart, which discovers itself by such wicked and scandalous speeches against the justice and goodness of his providence, which gives him just cause to continue and increase thy miseries. Though thou art partial, and flatterest thyself with a conceit of thy own integrity, yet he knoweth thy hypocrisy and wickedness.

Will he not then consider it? shall he only see it as an idle spectator, and not observe it as a judge, to requite and punish it?

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

For he knoweth vain men,.... Or, "men of vanity" (p), as all men are; men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree a lie, and they are both lighter than vanity, Psalm 62:9; and the Lord knows them, and knows them to be so; he knows all men, and all that is in them; he knows the vanity of their minds, and the vain thoughts that are in them; all their vain and idle words, and their vain lives and conversations; and therefore it is no wonder he does the above things at his pleasure:

he seeth wickedness also; the wickedness of their hearts and lives, their secret and open wickedness, their wicked thoughts, words, and actions; or, "men of wickedness"; even wicked men; they are all seen by him; nothing is or can be hid from him; he is God omniscient, the searcher of the hearts and trier of the reins of the children of men:

will he not then consider it? so as to punish or correct for it? he will: or, "he does not consider" (q); he seems as if he did not; as if he took no notice of wicked men, and of their wickedness, because he does not immediately punish or correct for it; or, he has no need to take any time to consider thereof, he sees and knows at once what it is, and what men are: Gersom reads this clause in connection with the former; "he sees the men of wickedness", and him who does "not consider" the ways of the Lord; or, the man does not consider that God sees him; so Ben Melech.

(p) "homines vanitatis", Vatablus, Drusius, Bolducius, Mercerus, Schmidt, Michaelis. (q) "et non cousiderat", Cocceius; "et non advertit", Schmidt.

Geneva Study Bible

For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

11. Job had used these words to describe God as an irresistible, unaccountable force; Zophar indicates what account is to be given of God’s actions—He knoweth vain (wicked, Psalm 26:4) men. His action is the reflexion of His omniscient insight.

will he not then consider it] Rather, without considering it. The words are closely connected with the preceding: he seeth wickedness also, without needing to consider it, that is, with a knowledge immediate and requiring no effort, cf. ch. Job 34:23, notes. So already Ibn Ezra. Another meaning is possible: and that which they (men) consider not. But this is a useless repetition.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 11. - For he knoweth vain men. God is justified in these his judgments, even though he does not implead the man or bring him to account, or hear what he has got to say (Job 9:39), since he intuitively and at once "knoweth vain men;" sooth, that is, into the ground of the heart, and recognizes vanity, pretence, false seeming, so that he can judge infallibly without the forensic apparatus wherewith human tribunals are rightly surrounded, on account of the weakness and fallibility of human judges. He sooth wickedness also. If God can detect in a moment vanity, pretence, false seeming, much more can he detect actual wickedness; which Zophar assumes to have been detected in Job's case. Will he not then consider it? rather, even though he consider it not (see the Revised Version). God does not need to pause and ponder and "consider" each case. He knows, without any such lengthened consideration, whether a man is true to him or not. Job 11:11

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

10 When He passes by and arrests

And calls to judgment, who will oppose Him?

11 For He knoweth the men devoid of principle,

And seeth wickedness without observing it.

12 But before an empty head gaineth understanding,

A wild ass would become a man.

In יחלף God is conceived as one who manifests himself by passing to and fro in the powers of nature (in the whirlwind, Isaiah 21:1). Should He meet with one who is guilty, and seize and bring him to judgment, who then (waw apod.) will turn Him back, i.e., restrain Him? הקהיל is used of bringing to judgment, with reference to the ancient form of trial which was in public, and in which the carrying out of the sentence was partly incumbent on the people (1 Kings 21:9; Ezekiel 16:40; Ezekiel 23:46). One might almost imagine that Zophar looks upon himself and the other two friends as forming such an "assembly:" they cannot justify him in opposition to God, since He accounts him guilty. God's mode of trial is summary, because infallible: He knows altogether שׁוא מתי, people who hypocritically disguise their moral nothingness (on this idea, vid., on Psalm 26:4); and sees (looks through) און (from the root n, to breathe), otherwise grief, with which one pants, in a moral sense worthlessness, without any trace whatever of worth or substance. He knows and sees this moral wretchedness at once, and need not first of all reflect upon it: non opus habet, as Abenezra has correctly explained, ut diu consideret (comp. the like thought, Job 34:23).

Job 11:12 has been variously misinterpreted. Gesenius in his Handwrterbuch

(Note: Vid., Lexicon, Engl. edition, s.v. לבב Niphal. - Tr.)

translates: but man is empty and void of understanding; but this is contrary to the accentuation, according to which נבוב אישׁ together form the subject. Olshausen translates better: an empty man, on the other hand, is without heart; but the fut. cannot be exactly so used, and if we consider that Piel has never properly a privative meaning, though sometimes a privative idea (as e.g., סקּל, operam consumere in lapidos, scil. ejiciendos), we must regard a privative Niphal as likewise inadmissible. Stickel translates peculiarly: the man devoid of understanding is enraged against God; but this is opposed to the manifest correlation of נבוב and ילּבב, which does not indicate the antithesis of an empty and sulky person (Bttcher): the former rather signifies empty, and the latter to acquire heart or marrow (Heidenheim, לב יקנה), so that לב fills up the hollow space. Hirzel's rendering partly bears out the requirement of this correlation: man has understanding like a hollow pate; but this explanation, like that of Gesenius, violates the accentuation, and produces an affected witticism. The explanation which regards Job 11:12 as descriptive of the wholesome effect of the discipline of the divine judgments (comp. Isaiah 26:9) is far better; it does not violate the accent, and moreover is more in accordance with the future form: the empty one becomes discerning thereby, the rough, humane (thus recently Ewald, Heiligst., Schlottm.); but according to this explanation, Job 11:12 is not connected with what immediately precedes, nor is the peculiarity of the expression fully brought out. Hupfeld opens up another way of interpreting the passage when he remarks, nil dicto facilius et simplicius; he understands Job 11:12 according to Job 11:12: But man is furnished with an empty heart, i.e., receives at his birth an empty undiscerning heart, and man is born as a wild ass's colt, i.e., as stupid and obstinate. This thought is satisfactorily connected with the preceding; but here also נבוב is taken as predicate in violation of the accentuation, nor is justice done to the correlation above referred to, and the whole sentence is referred to the portion of man at his birth, in opposition to the impression conveyed by the use of the fut. Oehler appears to us to have recognised the right sense: But an empty man is as little endowed with sense, as that a wild ass should ever be born as man - be, so to speak, born again and become a man.

(Note: Wetzstein explains: "But a man that barks like a dog (i.e., rages shamelessly) can become sensible, and a young wild ass (i.e., the wildest and roughest creature) be born again as a man (i.e., become gentle and civilised)," from נבב equals נבח, since נבח is the commoner word for "barking" in the Syrian towns and villages, and נבב, on the other hand, is used among those who dwelt in tents. But we must then point it נבּוּב, and the antithesis ילּבב is more favourable the Hebrew meaning, "hollowed out, empty.")

The waw in ועיר is just like Job 5:7; Job 12:11, and brings into close connection the things that are to be compared, as in the form of emblematic proverbs (vid., Herzog's Real Encyklopdie, xiv. 696): the one will happen not earlier than, and as little as, the other. The Niphal נולד, which in Proverbs 17:17 signifies to become manifest, here borders on the notion of regenerari; a regeneration would be necessary if the wild ass should become human, - a regeneration which is inconceivable. It is by nature refractory, and especially when young (ועיר from Arab. ‛âr, fut. i in the signification vagari, huc illuc discurrere, of a young, restless, wild, frisking animal). Just so, says Zophar, the vacuum in an empty man is incapable of being filled up, - a side hit at Job, which rebounds on Zophar himself; for the dogma of the friends, which forms the sole contents of their hollowness, can indeed not fill with brightness and peace a heart that is passing through conflict. The peculiarity of the expression is no longer unintelligible; Zophar is the most impassioned of the three friends.