But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;
Parallel translations
- WEB But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against you,
- BSB But if only God would speak and open His lips against you,
- NKJV But oh, that God would speak, And open His lips against you,
- NASB “But if only God would speak, And open His lips against you,
- NLT If only God would speak; if only he would tell you what he thinks!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Zophar wishes God Himself would speak and answer Job. Ironically, God will indeed speak, but to humble all parties.
Overview
Zophar longs for God to open His lips against Job and expose him. The irony is profound, for God does finally speak from the whirlwind, yet He rebukes the friends and vindicates Job, not the other way around (Job 38:1; 42:7). The verse reminds us that when God speaks, His verdict often overturns our confident assumptions.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Job 38:1–2Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
- Job 31:35Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book.
- Job 33:6–18Behold, I am according to thy wish in God’s stead: I also am formed out of the clay.
- Job 40:8Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?
- Job 23:3–7Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!
- Job 42:7And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.
- Job 40:1–5Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 11:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.