and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know then that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves.
Parallel translations
- WEB that he would show you the secrets of wisdom! For true wisdom has two sides. Know therefore that God exacts of you less than your iniquity deserves.
- KJV And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.
- NKJV That He would show you the secrets of wisdom! For they would double your prudence. Know therefore that God exacts from you Less than your iniquity deserves.
- NASB And show you the secrets of wisdom! For sound wisdom has two sides. Know then that God forgets part of your guilt.
- NLT If only he would tell you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom is not a simple matter. Listen! God is doubtless punishing you far less than you deserve!
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 claims God would reveal wisdom's hidden depths and show that He punishes Job less than his sin deserves. He insists Job is getting off lightly.
Overview
Zophar asserts that God's wisdom is many-sided and that, if revealed, it would show Job's suffering is mild compared to his guilt. While it is true that God exacts less than sins deserve, Zophar wrongly applies this to a man God Himself called blameless (Job 1:8). The truth he half-grasps shines fully in the gospel, where God spares us what our sins deserve through the cross (Ezra 9:13; Romans 6:23).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Ezra 9:13After all that has come upon us because of our evil deeds and our great guilt (though You, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve and have given us such a remnant as this),
- Lam 3:22Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.
- Matt 13:35So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.”
- Eph 3:5which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.
- Dan 2:28But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days. Your dream and the visions that came into your mind as you lay on your bed were these:
- Job 15:8Do you listen in on the council of God or limit wisdom to yourself?
- Rom 16:25–26Now to Him who is able to strengthen you by my gospel and by the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery concealed for ages past
- Ps 25:14The LORD confides in those who fear Him, and reveals His covenant to them.
- Job 9:4God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has resisted Him and prospered?
- Deut 29:29The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.
- Dan 2:47The king said to Daniel, “Your God is truly the God of gods and Lord of kings, the Revealer of Mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.”
- Job 15:5For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty.
- Job 15:11Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently to you?
- Ps 106:43–46Many times He rescued them, but they were bent on rebellion and sank down in their iniquity.
- 1 Cor 2:9–11Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.”
- Ps 103:10He has not dealt with us according to our sins or repaid us according to our iniquities.
- Job 28:28And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”
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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 11:6 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
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