Job 11:1 — Word Study
WLCוַ֭יַּעַן צֹפַ֥ר הַֽנַּעֲמָתִ֗י וַיֹּאמַֽר׃
BSAThen ZopharTsôwphar [the sparrow, a friend of Job] the NaamathiteNaʻămâthîy [from Naamah, a place of pleasantness] repliedʻânâh▸ [answered, began speaking, and said]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| וַ֭יַּעַן | and he answered | Verb, Qal, sequential imperfect third person masculine singular |
| צֹפַ֥ר | Zophar | Noun proper masculine |
| הַֽנַּעֲמָתִ֗י | the Naamathite | Particle, noun gentilic masculine singular absolute |
| וַיֹּאמַֽר׃ | and he said | Verb, Qal, sequential imperfect third person masculine singular |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Then Zophar the Naamathite replied: |
| KJV | Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, |
| ASV | Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, |
| YLT | And Zophar the Naamathite answereth and saith: — |
| WEB | Then Zophar, the Naamathite, answered, |
| BBE | Then Zophar the Naamathite made answer and said, |
All translations agree on Zophar's actions in this verse.
The structure is straightforward, with Zophar's actions clearly delineated in the main clause and subsequent verb phrases.
6 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Trapp, Ellicott & more — read them ›
clause
verbעָנָה
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Job 11:1
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — Zophar's Response to Jobgenerated
Job 11:1 introduces Zophar the Naamathite as he replies to Job. This verse marks the beginning of a series of speeches among Job and his friends, where they discuss the nature of suffering and divine justice. Zophar's response is part of the larger dialogue that reveals the tensions and misunderstandings between Job and his companions, as they grapple with the reasons for Job's afflictions.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Job 2:11 | Now when Job’s three friends—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite—heard about all this adversity that had come upon him, each of them came from his home, and they met together to go and sympathize with Job and comfort him. |
| 2 | Job 20:1 | Then Zophar the Naamathite replied: |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 2 references, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — עָנָה, Vai.ya.'angenerated
The verb עָנָה (*anah*) is a Qal form meaning 'to answer' or 'to respond.' It can also imply singing or making music, showing its versatility in expressing both verbal and musical responses. In this context, it indicates Zophar's act of answering Job, suggesting a direct engagement with Job's situation.
The parsing as a sequential imperfect third person masculine singular indicates that Zophar is actively responding in the moment, emphasizing his role in the conversation and the immediacy of his reply.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
All translations agree on the rendering of עָנָה as 'answered' in this verse, reflecting Zophar's direct response to Job.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The finite verbs עָנָה and אָמַר govern the structure of the verse, indicating Zophar's actions: he answered and then said. This structure shows a sequential flow of Zophar's speech, highlighting the progression of his thoughts.
The Hebrew word order places Zophar's name prominently at the beginning, emphasizing his identity as the speaker and setting the stage for his response.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates עָנָה with ὑπολαβὼν (hypolabōn), which means 'having taken up' or 'having responded.' This choice suggests a more active engagement in the conversation, emphasizing Zophar's role in addressing Job's plight.
The use of ὑπολαβὼν may also imply a deeper interpretation of Zophar's response, indicating that he is not merely answering but also taking up the challenge of Job's words.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Job 11:1 shows Zophar the Naamathite replying to Job. He is one of Job's friends who comes to speak with him during his suffering. Zophar's response marks the beginning of his speech, where he addresses Job's situation.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
Zophar's reply indicates his perspective on Job's situation, suggesting that he believes Job's words need to be challenged.
Being from Naamah, a place associated with pleasantness, Zophar's identity may contrast with the distress Job is experiencing.
Zophar represents one of the three friends who attempt to provide counsel to Job, reflecting differing views on suffering and divine justice.
Zophar's reply engages with the broader themes of the Book of Job, including the nature of suffering, righteousness, and the relationship between humanity and God.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What can we learn from Zophar's approach to responding to Job's suffering?
- In what ways do we see the dynamics of friendship reflected in the conversations between Job and his friends?
- How can we apply the lessons from Zophar's response to our own interactions with those who are suffering?
- What insights does Zophar's identity as a Naamathite provide about his perspective on Job's situation?
The early church on this verse — how the Fathers read it
Early commentators reference this verse to discuss the nature of speech and response in the context of suffering, as seen in quotes from Didymus the Blind and Julian of Eclanum.
Since Zophar does not recognize Job’s virtue and the goal of his consistent remarks, he says to Job, “Do not talk much.” The word of holy Scripture teaches us to control our words.Early Church Fathers on Job 11 →
Do you think that by speaking many words you will improve your position and reduce us to silence and amazement with a long speech? Since the holy Job was not only proven innocent of any crime by using just arguments but also called God to…Early Church Fathers on Job 11 →
Commentators on this verse — 6 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Job 11:1 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleThen answered Zophar the Naamathite,.... The third of Job's friends, that came to visit him, [See comments on Job 2:11]; and who perhaps might be the youngest, since his turn was to speak last; and
Read John Gill on Job 11 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryThen answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, No JFB commentary on this verse.
Read Robert Jamieson on Job 11 →John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New TestamentsJob 11:1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,Ver. 1. Then answered Zophar the Naamathite] With a most bitter invective, savouring more of passion than charity. Zophar rejoineth, or rather revileth innocent Job, misinterpreting his meaning, Job 11:4, and laying to his charge, 1. Loquacity, or talkativeness; 2. Lying; 3. Scoffing at God’ s good providence, and men’ s good counsel; 4. Self-conceitedness and arrogance, besides rashness, boldness, &c. For want of better arguments against him, he falls foul upon him in this sort. And if the adversaries of the truth do the like by us (as our Saviour saith they will, Matthew 5:11, and as himself, after Job and many other of his members…
Read John Trapp on Job 11 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English ReadersXI.(1) Zophar, the third of Job’s friends, has a clearly defined character, distinct from that of the others; he is the ordinary and common-place moral man, who expresses the thoughts and instincts of the many. Eliphaz was the poet and spiritual man, who sees visions and dreams; Bildad was the man who rested on authority and appealed to tradition; Zophar is the man of worldly wisdom and common sense. In some respects he is the most offensive of the three. He is astonished that Job has not been silenced by the replies of the other two, and thinks he can do no less than help to silence him. Thus he at once begins with “a multitude of words,” and “full of talk,” and “lies,” and “mockery.”…
Read Charles John Ellicott on Job 11 →AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the BibleCHAPTER XI Zophar answers Job, and reproves him severely for his attempts to justify himself; charges him with secret iniquity, and contends that God inflicts less punishment on him than his iniquities deserve, 1-6. Shows the knowledge and perfections of God to be unsearchable, and that none can resist his power, 7-11. Warns him against vanity of mind, and exhorts him to repentance on the ground that his acceptance with God is still a possible case, and that his latter days may yet become happy and prosperous, 12-20. NOTES ON CHAP. XI Verse 1. Zophar the Naamathite] Of this man and his friends, see Job 2:11. He is the most inveterate of Job's accusers, and generally speaks without feeling…
Read AdamClarke on Job 11 →Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the BibleZOPHAR’S FIRST ADDRESS.1. Then answered Zophar — Eliphaz had modestly confirmed his views by an appeal to the revelation of a spirit; Bildad, by recourse to the wisdom of the ancients; Zophar, the
Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Job 11 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
Then Zophar, the Naamathite, answered,
Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
Then Zophar the Naamathite spoke up and said:
Tyndale line
Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and sayde,
Strictly literal
And Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,
And Zophar the Naamathite answereth and saith: —
And Zophar the Naamathite answers and says:
Then answered Zophar the Na'amathite, and said.
Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,
From the Latin
Then Sophar the Naamathite answered, and said:
Simplified
Then Zophar the Naamathite began speaking and said,
Then Zophar the Naamathite made answer and said,
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text reads וַ֭יַּעַן צֹפַ֥ר הַֽנַּעֲמָתִ֗י וַיֹּאמַֽר׃, and the Septuagint matches all four words, showing agreement in the essential elements of the verse.
וַ֭יַּעַן צֹפַ֥ר הַֽנַּעֲמָתִ֗י וַיֹּאמַֽר׃
4 of the 4 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Job 11:1
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
The Hebrew word עָנָה (*anah*) is built from a primitive root meaning to heed or pay attention, covering a range of meanings including to answer, respond, testify, and sing. It appears in contexts where one responds to speech or circumstances, and can also refer to singing. The lexicons indicate that it can imply both verbal responses and musical expression.
[עוּן] vb. dwell
base
עָנָה 316 vb. answer, respond
Qal
answer, respond to sthg. said, actual or implied
respond to an occasion, speak in view of circumstances
money meets all demands
specif. respond as a witness, testify
less oft. make response as one accused (respondent)
Niph.
make answer
be answered
Hiph. wholly dub.; causes all things to respond in the joy of his heart
base
עָנָה vb. sing
Qal sing, utter tunefully
Pi. sing sweetly of it
base
H6030a עוּן dwell H6030b עָנָה answer, respond .. answer, respond to sthg. said, actual or implied
. . respond to an occasion, speak in view of circumstances
. money meets all demands
. . specif. respond as a witness, testify
. less oft. make response as one accused (respondent)
. . make answer
. be answered
. wholly dub.; causes all things to respond in the joy of his heart
H6030c עָנָה sing
6030 `anah aw-naw'
a primitive root; properly, to eye or (generally) to heed,
i.e. pay attention; by implication, to respond; by extens. to
begin to speak; specifically to sing, shout, testify,
announce:--give account, afflict (by mistake for 6031),
(cause to, give) answer, bring low (by mistake for 6031), cry,
hear, Leannoth, lift up, say, X scholar, (give a) shout, sing
(together by course), speak, testify, utter, (bear) witness.
See also 1042, 1043.
see HEBREW for 06031
see HEBREW for 06031
see HEBREW for 01042
see HEBREW for 01043
עוּן (un) — to dwell.
(Qal) to dwell
עָנָה (a.nah) — to answer.
1) to answer, respond, testify, speak, shout
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to answer, respond to
1a2) to testify, respond as a witness
1b) (Niphal)
1b1) to make answer
1b2) to be answered, receive answer
Aramaic equivalent: a.nah (עֲנָה "to answer" H6032)
עָנָה (a.nah) — to sing.
(Qal) to sing, utter tunefully
Conj | V-Qal-ConsecImperf-3ms — Verb · Qal · sequential imperfect third person masculine singularHc/Vqw3ms
צֹפַר (Tsowphar) refers to Zophar, one of Job's friends in the Old Testament. The name is associated with the meaning 'sparrow' and is derived from a root meaning 'departing.' Zophar is first mentioned in Job 2:11 as the third friend who comes to comfort Job.
צֹפַר and צוֹפַר n.pr.m. Job’s third friend
base
H6691 צֹפַר, צוֹפַר
6691 Tsowphar tso-far'
from 6852; departing; Tsophar, a friend of Job:--Zophar.
see HEBREW for 06852
צוֹפַר (tso.phar) — Zophar.
A man living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Job.2.11
§ Zophar = "sparrow"
the 3rd friend of Job
N-proper — Noun proper masculineHNpm
zo'-far (tsphar, meaning doubtful, supposed from root meaning "to leap"; Sophar): One of the three friends of Job who, hearing of his affliction, make an appointment together to visit and comfort him. He is from the tribe of Naamah, a tribe and place otherwise unknown, for as all the other friends and Job himself are from lands outside of Palestine, it is not likely that this place was identical with Naamah in the West of Judah (Jos 15:41). He speaks but twice (Job 11; 20); by his silence the 3rd time the writer seems to intimate that with Bildad's third speech (Job 25; see under BILDAD) the friends' arguments are exhausted. He is the most impetuous and dogmatic of the three (compare Job 11:2,3; 20:2,3); stung to passionate response by Job's presumption in maintaining that he is…
Zophar
Chirping, one of Job’s friends who came to condole with him in his distress (Job 2:11. The LXX. render here “king of the Mineans” = Ma’in, Maonites, Judg. 10:12, in Southern Arabia). He is called a Naamathite, or an inhabitant of some unknown place called Naamah.
(sparrow), one of the three friends of Job. (Job 2:11; 11:1; 20:1; 42:9)
נַעֲמָתִי (Na`amathiy) refers to a Naamathite, someone from the place Naamah, which is associated with pleasantness. This term is used to describe Zophar, one of Job's friends, mentioned in Job 2:11. The word is built from a patrial form linked to the name Naamah.
נַעֲמָתִי adj.gent. (from unused n.pr.)
base
H5284 נַעֲמָתִי
5284 Na`amathiy nah-am-aw-thee'
patrial from a place corresponding in name (but not
identical) with 5279; a Naamathite, or inhabitant of
Naamah:--Naamathite.
see HEBREW for 05279
נַעֲמָתִי (na.a.ma.ti) — Naamathite.
Someone descended from Naamath(?), first mentioned at Job.2.11
§ Naamathite, of Naamah "pleasantness"
an inhabitant of Naamah ; describes Zophar the friend of Job
Art | Ngmsa — Particle · noun gentilic masculine singular absoluteHTd/Ngmsa
na'-a-ma-thit, na-am'-a-thit (na`amdthi, "a dweller in Naaman"; ho M(e)inaion basileus): The description of Zophar, one of Job's friends (Job 2:11; 11:1; 20:1, etc.). Naamah is too common a place-name to permit of the identification of Zophar's home; the Septuagint renders it as "king of the Minaeans."
Naamathite
The designation of Zophar, one of Job’s three friends (Job 2:11; 11:1), so called from some place in Arabia, called Naamah probably.
the Gentile name of one of Job’s friends, Zophar the Naamathite. (Job 2:11; 11:1; 20:1; 42:9) There is no other trace of this name in the Bible, and the town whence it is derived is unknown. (But as Uz was in Arabia, probably the Naamah where he lived was on the Arabian borders of Syria.)
אָמַר (amar) is a Hebrew verb meaning 'to say' or 'to utter,' with a broad range of uses including to promise, command, or even boast. It appears in various forms, such as in the Qal (to say), Niphal (to be told), and Hiphil (to avow). The entries highlight its versatility in both spoken and internal contexts, though no specific verse is noted.
אָמַר 5287 vb. utter, say
Qal
Say
Say in the heart (= think)
Promise
Command (esp. late)
Niph. be said, told
Hiph. avow, avouch (lit. cause to declare)
Hithp. act proudly, boast
base
H559 אָמַר utter, say .. Say
. Say in the heart (= think)
. Promise
. Command (esp. late)
. be said, told
. avow, avouch (lit. cause to declare)
. act proudly, boast
559 'amar aw-mar'
a primitive root; to say (used with great
latitude):--answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call,
certify, challenge, charge, + (at the, give) command(-ment),
commune, consider, declare, demand, X desire, determine, X
expressly, X indeed, X intend, name, X plainly, promise,
publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), X still, X
suppose, talk, tell, term, X that is, X think, use (speech),
utter, X verily, X yet.
אָמַר (a.mar) — to say.
1) to say, speak, utter
1a) (Qal) to say, to answer, to say in one's heart, to think, to command, to promise, to intend
1b) (Niphal) to be told, to be said, to be called
1c) (Hithpael) to boast, to act proudly
1d) (Hiphil) to avow, to avouch
Aramaic equivalent: a.mar (אֲמַר "to say" H0560)
Hc/Vqw3ms — Verb · Qal · sequential imperfect third person masculine singularHc/Vqw3ms