Job 11:15

Job 11:15 For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear:

Ver. 15. For then shall thou lift up thy face without spot, &c.] Repentance must be performed in faith, or else it will prove to be poenitentia Iscariotica, a Judas like repentance. Lord (said that dying saint), cast me down as low as hell in repentance, and lift me up by faith into the highest heavens in confidence of thy salvation. Zophar, that he may move Job kindly and rightly to repent, promiseth him thereupon malorum ademptionem, bonorum adeptionem, freedom from evil and fruition of good. And, first, "Thou shalt lift up thy face without spot," i.e. Thou shalt be full of comfort and of confidence, not casting down thy countenance, as guilty Cain, but looking up boldly and cheerfully, as St Stephen did, Act 7:55-56, they saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

Ibat ovans animis et spe sua damna levabat.

Yea, thou shall be stedfast] Or durable and compact as a molten pillar. Thy heart shall be established with grace, thy mind with peace, thine outward estate with a lasting felicity.

And shalt not fear] sc. The loss of those enjoyments. To be freed from the fear of evil is better than to be freed from evil; and a great part of the saints’ portion both on earth and in heaven lies in their deliverance from fear, Luk 1:74 Psa 112:7 Zep 3:13 Isa 17:2. Repent, and thou shall fear no more a revolution of any thy troubles.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Job 11:15. For then shalt thou lift up thy face — With cheerfulness and holy boldness. Without spot — Having a clear and unspotted conscience. Yea, thou shalt be steadfast — Shalt have a strong and comfortable assurance of God’s favour, and shalt be settled, without any fear of losing thy happiness.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He declareth what quietness of conscience and success in all things such shall have, which turn to God by true repentance.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Zophar refers to Job's own words (Job 10:15), "yet will I not lift up my head," even though righteous. Zophar declares, if Job will follow his advice, he may "lift up his face."

spot-- (Deu 32:5).

steadfast--literally, "run fast together," like metals which become firm and hard by fusion. The sinner on the contrary is wavering.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

15. for then shalt thou] Or, surely then shalt thou, ch. Job_8:6.

lift up thy face without spot] The word lift up is selected to meet Job’s complaint that he must not lift up his head, ch. Job_10:15; and the words “without spot” meet his words “filled with shame.” Then he shall lift up his face in conscious innocence and disfigured with no signs of God’s anger on account of his guilt.

be steadfast, and shalt not fear] Said in reference to Job’s fluctuating feelings and condition as he describes them, ch. Job_9:27-28.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For then shall thou lift up thy face without spot,.... Either before men, being in all good conscience, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless, exercising a conscience void of offence towards God and men; and so be able to say as Samuel did, "whose ass have I taken?" &c. Sa1 12:3; or rather before God, as in Job 21:26; using an holy boldness and an humble confidence with him at the throne of grace, in the view of the blood, righteousness, and sacrifice of his living Redeemer he had knowledge of, as every true believer may; who, though he is not without spot in himself, yet, being washed in the blood of Christ, and clothed in his righteousness, he is all fair, and without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; and may stand before the throne without fault, and appear before God, and in his sight, unblamable and irreprovable:

yea, thou shalt be steadfast: firm and solid, rooted and grounded in the love of God; having a firm persuasion of interest in it, and that nothing shall separate from it; being built on the foundation of Christ, and established in the exercise of faith on him; the affections being steady towards him, and fixedly set on divine and heavenly things; continuing steadfast in the doctrines of grace, and not carried about with strange doctrines, or every wind of doctrine; as well as constant and immovable in the work of the Lord, always employed in his service, and doing his will, from which nothing can move; not reproach, affliction, and persecution; and to be thus steady and fixed is a great privilege:

and shalt not fear; evil tidings of evil times; of wars and rumours of wars, famine, pestilence, earthquakes, and other judgments; of changes and revolutions in kingdoms and states, or of what is coming upon the world, according to promise and prophecy, the heart being fixed and well established, trusting in the Lord; nor be afraid of evil men or devils, or any enemies whatever, nor of death, the king of terrors, that being one of the believer's blessings, and a friend of his; nor of hell and damnation, or the second death, or wrath to come; from all which the saints are secure.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot - That is, thy face shall be bright, clear, and cheerful. Thus, we speak of a bright and happy countenance. Zophar undoubtedly designs to show what his appearance would be, contrasted with what it then was. Now his countenance was dejected and sad. It was disfigured by tears, and terror, and long continued anguish. But if he would put away iniquity, and return to God, his face would be cheerful again, and he would be a happy man.

Yea, thou shalt be steadfast, and shalt not fear - The word rendered “steadfast” (מצק mutsaq) is from יצק yâtsaq, to pour, to pour out, and is applied to liquids, or to metals which are fused and poured into a mould, and which then become hard. Hence, it is used in the sense of firm, solid, intrepid. “Gesenius.” Schultens supposes that the reference here is to metallic mirrors, made by casting, and then polished, and that the idea is, that his face would shine like such a mirror. But it may be doubted whether this interpretation is not too refined. The other and more common explanation well suits the sense, and should probably be retained.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Without. Septuagint, "as clean water, thou shalt pass away corruption, and shalt not fear."

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Then shalt thou lift up thy face; which notes cheerfulness, and holy boldness and confidence; as a dejected countenance notes grief and shame. See Gen 4:5,6; 2Sa 2:22; Job 22:26; Luk 21:28.

Without spot; or, being without spot; so it is only an ellipsis of the verb substantive, which is most frequent. And this fitly follows as the ground of his confidence, because he should in this case have a clear and unspotted conscience, and a sense of his own innocency. Or, without blemish, as the word properly signifies, i.e. without any sense of guilt, or any shame consequent upon it, either from God or men. The ground of the expression is this, that when men’s faces are spotted with dirt, they are ashamed to show them. And Job was charged by his friends as having many spots upon him, yea, such as were not the spots of God’s children.

Stedfast; or, firm, or fixed; either,

1. As to his outward condition, which should be constantly prosperous. Or rather,

2. As to his mind, which should have strong and comfortable assurance of God’s favour, and of his own safety and happiness. For this steadfastness is opposed unto that fear which is incident to wicked men; who, even when they are free from actual miseries, yet ofttimes are tormented with the dread of them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

15. Lift up thy face — He refers to Job’s remark, (Job_10:15,) “I will not lift up my head.”

Without spot — ממום. The Septuagint gives the sentence: “For thus shall thy countenance shine again as pure water.” In the Arabic the word is applied to fever spots and marks of cutaneous disease. There is, apparently, a cruel allusion to the effects of Job’s disease upon his countenance.

Steadfast — The word in the original is used of metal that has been melted and consolidated.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For then; rather, surely then (see the Revised Version). Shalt thou lift up thy face without spot. At present, Zophar implies, he could not do so. The stain of many sins was on him (vers. 6, 11, 14). Yea, thou shalt be steadfast; literally, molten perhaps "pure as refined metal", (see Isa_1:25) perhaps "bright as a metallic mass." And shalt not fear. "Shalt be freed," i.e. ," from all the fears that disturb thee now". (see Job_3:26 Job_6:4 Job_7:14 Job_9:28, etc.)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lift up - Which denotes chearfulness, and holy boldness. Without spot - Having a clear and unspotted conscience. Steadfast - Shall have a strong and comfortable assurance of God's favour.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

lift up your face without a sign of shame

"Lifting up your face" represents the attitude of a person who is confident and brave. (See: Metonymy and Idiom)

you would remember it only like waters that have flowed away

Zophar is comparing misery with water that flows downstream and it is gone. AT: "You would remember it, but the misery will be gone, like waters that have flowed away" (See: Simile)

Your life would ... like the morning.

Zophar repeats the same idea for emphasis. (See: Parallelism)

Your life would be brighter than the noonday

Brightness represents being prosperous and happy. AT: "Your life would be prosperous and happy like the noonday" (See: Metaphor)

though there were darkness

Darkness represents troubles and sadness. AT: "Though there were dark troubles and sadness" (See: Hypothetical Situations)

it would become like the morning

The morning represents light, which represents prosperity and happiness. AT: "it would be prosperous and happy like the morning" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

face

sign

shame

fear

life

darkness

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

For then you would be sure that you could lift your face unblemished, for you would cause yourself to lift your face without any blemish. Because of this...

and you shall be strong Heb. מצק, strong, like (I Sam. 2:8), “the pillars of (מצקי) the earth,”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.