Zophar the Naamathite

Overview

• Testament: Old
• Role: Third of Job’s friends, blunt defender of retributive justice
• Family: Naamathite
• Key Books: Job

Biography

Zophar is the harshest and least patient of the three friends. He argues that Job deserves even more punishment than he has received and calls him to repent so restoration can come.

Zophar speaks only in the first two cycles and falls silent in the third, a narrative sign that the friends’ case has exhausted itself.

Key Events

• First cycle of speeches
• Second cycle of speeches
• Job intercedes for his friends

Relationships

• Job - Friend whom he rebukes harshly
• Eliphaz - Fellow friend
• Bildad - Fellow friend

Important Verses

• Job 11:6
• Job 20:4-29
• Job 42:7-9

Cross-References

• Mentioned in: Job

Notes

Zophar’s silence in the third cycle is one of Job’s subtle literary signals that simplistic answers cannot survive sustained suffering.