Job 11:15

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

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

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.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

11:13-20 Zophar exhorts Job to repentance, and gives him encouragement, yet mixed with hard thoughts of him. He thought that worldly prosperity was always the lot of the righteous, and that Job was to be deemed a hypocrite unless his prosperity was restored. Then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; that is, thou mayst come boldly to the throne of grace, and not with the terror and amazement expressed in ch. 9:34. If we are looked upon in the face of the Anointed, our faces that were cast down may be lifted up; though polluted, being now washed with the blood of Christ, they may be lifted up without spot. We may draw near in full assurance of faith, when we are sprinkled from an evil conscience, Heb 10:22.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

15. 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—(De 32:5).

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

Matthew Poole's Commentary

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

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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. 1 Samuel 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.

Geneva Study Bible

For then shalt thou lift up thy {i} face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear:

(i) He declares the quietness of conscience and success in all things that they shall have who turn to God in true repentance.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

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.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 15. - 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 Isaiah 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.). Job 11:15

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

13 But if thou wilt direct thy heart,

And spread out thy hands to Him -

14 If there is evil in thy hand, put it far away,

And let not wickedness dwell in thy tents -

15 Then indeed canst thou lift up thy face without spot,

And shalt be firm without fearing.

The phrase הכין לב signifies neither to raise the heart (Ewald), nor to establish it (Hirz.), but to direct it, i.e., give it the right direction (Psalm 78:8) towards God, 1 Samuel 7:3; 2 Chronicles 20:33; it has an independent meaning, so that there is no need to supply אל־אל, nor take וּפרשׂתּ to be for לפרושׂ (after the construction in 2 Chronicles 30:19). To spread out the hands in prayer is כּפּים (פּרשׂ) פּרשׂ; ידים is seldom used instead of the more artistic כפים, palmas, h.e. manus supinas. The conditional antecedent clause is immediately followed, Job 11:14, by a similarly conditional parenthetical clause, which inserts the indispensable condition of acceptable prayer; the conclusion might begin with הרהיקהוּ: when thou sendest forth thy heart and spreadest out thy hands to Him, if there is wickedness in thy hand, put it far away; but the antecedent requires a promise for its conclusion, and the more so since the praet. and fut. which follow אם, Job 11:13, have the force of futt. exact.: si disposueris et extenderis, to which the conclusion: put it far away, is not suited, which rather expresses a preliminary condition of acceptable prayer. The conclusion then begins with כּי־אז, then indeed, like Job 8:6; Job 13:19, comp. Job 6:3, with עתּה כּי, now indeed; the causal signification of כי has in both instances passed into the confirmatory (comp. 1 Samuel 14:44; Psalm 118:10-12; Psalm 128:2, and on Genesis 26:22): then verily wilt thou be able to raise thy countenance (without being forced to make any more bitter complaints, as Job 10:15.), without spot, i.e., not: without bodily infirmity, but: without spot of punishable guilt, sceleris et paenae (Rosenmller). מן here signifies without (Targ. דּלא), properly: far from, as Job 21:9; 2 Samuel 1:22; Proverbs 20:3. Faultless will he then be able to look up and be firm (מצּק from יצק, according to Ges. 71), quasi ex aere fusus (1 Kings 7:16), one whom God can no longer get the better of.