Job 2:11-13

Job 2:11-13

[11] Now when Job's  three  friends  heard  of all this evil  that was come  every one  from his own place;  Eliphaz  the Temanite,  and Bildad  the Shuhite,  and Zophar  the Naamathite:  for they had made an appointment  together  to come  to mourn  with him and to comfort  him. [12] And when they lifted up  their eyes  afar off,  and knew  him not, they lifted up  their voice,  and wept;  and they rent  every one  his mantle,  and sprinkled  dust  upon their heads  toward heaven.  [13] So they sat down  with him upon the ground  seven  days  and seven  nights,  and none spake  a word  unto him: for they saw  that his grief  was very  great. 

What does Job 2:11-13 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Actually, four men came to visit Job , though the writer did not mention Elihu"s presence until chapter32. Eliphaz seems to have been the eldest for several reasons. His name occurs first ( Job 2:11; Job 42:9), he spoke before the others, his speeches are longer and more mature, and God spoke to him as the representative of the others ( Job 42:7). Eliphaz is an Edomite name ( Genesis 36:4). He was probably either from Teman in Edom (cf. Jeremiah 49:7; Obadiah 1:9) or from Tema in Arabia. Bildad may have been a relative of Shuah, Abraham"s youngest son ( Genesis 25:2). Zophar may have come from Naamah, a Judean town ( Joshua 15:41), if it existed then.
Evidently the disfigurement that resulted from Job"s disease prevented Job"s acquaintances from recognizing him and led to their extreme grief that they manifested in ways common in their culture. The writer did not explain why they did not speak to him for seven days. This may have been traditional, or they may have spoken to no one out of respect for him. A week was the usual time of mourning for the dead (cf. Genesis 50:10; 1 Samuel 31:13; Sirach 22:12), so they may have been mourning for him as one already dead. Perhaps they discussed his condition among themselves but did not do so with him. Apparently they waited for him to speak first (ch3) before they addressed him directly, as was customary and respectful.
"For one of them to speak prior to the sufferer would have been in bad taste." [1]
In any case their commitment to him, as seen in their patient waiting to address him, shows their genuine friendship. How many friends do you have that would travel a long distance to visit you in an illness and sit with you silently for seven days out of respect for your pain?
"In overwhelming sorrows, true friendship almost invariably demonstrates itself more perfectly by silence than by speech. And even in spite of the fact that Job"s friends caused him sorrow by their words, they are more to be admired because what they thought concerning him they dared to say to him, rather than about him to others." [2]
"Don"t try to explain everything; explanations never heal a broken heart. If his friends had listened to him, accepted his feelings, and not argued with him, they would have helped him greatly; but they chose to be prosecuting attorneys instead of witnesses." [3]
The prologue (chs1-2) sets the stage for what follows by informing us, the readers, that Job"s suffering was not due to his sins. None of the characters in the story knew this fact except God and Satan. We also see the heavenly dimension and the spiritual warfare taking place-that were also unknown to the human characters in this drama.