Job 11:5 Meaning and Explanation

Job had longed for God to speak, to grant him a hearing and answer his cry. Zophar seizes the same wish but turns it against Job: oh that God would open His lips, he says, sure that the divine word would fall as a rebuke. He assumes that if heaven broke its silence, it would side entirely with the friends.

There is deep irony here that the reader feels and Zophar cannot. God will indeed speak before the book ends, but not to confirm Zophar. The Lord answers from the whirlwind, humbles all the speakers, and finally declares that Job, not his accusers, has spoken what is right. It is a sobering thing to summon God as a witness for our own case; His word, when it comes, judges the judges and exalts the humble.