In this section of the chapter, Tzofar the Na'amathite continues his response to Iyov. He presents two central arguments: first, that you do not truly know what a "tzaddik" is, for it is beyond our power to judge a person merely by his external appearance; and second, that you do not know what a true "servant of God" is, nor what suffering genuinely represents. In the process, he addresses the profound question Iyov raised: how does the Holy One, Blessed be He's foreknowledge reconcile with human free will?
וְיַגֶּד־לְךָ תַּעֲלֻמוֹת חׇכְמָה כִּי־כִפְלַיִם לְתוּשִׁיָּה וְדַע כִּי־יַשֶּׁה לְךָ אֱלוֹהַּ מֵעֲוֺנֶךָ׃ - And that He would tell you the secrets of wisdom, for true essence is twofold; and know that God demands from you less than your iniquity deserves.
The word tushiyah derives from yeish (substance/existence), and everything that exists in the world is divided into two dimensions: first, the thing as it truly is in its essence; and second, the thing as it is perceived and grasped by our senses. We can only comprehend the external dimension: that which can be touched, tasted, smelled, and seen. But the essence of the thing, its intrinsic nature and character, is entirely beyond our grasp. Only the One who created it knows its true essence.
Moreover, this external perception is deceptive. A person looks at a cup and does not see atoms, yet in reality the cup is composed of atoms. A person looks into the air and does not see bacteria, yet we are constantly inhaling and exhaling bacteria. What we perceive is not the underlying reality, but merely what is apparent to our senses, whereas the true reality is entirely different.
To what can this be compared? A person comes and raises objections about a computer - why did they place this particular diode right here? Yet you do not understand how it is assembled or how it functions! Even if you know what a processor and memory are, how does it store memory? In what language? In what manner does it transmit data? You do not know. Why, then, do you ask questions about an area you do not understand? You saw an external protrusion with two wires and immediately raised an objection, but you have no grasp of the core mechanism. If we cannot comprehend the physical essence of things, how can we expect to understand the "secrets of wisdom," the matters that are entirely hidden from us?
What is he hinting at here? Tzofar is telling Iyov: outwardly, you appear to be a righteous person, someone completely blameless. But does this reflect your inner reality? Note that he is not claiming, as the other friends did, that Iyov is a wicked person pretending to be righteous. Rather, as we explained: being a tzaddik means utilizing one hundred percent of the potential granted to you. You may well be righteous, but not in proportion to the abilities given to you. Given the tools you received, you should have reached vastly greater heights. Thus, judging a matter based on what meets the eye is a mistake. Although you appear flawless according to the senses, it is very possible that you are far from perfecting your soul, because with the spiritual faculties Hashem endowed you with, you could have reached extraordinary levels, yet you remain distant from them. Regarding the inner dimension, the hidden essence - we do not know how high you were meant to reach.
If you were to perceive the essence of man according to his inner reality, rather than through what is apparent to our external senses, you would know that you are not truly righteous. The Malbim presents four interpretations of the word yasheh: (1) Related to yeish (existence/reality), just as nitzav relates to yatzav, so yeish relates to yasheh. (2) Related to neshiyah, meaning forgetfulness, as in the verse, "You forgot the Rock that bore you, and were unmindful of God that formed you" (Devarim 32:18). (3) Related to a loan or debt (nosheh, creditor), as in "You shall not be to him as a creditor" (Shemot 22:24) - meaning, you should know that you truly owe a debt for your iniquities, for you are not a tzaddik relative to the capacities you received. (4) Related to removal or transfer, as in "their might has failed" (nashtah gevuratam, Yirmiyahu 51:30), meaning their strength was removed and stripped from them. According to this, it is as though you removed and banished from your heart the transgressions you committed, ignoring how far you fell short of self-perfection relative to what you received from Hashem.
הַחֵקֶר אֱלוֹהַּ תִּמְצָא אִם עַד־תַּכְלִית שַׁדַּי תִּמְצָא׃ - Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you attain the ultimate bounds of the Almighty?
Here, Tzofar comes to answer Iyov's claim: that it is impossible that the Holy One, blessed be He, knows what a person will choose in the future, for if he chooses differently, there would be a change in His knowledge, blessed be He. From this, Iyov argued that since Hashem knows everything and His knowledge does not change, man has no free will at all. For if Hashem knows that a person will desecrate Shabbat in the future, there is no possibility that he will not desecrate it; and when Shabbat arrived and he desecrated it - could he have acted otherwise? If you say he could have, then it turns out Hashem did not know, and that never even entered Iyov's mind. And if there is no free choice, Iyov asked, why am I punished for my iniquity, when I have no ability to choose otherwise?
To this, Tzofar replies: know that there is no similarity or comparison between the Creator's knowledge and our knowledge. Just as we cannot grasp His essence, so too we cannot grasp His knowledge. You raise an objection because you measure with your own human tools: if I know you will do something in a week, there is no possibility of you doing otherwise, which means my knowledge compels you. With the Holy One, blessed be He, it is not so: His knowledge and human actions are two separate things, and it is possible for Hashem to know what a person will do on Shabbat while the choice remains entirely in his hands.
Notice: he does not explain how. He simply states that His knowledge is different and that this is possible. This is essentially the Rambam's answer as well: that Hashem's knowledge is different from our knowledge, and therefore it is possible for Him to know while we still retain free choice - but how? The Rambam did not explain. The Ra'avad raises serious objections against him there, using sharp language: "he did not act in the manner of the Sages" - why raise a difficulty for which one does not have an adequate resolution? Thus, the answer before us here is: "it is possible, but you have no ability to understand it." Intellectually, we are still left with a question, for we are told that the matter is beyond our grasp. Toward the end of the chapter, we will see an explanation that can settle the matter in the mind as well.
"Can you discover the mystery of God?" - Man's very perception operates through the senses: we touch, taste, smell, and only in this way do we come to know a thing. But the Holy One, blessed be He, cannot be grasped at all, for He is not perceived through the senses: He cannot be touched, tasted, or smelled. And if you cannot grasp Hashem Himself, how do you expect to grasp the essence of His knowledge?
"Can you reach the limit of the Almighty?" - This is the second deficiency, regarding the quantity of comprehension. The Holy One, blessed be He, is infinite, meaning unlimited, without end or boundary, which is why we call Him "Ein Sof, blessed be He." Can a finite being possibly grasp the Infinite? It is like saying we could fill a bounded vessel with an infinite substance - a contradiction in terms (and while there is no infinite physical substance, this is said merely to make the concept graspable). You are a finite vessel, yet you seek to grasp the infinite Divine. Here we have two limitations: we perceive only through the senses while Hashem cannot be perceived through the senses, and we are finite while He is infinite.
גׇּבְהֵי שָׁמַיִם מַה־תִּפְעָל עֲמֻקָּה מִשְּׁאוֹל מַה־תֵּדָע׃ - It is as high as the heavens, what can you do? Deeper than Sheol, what can you know?
Grasping the Divine involves matters that are high, lofty, and sublime, far beyond human intellect - what can you do to reach there? "Deeper than Sheol, what can you know?" - in the Holy One, blessed be He, exist all possible perfections, and delving into the depth of the matter to understand and comprehend it is deeper than the netherworld, so what can you know?
אֲרֻכָּה מֵאֶרֶץ מִדָּהּ וּרְחָבָה מִנִּי־יָם׃ - Its measure is longer than the earth, and wider than the sea.
Divine understanding is boundlessly long and wide, and once it says "longer than the earth," all the more so is it "wider than the sea." How, then, could you expect to grasp it?
Our Sages expound this verse as referring to the Torah, which at first glance seems surprising: the earth is finite and small, so what is the novelty in saying that the Torah is longer than it? I have seen commentators explain, I believe in the name of the Vilna Gaon, that every object is measured with the measuring tools appropriate to it. A table is measured in centimeters, small objects in millimeters, microscopic things in nanometers - a unit so small that even a single hair is huge by comparison. Continents and countries are measured in kilometers, and the distance between us and the stars is measured in light-years. When you are told that something is measured in kilometers or light-years, you immediately understand that it is immense.
And this is the meaning of "its measure is longer than the earth": the measuring unit of the Torah is longer than the earth. The unit of measure used to measure the Torah is the earth itself - so many hundreds of thousands and millions of "earths." For to say merely that the Torah is longer than the earth is obvious and contains no novel insight; the novel insight is that the entire earth is merely the unit of measure with which the Torah is measured.
אִם־יַחֲלֹף וְיַסְגִּיר וְיַקְהִיל וּמִי יְשִׁיבֶנּוּ׃ - If He passes through and imprisons and gathers, who can turn Him back?
כִּי־הוּא יָדַע מְתֵי־שָׁוְא וַיַּרְא־אָוֶן וְלֹא יִתְבּוֹנָן׃ - For He knows deceitful men, and sees iniquity, yet does He not consider it?
Once the premise is established that man grasps nothing of Divinity, having no perception whatsoever of the Creator's thought, it follows that if he cannot grasp the Creator Himself, how could he grasp His knowledge, which is His very Essence? This is not at all the kind of knowledge we possess. With the Holy One, Blessed is He, it is conceivable and possible that He knows every detail of what will occur in the future, yet free will still remains in man's hands, without any contradiction. Even though in our human perception these things seem mutually exclusive, Hashem's knowledge is entirely different from ours.
Therefore he tells him: "If He passes through" - removes one of His creatures from the world; "and imprisons" - locks him in confinement or brings suffering upon him; "and gathers" - assembles all the inhabitants of the world and asks them, "Did I judge with righteousness and justice?" "And who can turn Him back?" - who would dare respond and argue: "Master of the Universe, You knew in advance that he would sin, so he was compelled to sin, and Your foreknowledge stripped him of his free will!" "He sees iniquity, yet does He not consider it?" - You saw the iniquity beforehand, yet acted, as it were, as though You did not scrutinize it, pretending he still possessed free choice. And someone might come along and claim: Why did You remove him, imprison him, and bring all these troubles upon him for nothing, if in truth he had no choice?
Yet can any person make such a claim against the Holy One, Blessed is He? It is clear that His knowledge is not like ours, and He knows all - "Everything is foreseen, yet free will is given": Hashem knows everything, yet the choice remains ours to perform good or bad deeds. Consequently, "and the world is judged with goodness" - that Hashem judges the wicked person, removes him, and imprisons him, is all done with goodness and in accordance with true justice, exactly as it should be.
וְאִישׁ נָבוּב יִלָּבֵב וְעַיִר פֶּרֶא אָדָם יִוָּלֵד׃ - But a hollow man will get understanding, when a wild donkey's colt is born a man.
Here Zophar transitions to another point. Perhaps you will ask: Why did Hashem create man in such a way that he can only perceive through his senses, his comprehension remains imperfect, and he cannot grasp Divinity? If He was going to create man, let Him grant him senses, comprehension, knowledge, and understanding - why create him deficient?
You argue: "And a hollow man may get understanding" - it would be fitting for the hollow, empty man to receive a heart and understanding, so that he might grasp Divinity, comprehend the Creator's mind, understand how Hashem judges, and fathom how it is possible for Hashem to know everything while I still possess free will. Why did Hashem withhold these insights from us?
To this he answers: "When a wild donkey's colt is born a man" - if so, you should just as well ask why Hashem created the wild donkey's colt without giving it a human intellect. But you do not ask this, because you understand that Hashem wanted there to be man in the world, and He also wanted there to be wild donkeys. He wanted human beings, and He also wanted donkeys - for otherwise, upon whom would man place his burdens? Both are needed. So too here: the Holy One, Blessed is He, wanted to create man capable of reaching a certain limit in his comprehension, and no further. Had He wanted, He would have created an angel; but He already has angels, and He chose to create human beings. Just as a wild donkey cannot be a man, so too it is impossible for a hollow man to gain that higher heart and intellect. This can also be read as a question: "Can a wild donkey's colt be born a man?" Would a human being ever be born of a wild donkey? Certainly not; it is an entirely different species. In the same way, an angel will not be born of man, nor will man ever attain perceptions that transcend the faculties Hashem chose to grant him.
אִם־אַתָּה הֲכִינוֹתָ לִבֶּךָ וּפָרַשְׂתָּ אֵלָיו כַּפֶּיךָ׃ - "If you direct your heart, and spread forth your palms toward Him."
אִם־אָוֶן בְּיָדְךָ הַרְחִיקֵהוּ וְאַל־תַּשְׁכֵּן בְּאֹהָלֶיךָ עַוְלָה׃ - "If iniquity is in your hand, banish it, and let not injustice dwell in your tents."
Here you see for yourself that choice is in your hands: if there is an evil deed in your hand, banish it. And not only that, but you also have the power not to let injustice dwell in your tents - meaning to purge all injustice from your home. Not just to remove it from your own hand, but from your household as well. Thus, you are the ruler, and the power is in your hands.
כִּי־אָז תִּשָּׂא פָנֶיךָ מִמּוּם וְהָיִיתָ מֻצָק וְלֹא תִירָא׃ - "For then you will lift up your face free of blemish; you will be steadfast and shall not fear."
Only then will your face be lifted up from blemish - that is, clear and free of any flaw. For if you commit iniquity and injustice, there is a blemish on your face: "on your face" means through your own fault, for the sin is evident upon you and belongs to you. But if you act according to my words, out of the realization that man possesses free will and can escape evil and desire good, then there will be no blemish in you. "You will be steadfast" - you will be strong and master over yourself; "and shall not fear" - you will not worry that someone else is choosing for you, for you are the one who chooses. You will have no fear that you are acting without your own power or against your will; rather, all your actions will stem from your own deeds and will, and there will be no injustice in your hand.
כִּי־אַתָּה עָמָל תִּשְׁכָּח כְּמַיִם עָבְרוּ תִזְכֹּר׃ - "For you shall forget your misery; you shall remember it as waters that have flowed away."
As we recall, Tzofar responds to Iyov on two fronts. The first: you do not know what a tzaddik is, for we do not know man's inner reality, and perhaps far higher levels were demanded of him - he may be righteous, but not the tzaddik Hashem intended, falling short of the levels he was meant to achieve with his capabilities. Now he turns to the second front: you claim "a righteous person who suffers" - but you do not know what it means to "suffer loss."
Know that these are not real afflictions, but merely afflictions of the body, and the loss of the body is not considered a true loss. A parable illustrates this: a man was walking with a wallet containing a million dollars. He lost the wallet itself, but the million remained in his hand - is that considered a loss? The wallet is worth fifty shekels, while the million is still with you. So too, the loss of the body is a physical, material loss that counts for nothing. The true loss is the soul of man, as it is written: "Why does a living man complain, a man concerning his sins?" What grounds does a living man have to complain? He has afflictions and suffers, but these are fleeting physical matters. What is there to lament? "A man concerning his sins" - over sins, which cause eternal spiritual damage. Spiritual deficiency is eternal, whereas physical deficiency is nothing to grieve over. The essence of man is the soul, and the soul is destined for reward in the world above. Accordingly, the very definition of "suffering loss" is flawed: where has he lost out? Here in the physical body? That is like losing the wallet while keeping the million.
This is the meaning of "For you shall forget your misery," with the emphasis on the word "you." You identify yourself with the body - and that is a mistake. The true "you" is the soul. "You" means your soul and your essence, the spiritual nefesh. The time will come when it sheds its physical garment, and then you will forget all the misery, suffering, pain, and grief, for what truly matters is the spiritual dimension.
And on the contrary: "You shall remember it as waters that have flowed away" - you will remember the misery and affliction just as one remembers waters that passed by and flooded the ground. During the flood, it appears to be destruction; but what happens the following year in a place that experienced a flood? The soil becomes fertile and enriched, yielding far better crops. If a flood swept through a person's field, today it looks like ruin and a giant swamp, but all the minerals and nutrients from the surrounding earth have drained into it. The field is richly fertilized, and the following year it will produce an abundant harvest.
And this is precisely the point behind what our Sages teach: that in the Future to Come, we will recite a blessing even over evil occurrences, not "Baruch Dayan HaEmet" (Blessed is the True Judge), but rather "HaTov VeHaMeitiv" (He Who is good and does good). People ask: won't all evil cease in the Future to Come? The answer is that in the Future to Come, we will recite "HaTov VeHaMeitiv" over the evils of today, because then we will understand how all the hardships of today were truly for our good, and what tremendous benefit they brought forth for us. And this is the meaning of "as waters that have passed, you will remember it" - when you gaze down from Above after one hundred and twenty years, not only will it not seem bad to you, but you will actually give thanks for it.
וּמִצׇּהֳרַיִם יָקוּם חָלֶד תָּעֻפָה כַּבֹּקֶר תִּהְיֶה׃ - And brighter than noonday worldly life shall arise; though shrouded in darkness, it shall become as morning.
Cheled refers to the world, as in the phrase "all the dwellers of the world (yoshvei cheled)." The World to Come, which will arise after this world, will arise "from noonday" - a world emerging from a realm of light, unlike this world, which emerged from a place of darkness and the shadow of death. After all, how was this world created? "And darkness was upon the face of the deep" - this world was founded upon pillars of darkness, whereas the World to Come will be built upon the pillars of noonday (tzohorayim, denoting brilliance and radiant light), an entirely different world.
"Though shrouded in darkness, it shall become as morning" - the eyelids of dawn are an allegory for light that begins to break gradually, like someone who has not yet fully opened his eyes. He is telling him: there, there will be no stages or gradual dawning; rather, "it shall become as morning" - the Holy One, blessed be He, will immediately shine upon us with His full light.
וּבָטַחְתָּ כִּי־יֵשׁ תִּקְוָה וְחָפַרְתָּ לָבֶטַח תִּשְׁכָּב׃ - And you will be confident because there is hope; you will dig, and lie down in safety.
Through this, you have assurance even regarding the life of this world that you are currently losing: "because there is hope" - ultimately, there is a far better life than this one, eternal and spiritual life. "You will dig, and lie down in safety" - after you dig yourself a grave, do not think that the story ends there and the curtain falls; that is where it truly begins. "You will lie down in safety" - you will be able to lie there securely, because that is where the receiving of reward begins.
וְרָבַצְתָּ וְאֵין מַחֲרִיד וְחִלּוּ פָנֶיךָ רַבִּים׃ - You will lie down and none will make you afraid, and many will entreat your favor.
There you will recline securely without anyone causing you fear, unlike this world, which is filled with anxieties, disturbances, wars, and the afflictions of the evil inclination. "And many will entreat your favor" - furthermore, righteous and prominent people will come to pray at your gravesite and seek your favor, asking you to serve as an advocate of merit on their behalf.
וְעֵינֵי רְשָׁעִים תִּכְלֶינָה וּמָנוֹס אָבַד מִנְהֶם וְתִקְוָתָם מַפַּח־נָפֶשׁ׃ - But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and refuge will be lost to them, and their hope will be the despair of the soul.
"The eyes of the wicked shall fail" - the wicked person is never satisfied: he who has one hundred desires two hundred. His lust is constantly for more and more, and his eyes pine away to see it, as in the phrase, "My soul yearns for Hashem." "And refuge is lost to them" - they have no escape from destruction, and they will inevitably reach it in the end. "And their hope is the breathing out of the soul" - with the righteous, hope is fulfilled, whereas with them, its end is utter disappointment and despair.
"Mappach nefesh" [the breathing out of the soul] - that they breathe out their soul, as in the verse, "and the soul of your enemies He shall sling out, as from the hollow of a sling [kaf hakela]." Kaf Hakela means that the angels pass his soul from one to another and fling it from one end of the world to the other. And what is the meaning of this? A person who had no rest from the desires of this world during his lifetime continues, even Up Above after his passing, to chase endlessly after physical pleasures - only he no longer possesses the physical tools to realize them. He craves smoking, but has no mouth; he craves forbidden food, but has no mouth with which to eat. These are excruciating torments. This is "He shall sling it out as from the hollow of a sling": his soul runs to and fro, back and forth, constantly chasing the pleasures it was accustomed to in life, unable to attain them. And "mappach nefesh" also bears its plain meaning: he will suffer bitter heartbreak and despair, for he sees that in all the days of his life he never truly attained what he wanted, and after death he pays dearly for all the pleasures and cravings of this world.
Tzofar HaNa'amati teaches Iyov three fundamental principles. First, judging a person by outward appearance is an error, for we perceive only what is tangible to the senses and not the essence of the matter; a person may appear righteous and yet remain far from the level his potential demanded of him. Second, man has no tool to grasp Divinity or His knowledge, blessed be He: the senses cannot perceive Him, and a finite being cannot comprehend the Infinite - therefore, "all is foreseen, yet free will is given," and there is no contradiction in this; just as a wild donkey's colt does not become a man, so a human being does not become an angel, for this was the Creator's will in His creation. And third, the definition of being "lost" is completely incorrect: physical suffering is like a lost wallet while the million remains in our hands, and in the future you will remember it as water that flooded a field and fertilized it, and you will recite the blessing of HaTov VeHaMeitiv over it. In contrast, the eyes of the wicked pine for more and more, they have no escape from destruction, and their hope ends in utter despair.