Job 2:11 Explained

"Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came 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." — Job 2:11 (KJV)

The friends who spend thirty-five chapters getting it wrong begin by doing something entirely right.

Read it in context: The Book of Job. Also gathered under verses about friendship.

Job 2:11 in context

What does Job 2:11 mean?

Three things are recorded before a word is spoken: they heard, they came from their own places, and they made an appointment to come together. Each cost something — distance, coordination, time. The verse is usually skipped on the way to the arguments, but the book's own structure suggests the silence of the following verses was the best thing they did.

What is the context of Job 2:11?

Job has lost his children, his property and his health. Chapter 2 ends with the three arriving, sitting on the ground with him seven days and nights, and saying nothing because they saw his grief was very great. The speeches only start in chapter 3.

How do I pray Job 2:11?

Ask who you have heard about and not gone to. The verse describes logistics rather than words, which is the part most people get wrong in the other direction — arriving with a speech ready. Consider going and saying nothing for a while; it is what these three did before they ruined it.

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