Thy lies, i.e. thy false opinions and assertions, both concerning thyself and thy own innocency, and concerning the counsels and ways of God, make men hold their peace; as if thy arguments were unanswerable.

When thou mockest, both God, Job 10:3, and us, and our friendly and faithful counsels, Job 6:14,15,25,26,

shall no man make thee ashamed, by discovering thy errors and follies?

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

3. liesrather, “vainboasting” (Isa 16:6;Jer 48:30). The “men”is emphatic; men of sense; in antithesis to “vain boasting.”

mockestupbraidest Godby complaints, “shall no man make thee ashamed?”

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Should thy lies make men hold their peace?…. By which he means, either lies in common, untruths wilfully told, which are sins of a scandalous nature, which good men will not dare to commit knowingly; and to give a man, especially such a man, the lie, is very indecent; and to charge a man falsely with it is very injurious: or else doctrinal ones, errors in judgment, falsehoods concerning God and things divine; which not only are not of the truth, for no lie is of the truth, but are against it; and indeed where the case is notorious in either sense, men should not be silent, or be as men deaf and dumb, as the word u signifies, as if they did not hear the lies told them, or were unconcerned about them, or connived at them: David would not suffer a liar to be near him, nor dwell in his house, Ps 101:7; a common liar ought to be reproved and rejected; and doctrinal liars and lies should be opposed and resisted; truth should be contended for, and nothing be done against it, but everything for it: it is criminal to be silent at either sort of lies; nor should the bold and blustering manner in which they are told frighten men from a detection of them, which perhaps is what may be hinted at here w; some render the words x, “should thine iniquity frighten men?” they are not so strong and nervous as to appear unanswerable, and deter men from undertaking a reply unto them:

and, when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed? here Job is represented as a mocker of God, which is inferred from Job 10:3; and at his friends, and the arguments they used, and the advice they gave, which is concluded from his words in Job 6:25; and as one hardened, who was not, and could not be made ashamed of what he had said against either, by anything that had been offered for his reproof and conviction: to make a mock of God, or a jest of divine things, or scoff at good men, is very bad; indeed it is the character of the worst of men; and such should be made ashamed, if possible, by exposing their sin and folly; and if not here, they will be covered with shame hereafter, when they shall appear before God, the Judge of all, who will not be mocked, and shall see the saints at the right hand of Christ, whom they have jeered and scoffed at: but this was not Job’s true character; he was no mocker of God nor of good men; in this he was wronged and injured, and had nothing of this sort to be made ashamed of.

u So Ben Melech. w “jactantias tuas”, Cocceius. x “Tuane argumenta mortales consternabunt?” Codurcus.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

3. Thy lies The Hebrew also means babblings, boastings. “To say or to suggest that a man lies, is, with us, enough to kindle the weakest spirit, and is, with many, a murderous affront, while an Oriental will listen to the coarsest imputations of falsehood with an undisturbed countenance.” KITTO, D. B. Illus. The present stage of the debate would hardly justify so offensive a word as that of the Authorized Version, lies. Zophar has in view such expressions as Job 9:21; Job 9:35; Job 10:7.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Job 11:3 Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?

Ver. 3. Should thy lies make men hold their peace? ] Or, thy toys, toilsome toys, hammered in thine own head, hatched in thine own heart, which is deceitful above all things, and so a fit shop to frame lies in; but should we be silent at the hearing of them, and so become guilty of thy sin by a tacit consent? Can any mortal wight hear what thou hast said in behalf of thine own imaginary innocence, Job 6:29-30 , and how bold an appeal thou hast made to God as a witness thereof, Job 10:7 , and not reply upon thee, and reprove thee? The truth is, had Job been a liar, as Zophar would make of him (even mendaciorum loquacissimum, as Tertullian saith of Tacitus, one that fearing his many words would not carry his cause, had intermixed various untruths, the better to grace the business), he ought not to have been forborne by Zophar or any else that wished well to his soul: but it was far from good Job to be guilty of this foul sin, so hated of God, so like the devil, so inconsistent with religion. Christianus est, non mentietur, he is a Christian, you may be sure he will not lie, was the old argument; he will rather die than lie. David indeed, in a distress, roundly told two or three lies together to Abimelech the high priest, who suspected that he fled as a proscribed person, 1Sa 21:2 ; 1Sa 21:8 ; 1Sa 27:10 . But that he allowed not this sin in himself it appeareth in that, 1. He had chosen the way of truth, his election was truth, Psa 119:30. And, 2. He prayed against the contrary evil, “remove from me the way of lying,” Psa 119:29 . He was not one of those that took fast hold of deceit, as Jeremiah phraseth it, Job 8:5 . Much less was Job; however, Zophar was mistaken in him, as he was much more in his next charge, wherein he maketh him a scoffer of God and good people.

And when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed? ] Job is made a mocker here; yea, a scorner, and derider, as the word signifieth, such as David describeth, Psa 22:6 , and the author to the Hebrews, Heb 11:36 , where he speaks of cruel mockings, such as the Scripture everywhere (but especially in the Proverbs) brandeth for the worst sort of sinners. See Psa 1:1 , where the Septuagint translate for scorners, pests; as elsewhere incorrigible, Pro 21:1 ; naught, Pro 9:12 ; , , , proud, Pro 3:34 ; workers of iniquity, , Psa 119:51 . But where did Job mock in Zophar’s judgment? First, he spoke contemptuously (as he thought) of God, as Job 10:3 , “Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress?” &c. And whereas he spake better sometimes of God’s wisdom and righteousness, Zophar thought it was but from the teeth outward; but poor Job had little list or leisure to mock and jeer. Next, he mocked his friends for saving that he was justly afflicted, saying that they were cold comforters, void of God s fear, merciless men, &c. This they took in very ill part, and Zophar thinks to make him ashamed of it; for saith he,

Shall no man make thee ashamed? ] sc. By refuting thee, and by bringing thee to a due sight of thine error. This good office he that shall undertake to do for another, must be sure that he be able to do it effectually, else better not to attempt it. When Carolostadius opposed Luther’s consubstantiation only weakly and insufficiently, Zuinglius said, he was sorry that so good a cause lacked shoulders, Non satis humerorum haberet.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)