Three steps would bring Job back to where he should be, said Zophar: repentance (v. 13), prayer (v. 13), and reformation (v. 14). He also painted the fruits of conversion for Job. These benefits were a clear conscience, faithfulness, and confidence (v. 15); forgetfulness of his troubles (v. 16); joy (v. 17); hope and rest (v. 18); and peace, popularity, and leadership (v. 19). Like Bildad, Zophar ended his first speech with a fire-breathing warning (v. 20; cf. 8:22).
Whereas Eliphaz's authority was personal experience, and Bildad's was tradition, Zophar's seems to have been intuition (cf. 20:1-5). It appears that Zophar held to what he believed about divine retribution simply because it seemed right to him. He offered no other reason for adopting this view than that it was self-evident, to him at least. His speech was more emotional than any given so far.
