SOPHAR (Hebr. Ṣōphar). - One of Job’friends (v.); he is called a Naamathite, or of Naamah, in which some see a region inhabited by Arameans or Edomites, while others think of a tribe. S. speaks last, reiterating the common view that Job’s calamity was merely the effect of a divine punishment for sins committed.
Since the afflicted man had already rejected such a thesis by affirming his innocence, S. persists in pointing out possible hidden faults and in advising repentance (Iob. 11, 1-20). In the second dispute, offended by Job’s harsh expressions against his supposed friends (ibid. 13, 4 sg.; 16, 2; 19, 3), S. reproaches him for such boldness in judging and briefly portrays the figure and fate of the wicked man (ibid. 20, 1-29). In the third dispute S. does not intervene, but this may be the effect of an unsuccessful transmission of the text, which here is suspected of disorder and lacunae. Angelo Penna