Job20
World English Bible · Public Domain
1Then Zophar the Naamathite answered,
2“Therefore my thoughts answer me, even by reason of my haste that is in me.
3I have heard the reproof which puts me to shame. The spirit of my understanding answers me.
4Don’t you know this from old time, since man was placed on earth,
5that the triumphing of the wicked is short, the joy of the godless but for a moment?
6Though his height mount up to the heavens, and his head reach to the clouds,
7yet he will perish forever like his own dung. Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
8He will fly away as a dream, and will not be found. Yes, he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
9The eye which saw him will see him no more, neither will his place see him any more.
10His children will seek the favor of the poor. His hands will give back his wealth.
11His bones are full of his youth, but youth will lie down with him in the dust.
12“Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue,
13though he spare it, and will not let it go, but keep it still within his mouth,
14yet his food in his bowels is turned. It is cobra venom within him.
15He has swallowed down riches, and he will vomit them up again. God will cast them out of his belly.
16He will suck cobra venom. The viper’s tongue will kill him.
17He will not look at the rivers, the flowing streams of honey and butter.
18He will restore that for which he labored, and will not swallow it down. He will not rejoice according to the substance that he has gotten.
19For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor. He has violently taken away a house, and he will not build it up.
20“Because he knew no quietness within him, he will not save anything of that in which he delights.
21There was nothing left that he didn’t devour, therefore his prosperity will not endure.
22In the fullness of his sufficiency, distress will overtake him. The hand of everyone who is in misery will come on him.
23When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fierceness of his wrath on him. It will rain on him while he is eating.
24He will flee from the iron weapon. The bronze arrow will strike him through.
25He draws it out, and it comes out of his body. Yes, the glittering point comes out of his liver. Terrors are on him.
26All darkness is laid up for his treasures. An unfanned fire will devour him. It will consume that which is left in his tent.
27The heavens will reveal his iniquity. The earth will rise up against him.
28The increase of his house will depart. They will rush away in the day of his wrath.
29This is the portion of a wicked man from God, the heritage appointed to him by God.”
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Job 20.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Zophar speaks of the short joy of the wicked. (1–9). The ruin of the wicked. (10–22). The portion of the wicked. (23–29).
vv1-9
Zophar's discourse is upon the certain misery of the wicked. The triumph of the wicked and the joy of the hypocrite are fleeting. The pleasures and gains of sin bring disease and pain; they end in remorse, anguish, and ruin. Dissembled piety is double iniquity, and the ruin that attends it will be accordingly.
vv10-22
The miserable condition of the wicked man in this world is fully set forth. The lusts of the flesh are here called the sins of his youth. His hiding it and keeping it under his tongue, denotes concealment of his beloved lust, and delight therein. But He who knows what is in the heart, knows what is under the tongue, and will discover it. The love of the world, and of the wealth of it, also is wickedness, and man sets his heart upon these. Also violence and injustice, these sins bring God's judgments upon nations and families. Observe the punishment of the wicked man for these things. Sin is turned into gall, than which nothing is more bitter; it will prove to him poison; so will all unlawful gains be. In his fulness he shall be in straits, through the anxieties of his own mind. To be led by the sanctifying grace of God to restore what was unjustly gotten, as Zaccheus was, is a great mercy. But to be forced to restore by the horrors of a despairing conscience, as Judas was, has no benefit and comfort attending it.
vv23-29
Zophar, having described the vexations which attend wicked practices, shows their ruin from God's wrath. There is no fence against this, but in Christ, who is the only Covert from the storm and tempest, Isa 32:2. Zophar concludes, “This is the portion of a wicked man from God;” it is allotted him. Never was any doctrine better explained, or worse applied, than this by Zophar, who intended to prove Job a hypocrite. Let us receive the good explanation, and make a better application, for warning to ourselves, to stand in awe and sin not. One view of Jesus, directed by the Holy Spirit, and by him suitably impressed upon our souls, will quell a thousand carnal reasonings about the suffering of the faithful.
Key Words
צוֹפַר: Tsophar, a friend of Job
נַעֲמָתִי: a Naamathite, or inhabitant of Naamah
עָנָה: properly, to eye or (generally) to heed, i.e. pay attention; by implication, to respond; by extension to begin to speak; specifically to sing, shout, testify, announce
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
כֵּן: properly, set upright; hence (figuratively as adjective) just; but usually (as adverb or conjunction) rightly or so (in various applications to manner, time and relation; often with other particles)
סָעִף: divided (in mind), i.e. (abstractly) a sentiment
שׁוּב: to turn back (hence, away) transitively or intransitively, literally or figuratively (not necessarily with the idea of return to the starting point); generally to retreat; often adverbial, again
חוּשׁ: to hurry; figuratively, to be eager with excitement or enjoyment
שָׁמַע: to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.)
מוּסָר: properly, chastisement; figuratively, reproof, warning or instruction; also restraint
Cross References
Job 20The comparison of the fleeting, unsubstantial life of the wicked to a dream that vanishes.
Supported by JFB
Uses the exact vulgar imagery of dung to describe the total, shameful sweeping away of a wicked house.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The carcass of Jezebel compared to dung on the ground, emphasizing extreme degradation.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallels the concept of sweet-tasting sin that ultimately turns into gravel or poison in the bowels.
Supported by JFB
Contrast's Job's former prosperity (washing steps with butter) with the wicked's deprivation of rivers of honey.
Supported by JFB
Parallels the proud mounting up to heaven, echoing the self-exaltation of the king of Babylon.
Supported by JFB
Exaltation among the clouds and stars brought low by God's severe judgment.
Supported by JFB
Parallels the wicked becoming as dung upon the earth under God's swift judgment.
Supported by JFB
Echoes the precise phrasing that a person's place shall know or behold him no more.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Direct conceptual link to the 'sins of my youth' which carry heavy consequences.
Supported by JFB
Oppressing the poor and violently taking away their houses to build one's own.
Supported by JFB
Underlies the description of God's whetted, glittering sword executing judgment.
Supported by JFB
Illustrates the severe requirement of restitution for stolen goods and unjust gain.
Supported by JFB
Condemnation of those who covet and violently seize houses, leaving others without shelter.
Supported by JFB
Parallels the imagery of God raining down fury and fire as the portion of the wicked.
Supported by JFB