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Job Chapter
Twenty
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO JOB 20
Zophar
and his friends, not satisfied with Job's confession of faith, he in his turn
replies, and in his preface gives his reasons why he made any answer at all,
and was so quick in it, Job 20:1; and
appeals to Job for the truth of an old established maxim, that the prosperity
of wicked men and hypocrites is very short lived, Job 20:4; and the
short enjoyment of their happiness is described by several elegant figures and
similes, Job 20:6; such a
wicked man being obliged, in his lifetime, to restore his ill gotten goods, and
at death to lie down with the sins of his youth, Job 20:10; his sin
in getting riches, the disquietude of his mind in retaining them, and his being
forced to make restitution, are very beautifully expressed by the simile of a
sweet morsel kept in the mouth, and turned to the gall of asps in the bowels,
and then vomited up, Job 20:12; the
disappointment he shall have, the indigent and strait circumstances he shall be
brought into, and the restitution he shall be obliged to make for the
oppression of the poor, and the uneasiness he shall feel in his own breast, are
set forth in a very strong light, Job 20:17; and it
is suggested, that not only the hand of wicked men should be upon him, but the
wrath of God also, which should seize on him suddenly and secretly, and would
be inevitable, he not being able to make his escape from it, and which would
issue in the utter destruction of him and his in this world, and that to come, Job 20:23. And the
chapter is, concluded with this observation, that such as before described is
the appointed portion and heritage of a wicked man from God, Job 20:29
Job 20:1 Then
Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:
YLT
1And Zophar the Naamathite
answereth and saith: --
Then answered Zophar the Naamathite,.... Notwithstanding the
sad distressed condition Job was in, an account of which is given in the
preceding chapter, enough to pierce a heart of stone, notwithstanding his
earnest request to his friends to have pity on him, and notwithstanding the
noble confession of his faith he had made, which showed him to be a good man,
and the excellent advice he gave his friends to cease persecuting him, for
their own good, as well as for his peace; yet, regardless of these things,
Zophar starts up and makes a reply, and attacks him with as much heat and passion,
wrath and anger, as ever, harping upon the same string, and still representing
Job as a wicked man and an hypocrite;
and said, as follows.
Job 20:2 2 “Therefore my anxious
thoughts make me answer, Because of the turmoil within me.
YLT
2Therefore my thoughts cause
me to answer, And because of my sensations in me.
Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer,.... Or
"to return"F1ישיבוני
"reducunt me, q. d. in scenam"; Cocceius, Junius & Tremellius,
Piscator, Drusius. and appear upon the stage again, and enter the lists once
more with his antagonist; he suggests as if he had intended to have said no
more in this controversy, but observing what Job had said last, could not
forbear replying: "therefore" because he had represented him and his
friends as cruel persecutors of him, as men devoid of all humanity, pity, and
compassion, and endeavoured to terrify them with the punishments of the sword,
and the judgment of God to come; these occasioned many "thoughts" in
him, and those thoughts obliged him to give an answer; they came in so thick
and fast upon him, that out of the abundance, his heart suggested to him he
could not but speak, he was full of matter, and the spirit within him, the
impulse upon his mind, constrained him to make a reply; and he seems desirous
of having it understood that his answer proceeded from thought; that he did not
speak without thinking, but had well weighed things in his mind; and what he
was about to say was the fruit of close thinking and mature deliberation:
and for this I make haste; because his thoughts
crowded in upon him, he had a fulness of matter, an impulse of mind,
promptitude and readiness to speak on this occasion, and for fear of losing
what was suggested to him, he made haste to give in his answer, perhaps
observing some other of his friends rising up before him. The Targum is,
"because
my sense is in me;'
and
so other Jewish writersF2Ben Gersom, Bar Tzemach, Sephorno; and so
Montanus. ; be apprehended he had a right sense of things, and understood the
matter in controversy full well, and therefore thought it incumbent on him to
speak once more in it: GussetiusF3Ebr. Comment. p. 246. renders it,
"because of my disquietude"; the uneasiness of his mind raised by
what Job had said, that he would have them know and consider there was a
judgment; and he intimates he had considered it, and was fearful that should he
be silent, and make no reply, God would condemn him in judgment for his
silence; and therefore he was in a hurry to make answer, and could not be easy
without it; and for his reasons for so doing he further explains himself in Job 20:3.
Job 20:3 3 I have heard the rebuke
that reproaches me, And the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer.
YLT
3The chastisement of my
shame I hear, And the spirit of mine understanding Doth cause me to answer:
I have heard the check of my reproach,.... He took
it that Job had reproached him and his friends, by representing them as
hardhearted men, and persecuting him wrongly in a violent manner; and he had
observed the "check" or reproof given for it, by bidding them beware
of the sword, and lest the punishment of it should be inflicted on them; and if
that should not be the case, yet there was a righteous judgment they could not
escape. Now Zophar heard this, but could not hear it with patience; be could
not bear that he and his friends should be insulted, as he thought, in this
manner; and therefore it was he was in such baste to return an answer; though
someF4Schmidt. think he here pretends to a divine oracle, like that
which Eliphaz makes mention of in the beginning of this dispute, Job 4:12, &c.
which he had from God, and from which he had heard the "correction of
his reproach"F5מוסר כלמתי "correctionem ignominiae meae", Pagninus,
Montanus; so Schmidt, Michaelis. , or a full confutation of the thing Job had
reproached him with; and being thus divinely furnished, he thought it his duty
to deliver it:
and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer; or his
rational spirit, his natural understanding, furnished him at once with an
answer; he had such a clear insight into the controversy on foot, and such a
full view of it, that he thought himself capable of speaking very particularly
to the matter in hand, and to the conviction and confusion of Job; nay, his
conscience, or the spirit of his conscience, as Mr. Broughton renders it, not
only readily dictated to him what he should say, but obliged him to it; though
some think he meant the Holy Spirit of God, by which he would be thought to be
inspired; that he "out of his understanding"F6מבינתי "ex intelligentia mea", Junius &
Tremellius, Piscator, Mercerus, Drusius, Schmidt, Michaelis. , enlightened by
him, caused him to answer, or would answer for him, or supply him with matter
sufficient to qualify him for it; and this he might observe to Job, in order to
raise his attention to what he was about to say.
Job 20:4 4 “Do you not know
this of old, Since man was placed on earth,
YLT
4This hast thou known from
antiquity? Since the placing of man on earth?
Knowest thou not this of old,.... Or "from
eternity"F7מני עד
"ab aeterno", Junius & Tremellius, Drusius, Codurcus, Schmidt,
Michaelis. , from the beginning of time, ever since the world was; as if he
should say, if you are the knowing man you pretend to be, you must know this I
am about to observe; and if you do not know it, you must be an ignorant man,
since it is an ancient truth, confirmed by all experience from the creation;
not that Job could know it so early, he was not the first man that was born,
nor was he made before the hills, but was of yesterday, and comparatively knew
nothing; but the sense is, that this about to be delivered was an old
established maxim, of which there had been numerous instances,
since man, or "Adam",
was placed upon earth; referring to the putting
of Adam in Eden to dress the garden, and keep it; and every man, ever since, is
placed on earth by the ordination, and according to the will of God, where and
for purposes he pleases: the instances Zophar might have in view are perhaps
the expulsion of our first parents out of paradise, the vagabond state of Cain,
the destruction of the old world by a flood, and of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire
from heaven; which show that God, sooner or later, gives manifest tokens of his
displeasure at sin and sinners, by his punishment of them for it. What he means
is as follows.
Job 20:5 5 That the triumphing of the
wicked is short, And the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment?
YLT
5That the singing of the
wicked [is] short, And the joy of the profane for a moment,
That the triumphing of the wicked is short,.... Their
outward prosperity and felicity, of which they make their boast, and in which
they glory and triumph for a while; at first Job's friends set out with this
notion, that the wicked never flourished and prospered, but it always went ill
with them in Providence; but being beat out of that, they own they may be for a
small time in flourishing and prosperous circumstances, but it is but for a
small time; which may be true in many instances, but it is not invariable and
without exception the case: the sense is, it is but a little while that they
are in so much mirth and jollity, and triumph over their neighbours, as being
in more advantageous circumstances than they; this is said in the original text
to be "from near"F8מקרוב
"de propinquo", Pagninus, Montanus, &c. ; it is but a little
while ago when it began; and; as the Targum paraphrases it, it will be quickly
ended:
and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment; the word
"wicked", in the former clause, may signify the same person here
called the "hypocrite"; but inasmuch as that signifies one restless
and troublesome, one that is ungodly, and destitute of the fear of God, that
has nothing in him but wickedness, who is continually committing it, and is
abandoned to it; it might be thought not to apply to the character of Job, whom
Zophar had in his view, and therefore this is added as descriptive of him: an
hypocrite is one who seems to be that he is not, holy, righteous, good, and
godly; who professes to have what he has not, the true grace of God, and
pretends to worship God, but does not do it cordially, and from right
principles; and who seeks himself in all he does, and not the glory of God: now
there may be a joy in such sort of persons; they may hear ministers gladly, as
Herod heard John, and receive the word with joy, as the stony ground hearers
did, Mark 6:20; they may
seem to delight in the ways and ordinances of God, and even have some tastes of
the powers of the world to come, and some pleasing thoughts and hopes of heaven
and happiness; as well as they triumph in and boast of their profession of
religion and performance of duties, and rejoice in their boastings, which is
evil; but then this is like the pleasures of sin, which are but for a season,
or like the crackling of thorns under a pot, which make a great noise and
blaze, but soon over, Ecclesiastes 7:6;
and so their joy in civil as well as religious, things. It is possible Zophar
might be so ill natured as to have reference to Job's triumph of faith, Job 19:25; and by
this would suggest, that his faith in a living Redeemer, and the joy of it he
professed, would be soon over and no more; which shows what spirit he was of.
Job 20:6 6 Though his haughtiness
mounts up to the heavens, And his head reaches to the clouds,
YLT
6Though his excellency go up
to the heavens, And his head against a cloud he strike –
Though his excellency mount up to the heavens,.... Though,
in worldly grandeur and glory, he should arrive to such a pitch as the Assyrian
monarch was ambitious of, as to ascend into heaven, exalt his throne above the
stars of God, and be like the Most High; or be comparable to such a tree, by
which the greatness of Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom is expressed, the height
whereof reached unto heaven, Isaiah 14:12;
and his head reach unto the clouds; being lifted up with
pride, because of his greatness, and looking with contempt and scorn on others;
the Septuagint version is, "if his gifts ascend up to heaven",
&c. which well agrees with an hypocrite possessed of great gifts, and proud
of them; as Capernaum was highly favoured with external things, as the presence
of Christ, his ministry and miracles, and so said to be exalted unto heaven,
yet, because of its impenitence and unbelief, should be brought down to hell, Matthew 11:23.
Job 20:7 7 Yet
he will perish forever like his own refuse; Those who have seen him will say,
‘Where is he?’
YLT
7As his own dung for ever he
doth perish, His beholders say: `Where [is] he?'
Yet he shall perish for ever
like his own dung,.... Not only in this world, but in the world to come, both in
his outward substance here, and in his body in the grave, and in his soul to
all eternity, and that in the most shameful and disgraceful manner; he shall
perish in his own corruption, and like his own dung inevitably, which is never
returned to its place again: dead bodies were reckoned by the ancients as dung,
and the carcasses of men are rather to be cast out than dungF9Heraclitus
apud Strabo. Geograph. l. 16. p. 539. ; and the Arabians used, to bury in
dunghills even their kingsF11Strabo, ib. ; to which someF12Pineda
in loc. think the allusion is:
they which have seen him shall say, where is he? such as
formerly gazed at him, in his prosperity, with wonder and amazement at his
grandeur and greatness, now being removed from his outward splendour, or from
the world, by death, ask where he is, not being able to see him in his former
lustre, nor in the land of the living; see Job 14:10.
Job 20:8 8 He will fly away like a
dream, and not be found; Yes, he will be chased away like a vision of the
night.
YLT
8As a dream he fleeth, and
they find him not, And he is driven away as a vision of the night,
He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found,.... Either as
a dream which is forgotten, as Nebuchadnezzar's was, and cannot be recovered;
or as the matter and substance of a dream, which, though remembered, is a mere
illusion; as when a hungry or thirsty man dreams he eats or drinks, but,
awaking, finds himself empty, and not at all refreshed; what he fancied is fled
and goneF13 σκιας οναρ
ανθρωποι, Pindar. Pythia, Ode 8. , and indeed never had any
existence but in his imagination, Isaiah 29:8;
yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night; either the
same as a nocturnal dream, or what a man fancies he sees in his dream; or like
a mere spectre or apparition, which is a mere phantom, and, when followed and
pursued, vanishes and disappears; so such a man before described is chased out
of the world, and is seen in it no more, see Job 18:18; the
first clause, according to Sephorno, refers to the generation of the flood, and
the second to the slaying of the firstborn of Egypt in the night.
Job 20:9 9 The eye that saw
him will see him no more, Nor will his place behold him anymore.
YLT
9The eye hath not seen him,
and addeth not. And not again doth his place behold him.
The eye also which saw him shall see him no more,.... In this
world, concerned in the affairs of life, and busy in worldly employments, and
especially in the grandeur he sometimes was, if not removed by death; but the
former sense seems most agreeable by what follows,
neither shall his place any more behold him; the men of
his place, as Ben Gersom, those that lived in the same place he did; or he
shall not be seen, and known, and acknowledged any more as the master, owner,
and proprietor of the house he formerly dwelt in; this seems to be taken from
Job's own words in Job 7:10. The above
Jewish commentator interprets this verse of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, whom
Moses and the Israelites would see no more, Exodus 10:29.
Job 20:10 10 His children will seek the
favor of the poor, And his hands will restore his wealth.
YLT
10His sons do the poor
oppress, And his hands give back his wealth.
His children shall seek to please the poor,.... In this
and some following verses the miserable state of a wicked man is described, and
which begins with his children, who are often visited in wrath for their
parents' sins, especially when they tread in their steps, and follow their
example; and it is an affliction to parents to see their children in distress,
and particularly on their account, and even to be threatened with it. According
to our version, the sense of this clause is, that after a wicked man's death
his children shall seek to gain the good will and favour of the poor who have
been oppressed by him, that they may not reproach them, or take revenge on
them, or apply to the civil magistrate to have justice done them; but Jarchi
renders the words,
"the
poor shall oppress or destroy his children;'
and
so the margin of our Bible, who, being enraged with the ill usage of their
parents, shall fall upon them in great wrath, and destroy them, Proverbs 28:3; and
the same Jewish writer restrains the words to the men of Sodom, who were
oppressive and cruel to the poor; or rather the sense is, that the children of
the wicked man shall be reduced to such extreme poverty, that they shall even
seek relief of the poor, and supplicate and entreat them to give them something
out of their small pittance; with which others in a good measure agree, who
render the words, "his children shall please, being poor"F14בניו ירצו דלים
"filii ejus placabunt, mendici", Montanus. ; it shall be a pleasure
and satisfaction to those they have been injurious to, to see their children
begging their bread from door to door, see Psalm 109:5;
and his hands shall restore their goods: or "for
his hands", &c.F15So the English annotator. ; and so are a
reason why his children shall be so reduced after his death as to need the
relief of others, because their parent, in his lifetime, was obliged to make
restitution of his ill gotten goods, so that in the end he had nothing to leave
his children at his death; for this restitution spoken of is not voluntary, but
forced. Sephorno thinks reference is had to the Egyptians lending jewels and
other riches to the Israelites, whereby they were obliged to repay six hundred
thousand men for their service.
Job 20:11 11 His bones are full of his
youthful vigor, But it will lie down with him in the dust.
YLT
11His bones have been full of
his youth, And with him on the dust it lieth down.
His bones are full of the sins of his youth,.... Man is
born in sin, and is a transgressor from the womb; and the youthful age is
addicted to many sins, as pride, passion, lust, luxury, intemperance, and
uncleanness; and these are sometimes brought to mind, and men are convinced of
them, and corrected for them, when more advanced in years; and if not stopped
in them, and reformed from them, they are continued in an old age; and the
effects of them are seen in bodily diseases, which a debauched life brings upon
them, not only to the rottenness and consumption of their flesh, but to the
putrefaction of their bones; though this may be understood of the whole body,
the bones, the principal and stronger parts, being put for the whole, and
denote that general decay and waste which gluttony, drunkenness, and
uncleanness, bring into, see Proverbs 5:11; Some
interpret this of "secret" sinsF16עלומיו
"ejus occultis", Montanus, Vatablus, Schmidt. , as the word is
thought to signify, which, if not cleansed from and pardoned, will be found and
charged on them, and be brought into judgment, and they punished for them, Psalm 90:8;
which shall lie down with him in the dust: to be in the
dust is to be in the state of the dead, to lie in the grave, where men lie down
and sleep as on a bed; and this is common to good and bad men, all sleep in the
dust of the earth, but with this difference, the sins of wicked men lie down
with them; as they live in sin, they die in their sins; not that their sins die
with them, and are no more, but they continue on them, and with them, and will
rise with them, and will follow them to judgment, and remain with them after,
and the guilt and remorse of which will be always on their consciences, and is
that worm that never dies: of such it is said, that they "are gone down to
hell with their weapons of war"; with the same enmity against God, against
Christ, and his people, and all that is good, they had in their lifetime: and
"they have laid their swords under their heads"; in the grave, and
shall rise with the same revengeful spirit they ever had against the saints,
see Revelation 20:8;
"but their iniquities shall be upon their bones"; both them, and the
punishment of them, Ezekiel 32:27. The
Jewish commentator last mentioned interprets the whole verse of Balaam, who
died at the age of thirty three, and whose prosperity died with him, he leaving
nothing to his children; and so he interprets the following verses of the curse
he was forced to hide, which he would gladly have pronounced, and of the riches
he received from Balak falling into the hands of the Israelites.
Job 20:12 12 “Though evil is sweet in
his mouth, And he hides it under his tongue,
YLT
12Though he doth sweeten evil
in his mouth, Doth hide it under his tongue,
Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth,.... Which may
respect some particular sin, and by the context it seems to be the sin of
covetousness, or of getting riches in an unlawful way, which is very sweet and
pleasing to wicked men, while they are in such pursuits that succeed; and so
Mr. Broughton renders it by "wrong"; though it may be applied to sin
in general, which is "wickedness", or an evilF17רעה "malum", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius &
Tremellius, Piscator, &c. , being contrary to the pure and holy nature,
will, and law of God; and it is evil in its effects on men, it having deprived
them of the image and glory of God, and exposed them to his wrath, to the
curses of his law, and to eternal deaths. Now this is "sweet" to an
unregenerate man, who minds and savours the things of the flesh, whose taste is
not changed, but is as it was from his birth, and who calls sweet bitter, and
bitter sweet; such a man has the same delight in sin as a man has in his food,
drinks up iniquity like water, and commits sin with greediness; for it is
natural to him, he is conceived, born, and brought up in it; besides, some sins
are what are more particularly called constitution sins, which some are
peculiarly addicted to, and in which they take a peculiar delight and pleasure;
these are like the right hand or right eye, and they cannot be persuaded, at
any rate, to part with them:
though he hide it
under his tongue; not for the sake of concealing it, nor by denying, dissembling,
or excusing it, but for the sake of enjoying more pleasure in it; as a
gluttonous man, when he has got a sweet morsel in his mouth, do not let it go
down his throat immediately, but rolls it under his tongue, that he may have
all the pleasure of it he can; so a wicked man devises sin in his heart, keeps
it on his mind, revolves it in his thoughts, and his meditation on it is sweet;
and he is so far from hiding it from others, that he openly declares it, freely
tells of it, and takes pleasure in so doing: "fools make a mock at
sin"; it is their diversion and recreation.
Job 20:13 13 Though
he spares it and does not forsake it, But still keeps it in his mouth,
YLT
13Hath pity on it, and doth
not forsake it, And keep it back in the midst of his palate,
Though he spare it,.... Not that
he feeds sparingly on it, for he eats of it freely and plentifully, with great
eagerness and greediness; it designs the gratefulness of it to him; he does not
spit it out as loathsome, having tasted of it, but retains it as sweet and
pleasant; he spares it as Saul did Agag, and as a man spares his only son; sin
being a child, a brat of a wicked man, and therefore it is dear unto him:
and forsake it not: as he never will, until he is fully
convinced of the evil of it, and it becomes exceeding sinful to him, and so
loathsome and disagreeable; and he is restrained from it by the grace of God,
and enabled by it to desert it, for such an one only finds mercy, Proverbs 28:13;
but keep it still within his mouth; like an epicure, that
will not suffer his food quickly to go down his throat into his stomach, that
he may have the greater pleasure in tasting, palating, and relishing it; as
Philoxenus, who wished his throat as long as a crane's, that he might be the
longer in tasting the sweetness of what he ate and drank; so the wicked man
keeps sin within his mouth, not by restraining his mouth from speaking evil,
rather by a non-confession of it, but chiefly by continuing and persisting in
it, that he might have all the pleasure and satisfaction he has promised
himself in it.
Job 20:14 14 Yet
his food in his stomach turns sour; It becomes cobra venom within him.
YLT
14His food in his bowels is
turned, The bitterness of asps [is] in his heart.
Yet his meat in his bowels is
turned,.... Or "his bread"F18לחמו
"panis ejus", Pagninus, Montanus, Beza, Schmidt. , to which sin is
compared, being what the sinner lives in, and lives upon; what he strengthens
himself in and with, and by which he is nourished unto the day of slaughter,
and by means of which he grows and proceeds to more ungodliness, though in the
issue he comes into starving and famishing circumstances; for this is bread of
deceit, and proves to be ashes and gravel stones; it promises pleasure, profit,
liberty, and impunity, but is all the reverse; as meat turns in a man's stomach
when it does not digest in him, or rather his stomach turns against that, and
instead of its being pleasant and agreeable to him, it distresses him and makes
him uneasy; sin being compared to meat in the bowels, denotes the finishing of
in after it has been conceived in the mind, and completed in the act:
it is the gall of
asps within him; which is bitter, though not poison; which yet PlinyF19Nat.
Hist. l. 11. c. 37. suggests, but it seemsF20Scheuchzer. Physic.
Sacr. vol. 4. p. 711. Philosoph. Transact. abridged, vol. 2. p. 819. it is not
fact. Sin is an evil and bitter thing, and produces bitter sorrow, and makes
bitter work for repentance in good men, Jeremiah 2:19; and
fills with distress inexpressible and intolerable in wicked men, as in Cain and
Judas in this world, and with black despair, weeping, and gnashing of teeth,
and dreadful horrors of conscience, in the world to come, to all eternity; the
effect of it is eternal death, the second death, inevitable and everlasting
ruin and destruction.
Job 20:15 15 He swallows down riches And
vomits them up again; God casts them out of his belly.
YLT
15Wealth he hath swallowed,
and doth vomit it. From his belly God driveth it out.
He hath swallowed down riches,.... Not his own, but
another's, which he has spoiled him of and devoured, with as much eagerness,
pleasure, and delight, as a hungry man swallows down his food; having an
excessive and immoderate love of riches, and an insatiable desire after them,
which make him stop at nothing, though ever so illicit, to obtain them; and
when he has got them into his possession, thinks them as safe as the food in
his belly, and never once dreams of refunding them, which yet he must do, as
follows:
and he shall vomit them up again; that is, make
restoration of them, not freely, but forcedly, with great reluctance, much pain
of mind, and gripes of conscience:
God shall cast them out of his belly; he shall
oblige him to cast them up again, by working upon his heart, making his mind
uneasy, loading his conscience with guilt, so that he shall have no rest nor
peace until he has done it; though they are as meat in his belly within him,
they shall not remain with him; though they are in his house, in his coffers,
or in his barns, they shall be fetched out from thence.
Job 20:16 16 He will suck the poison of
cobras; The viper’s tongue will slay him.
YLT
16Gall of asps he sucketh,
Slay him doth the tongue of a viper.
He shall suck the poison of asps,.... Or "the head of
asps"F21ראש פתנים
"caput aspidum", V. L. Montanus. ; for their poison lies in their
heads, particularly in their "teeth"F23Plin. Nat. Hist. l.
11. c. 37. Aelian. Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 4. ; or rather is a liquor in the
gums, yellow like oilF24Philosoph. Transact. ut supra. (abridged,
vol. 2. p. 819.) ; according to PlinyF25Ib. c. 62. , in copulation
the male puts his head into the mouth of the female, which she sucks and gnaws
off through the sweetness of the pleasure, then conceives her young, which eat
out her belly; this is to be understood not of the man's sin, then it would
have been expressed either in the past or present tense, as if that was sweet
unto him in the commission of it, sucked in like milk from the breast, or honey
from the honeycomb; such were his contrivances and artful methods, and the
success of them in getting riches, but in the issue proved like the poison of
asps, pernicious and deadly to him, which caused him to vomit them up again;
for poison excites vomiting: but of the punishment of his sin; for putting men
to death by the poison of asps was a punishment inflicted by some people upon
malefactors; and however, it is certain death, and immediately and quickly
dispatches, and without sense; so the wages of sin is death, and there is no avoiding
it, and it comes insensibly on carnal men; they are not aware of it, and in no
pain about it, until in hell they lift up their eyes as the rich man did:
the viper's tongue shall slay him; though it is with its
teeth it bites, yet, when it is about to bite, it puts out its tongue, and to
it its poison is sometimes ascribed; though it is saidF26Scheuchzer,
ut supra, (Physic. Sacr. vol. 4.) p. 712. to be quite harmless, and therefore
not to be understood in a literal sense, but figuratively of the tongue of a
detractor, a calumniator and false accuser, such an one as Doeg; but cannot be
the sense here, since the fall of the person here described would not be by any
such means; but the phrase, as before, denotes the certain and immediate death
of such a wicked man; for the bite of a viper was always reckoned incurable,
and issued in sudden death, see Acts 28:3.
Job 20:17 17 He will not see the
streams, The rivers flowing with honey and cream.
YLT
17He looketh not on rivulets,
Flowing of brooks of honey and butter.
Verse 17
He shall not see the rivers,.... Of water, or meet
with any to assuage his thirst, which poison excites, and so makes a man wish
for water, and desire large quantities; but this shall not be granted the
wicked man; this might be illustrated in the case of the rich man in hell, who
desired a drop of cold water to cool his tongue, but could not have it, Luke 16:24; though
rather plenty of good things is here intended, see Isaiah 48:18; as
also the following expressions:
the floods, the brooks of honey and butter; or
"cream"; which are hyperbolical expressions, denoting the great
profusion and abundance of temporal blessings, which either the covetous rich
man was ambitious of obtaining, and hoped to enjoy, seeking and promising great
things to himself, which yet he should never attain unto; or else the sense is,
though he had enjoyed such plenty, and been in such great prosperity as to have
honey and butter, or all temporal good things, flowing about him like rivers,
and floods, and brooks; yet he should "see them no more", so
Broughton reads the words; and perhaps Zophar may have respect to the abundance
Job once possessed, but should no more, and which is by himself expressed by
such like metaphors, Job 29:6; yea, even
spiritual and eternal good things may be designed, and the plenty of them, as
they often are in Scripture, by wine, and milk, and honey; such as the means of
grace, the word and ordinances, the blessings of grace dispensed and
communicated through them; spiritual peace and joy, called the rivers of
pleasure; the love of God, and the streams of it, which make glad his people;
yea, eternal glory and happiness, signified by new wine in the kingdom of God,
and by a river of water of life, and a tree of life by it, see Isaiah 55:1; which
are what carnal men and hypocrites shall never see or enjoy; and whereas Zophar
took Job to be such a man, he may have a principal view to him, and object this
to the beatific vision of God, and the enjoyment of eternal happiness he
promised himself, Job 19:26. Bar
Tzemach observes, that these words are to be read by a transposition thus,
"he shall not see rivers of water, floods of honey, and brooks of
butter".
Job 20:18 18 He will restore that for
which he labored, And will not swallow it down; From the proceeds of
business He will get no enjoyment.
YLT
18He is giving back [what] he
laboured for, And doth not consume [it]; As a bulwark [is] his exchange, and he
exults not.
That which he laboured for shall he restore,.... This
explains what was before figuratively expressed by vomiting, Job 20:15; and is
to be interpreted either of that which another laboured for; so the Targum
paraphrases it,
"another's
labour;'
and
Mr. Broughton renders it, "he shall restore what man's pain get": and
then the sense is, that that which another got by his labour, coming by some
means or another into the hand of this rapacious, covetous, wicked man, he
shall be obliged to restore to him again; or the hire of the labourer being
detained in his hands, he shall be forced to give it to him, as the Egyptians,
by lending the Israelites their jewels of gold and silver, restored to them the
wages due to them for all their labour among them for many years; or else this
is to be understood of what the wicked man himself had laboured for, who with
much toil and labour, as well as trick and artifice, had got the wealth of
others into his hands; but should be obliged to make restoration of it again,
and along with that also what he had laboured for, and had got even in an
honest and lawful way, the marathon of unrighteousness corrupting and marring
his whole substance:
and shall not swallow it down; or "not
have time to devour it", as Mr. Broughton; he shall be obliged so soon to
restore it, that it shall be as if he had never had it; he shall have no
enjoyment of it, at least no comfort, pleasure, and satisfaction in it:
according to his substance shall the restitution be; the law of
Moses required, in some cases, fourfold, in others fivefold, and sometimes
sevenfold was exacted; and if a man had not sufficient to pay, all his
substance was to go towards payment, and by this means what he lawfully got
went along with that which was obtained in an illicit way, as before, see Exodus 22:1;
and he shall not rejoice therein; not in the
restitution he is forced to make, it being greatly against his will; nor in his
ill-gotten substance, at least but for a little while, as in Job 20:5; he shall
neither enjoy it nor have delight and pleasure in it, nor glory of it, as men
are apt to do; Mr. Broughton reads this in connection with the preceding clause
thus,
"and
never rejoice in the wealth for which he must make recompense.'
Job 20:19 19 For he has oppressed and
forsaken the poor, He has violently seized a house which he did not build.
YLT
19For he oppressed -- he
forsook the poor, A house he hath taken violently away, And he doth not build
it.
Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor,.... Having
oppressed, crushed, and broken the poor to pieces, he leaves them so without
pity and compassion for them, and without giving them any relief; he first by
oppression makes them poor, or however poorer still, and then leaves them in
such circumstances; for this does not suppose that he once was a favourer of
them, and afforded them assistance in their necessities, and afterwards forsook
them; but rather, as Ben Gersom gives the sense, he does not leave the poor
until he has oppressed and crushed them, and then he does; Mr. Broughton's
reading of the words agrees with the former sense, "he oppresseth and
leaveth poor":
because he hath
violently taken away an house which he built not; an house which did not
belong to him, he had no property in or right unto, which, as he had not
bought, he had not built; and therefore could lay no rightful claim unto it,
and yet this he took in a violent manner from the right owner of it, see Micah 2:2; or
"and", or "but shall not build it"F1ולא יבנהו "et non
aedificabit eam", Pagninus, Montanus; "et non aedificat eam",
Cocceius, Schultens; "non autem", Beza; "sed non", Schmidt,
Michaelis. , or "buildeth it not"; he took it away with an intention
to pull it down, and build a stately palace in the room of it; but either his
substance was taken from him, or he taken away by death before he could finish
it, and so either through neglect, or want of opportunity, or of money, did not
what he thought to have done.
Job 20:20 20 “Because he knows no
quietness in his heart,[a] He will
not save anything he desires.
YLT
20For he hath not known ease
in his belly. With his desirable thing he delivereth not himself.
Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly,.... Or
happiness in his children, so some in Bar Tzemach; rather shall have no
satisfaction in his substance; though his belly is filled with hid treasure, it
shall give him no contentment; he shall be a stranger to that divine art, but
ever have a restless craving after more, which is his sin; but rather
punishment is here meant, and the sense is, that he shall have no quiet in his
conscience, no peace of mind, because of his sin in getting riches in an
unlawful way:
he shall not save of that which he desired; of his
desirable things, his goods, his wealth, his riches, and even his children, all
being gone, and none saved; respect may be had particularly to Job's case, who
was stripped of everything, of all his substance and his children.
Job 20:21 21 Nothing is left for him to
eat; Therefore his well-being will not last.
YLT
21There is not a remnant to
his food, Therefore his good doth not stay.
There shall none of his meat be left,.... Not in
his belly, all shall be cast up; none of his substance left for himself or
others; none of his riches for his children or heirs, all being consumed: or
this may respect either the profuseness or niggardliness of his living, that he
should live in great luxury himself, but take no care of the poor; or else keep
so mean a table, that there would be nothing left for the poor, not so much as
a few crumbs to fall from it; but the first sense seems best; though some
render the words, "there shall be none left for his meat"F2אין שריד לאכלו
"non erit superstes haeres qui ejus bonis fruetur"; so some in
Mercer. Drusius. , or his substance; he shall leave no children, have no heirs,
all his family shall be cut off, see Job 18:19;
therefore shall no man look for his goods; for there
shall be none to look for them; or rather there shall be none to look for, all
being gone: a man in good circumstances of life, his heirs expect to enjoy much
at his death, but when he is stripped of all, as Job was, his relations and
friends are in no expectation of having anything at his death; and therefore do
not think it worth their while to look out, or make an inquiry whether there is
anything for them or not, see Job 20:28.
Job 20:22 22 In his self-sufficiency he
will be in distress; Every hand of misery will come against him.
YLT
22In the fulness of his
sufficiency he is straitened. Every perverse hand doth meet him.
In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits,.... For
though he may not only have a sufficient competency to live upon, but even a
fulness of temporal blessings, have as much as heart can wish, or more, even
good things, and plenty of them laid up for many years; yet amidst it all shall
be reduced to the utmost straits and difficulties, either through fear of
losing what he has, insomuch that his abundance will not suffer him to sleep in
the night, nor to enjoy an hour's pleasure in the day; or being so narrow
spirited, notwithstanding his fulness, that he cannot allow himself to eat of
the fruit of his labours, and rejoice therein; or fearing, notwithstanding all
his plenty, that he shall come to want and poverty; or rather while he is in
the most flourishing circumstances, and in the height of his prosperity, he is
suddenly, as Nebuchadnezzar was, dispossessed of all, and reduced to the utmost
extremity, Daniel 4:31; the
Targum is,
"when
his measure is filled, he shall take vengeance on him:'
every hand of the wicked shall come upon him: or of the
labourer, as the Targum, the hire of whose labour he has detained, or has taken
away from him that which he laboured for; and so Broughton,
"the
hand of the injured or grieved;'
such
as he had been injurious to, and had grieved by his oppressions of them; or
rather every troublesome wicked man, the hand of every thief or robber; respect
seems to be had to the hand of the Sabeans and Chaldeans, that had been on Job
and his substance.
Job 20:23 23 When
he is about to fill his stomach, God will cast on him the fury of His
wrath, And will rain it on him while he is eating.
YLT
23It cometh to pass, at the
filling of his belly, He sendeth forth against him The fierceness of His anger,
Yea, He raineth on him in his eating.
When he is about to
fill his belly,.... Either in a literal sense, when he is about to take an
ordinary meal to satisfy nature; or in a figurative sense, when he is seeking
to increase his worldly riches, and his barns and coffers, and endeavouring to
get satisfaction therein:
God shall cast the fury of
his wrath upon him; or "send it out on him"F3ישלח בו "mittet in
eum", Pagninus, Montanus, Schmidt; so Mercerus, Piscator. ; out of the
treasures of it, which are laid up with him, Deuteronomy 32:34;
into his conscience, and fill him with a dreadful sense and apprehension of it,
and that with great force and violence, and cast it, and pour it on him like
fire, or any scalding liquor, which is very terrible and intolerable. This
intends the indignation of God against sin, and his just punishment of it,
according to the rigour of his justice; sometimes it is only a little wrath and
displeasure he shows, he does not stir up all his wrath; but here it is threatened
he will cast it, and pour it in great plenty, even "the fury" of it,
in the most awful and terrible manner:
and shall rain it upon him while he is eating; signifying,
that the wrath of God shall be revealed from heaven against him, from whence
rain comes; that it shall fall on him from above, unseen, suddenly, and at an
unawares, and come with a force and violence not to be resisted, and in great
abundance and profusion. The allusion seems to be to the raining of fire and
brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah, the inhabitants of which were indulging
themselves in gratifying the flesh, when that judgment came upon them, Luke 17:28; and so
it was with the Israelites, when they sinned against God in the wilderness, Psalm 78:30;
perhaps Zophar may glance at Job's children being slain while they were eating
and drinking in their elder brother's house, Job 1:18. Some
render it, "upon his food"F4בלחומו
"in cibum illius", Tigurine version. ; his meat, a curse going along
with it, while he is eating it, his table becoming a snare unto him; or upon
his wealth and riches, he is endeavouring to fill his belly or satisfy himself
with; and others, "upon his flesh", as the Targum; or "into his
flesh"; as Broughton, and so many of the Jewish commentatorsF5Aben
Ezra, Ben Gersom, Bar Tzemach; "in carne ejus", Pagninus, Montanus;
"super carnem ejus", Beza; "in carnem ejus", Drusius,
Mercer, Schmidt. meaning his body, filling it with diseases, so that there is
no soundness in it, but is in pain, and wasting, and consuming; and Job's case
may be referred to, his body being full of boils and ulcers.
Job 20:24 24 He will flee from the iron
weapon; A bronze bow will pierce him through.
YLT
24He fleeth from an iron
weapon, Pass through him doth a bow of brass.
He shall flee from the iron weapon,.... The sword, for fear
of being thrust through with it; the flaming sword of justice God sometimes
threatens to take, and whet, and make use of against ungodly men; the sword of
God, as Bar Tzemach observes, is hereby figuratively expressed; fleeing from
it, or an attempt to flee from it, shows guilt in the conscience, danger, and a
sense of it, and a fear of falling into it, and yet there is no escaping the
hand of God, or fleeing from his presence:
and the bow of steel shall
strike him through; that is, an arrow out of a bow, made of steel or brass, of which
bows were formerly made, and reckoned the strongest and most forcible, see Psalm 18:34;
signifying, that if he should escape the dint of a weapon, a sword or spear
used near at hand, yet, as he fled, he would be reached by one that strikes at
a distance, an arrow shot from a bow; the sense is, that, if a wicked man
escapes one judgment, another will be sure to follow him, and overtake him and
destroy him, see Isaiah 24:17.
Job 20:25 25 It is drawn, and comes out
of the body; Yes, the glittering point comes out of his gall. Terrors come
upon him;
YLT
25One hath drawn, And it
cometh out from the body, And a glittering weapon from his gall proceedeth. On
him [are] terrors.
It is drawn, and cometh out of the body,.... That is,
the arrow with which a wicked man is stricken through; either it is drawn, and
comes out of the quiver, as Broughton; or rather is drawn out of the body of a
wicked man, being shot into it, and that in order that he may be cured of his
wound if possible, but to no purpose, since it follows:
yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall; being thrust
into it, which being pierced and poured out, is certain and immediate death,
see Job 16:13. Some
render it, yea, "the glittering sword out of his gall, he shall go
away", or "is gone"F6יהלך
"abibit e vivis"; so some in Michaelis; "abit", Schultens.
; that is, he shall die, or is a dead man, there is no hope of him, when the
arrow has transfixed his body, and the sword has penetrated into his gall, and
divided that:
terrors are upon him; the terrors of death,
the plain symptoms of it being upon him; the terrors of an awful judgment,
which follows after it; the terrors of the dreadful sentence of condemnation
that will then be pronounced, "go, ye cursed", &c. and the terrors
of hell and eternal death, signified by utter darkness, unquenchable fire, and
the never ceasing torments of it. Some by them understand devils, those
terrible spirits which haunt wicked men in their dying moments, and are ready
to carry them to the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, where they are
to be companions with them for ever. The word is sometimes used of gigantic
persons, who are sometimes terrible to others; and since these are mentioned
along with weapons of war, Bar Tzemach interprets them of men of strength and
power, men of war or soldiers, whose fear falls on others.
Job 20:26 26 Total darkness is
reserved for his treasures. An unfanned fire will consume him; It shall go ill
with him who is left in his tent.
YLT
26All darkness is hid for his
treasures, Consume him doth a fire not blown, Broken is the remnant in his
tent.
All darkness shall be hid in his secret places,.... In such
places of secrecy, where he may promise himself safety, he shall find more
calamities of all sorts; or every kind of judgments shall find him out, and
come upon him, sometimes signified by darkness, see Isaiah 8:22; or
utter darkness, the blackness of darkness; everlasting wrath, ruin, and
destruction, are laid up and reserved in God's secret places for him, and lie
hid among his treasures of vengeance, which he in due time will bring forth
from thence, and punish the guilty sinner with, Judges 1:13; or all
this shall be because of secret sins, as Ben Gersom interprets it; and so Mr.
Broughton renders the words, "for his store"; that is, for the store
of his sins, as he explains it, which, however privately and secretly
committed, shall be brought into judgment; and there the hidden things of
darkness will be brought to light, and sentence pass upon men for them:
a fire not blown shall consume him; not blown by man, but by
God himself; which some understand of thunder and lightning, such as fell on
Job's sheep and servants, and consumed them, and which may be glanced at; and
others of some fiery distemper, a burning fever, hot ulcers, carbuncles,
&c. such as were at this time on Job's body; but the Targum, better, of the
fire of hell; and so many of the Jewish commentatorsF7Jarchi,
Sephorno, and others. , as well as Christian; the Septuagint version renders
it, "unquenchable fire"; and so Mr. Broughton; and such the fire of
hell is said to be, Matthew 3:12,
&c. and which is a fire kindled by the breath of the Lord, like a stream of
brimstone, Isaiah 30:33;
it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle; not only it
shall go ill with the wicked man himself, but with those he leaves behind him,
that dwell in the house he formerly lived in, with his posterity; God sometimes
punishing the iniquities of the fathers upon the children.
Job 20:27 27 The heavens will reveal
his iniquity, And the earth will rise up against him.
YLT
27Reveal do the heavens his
iniquity, And earth is raising itself against him.
The heaven shall reveal his iniquity,.... Either
God the Maker and Possessor of heaven, who dwells there, and is sometimes so
called, Daniel 4:25; who sees
and knows all things, even those that are most secret, as well as more openly
committed, and will make all manifest, sooner or later; or else the angels of
heaven, the inhabitants of it, so the Targum; who in the last day will be
employed in gathering out of Christ's kingdom all that offend, and do iniquity,
Matthew 13:41; or
the judgments of God descending from heaven, or appear there, and are owing to
it; such as drowning the old world by opening the windows of heaven, Genesis 7:11; the
burning of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire and brimstone from thence, Genesis 19:24; and
the destruction of persons by thunder, 2 Samuel 22:15, and
lightning, 1 Samuel 2:10, and
the like; which judgments falling upon men, show them to be guilty of crimes
deserving of the wrath of God, see Romans 1:18;
and the earth shall rise up against him; when that
becomes barren for the sins of men, and nothing but things hurtful to man rise
up out of it; when it discloses the blood of murdered persons, and will at last
give up the wicked dead that are buried in it; the Targum is, "the inhabitants of the earth;' and
may be interpreted of their enmity, opposition, and hostility.
Job 20:28 28 The increase of his house
will depart, And his goods will flow away in the day of His wrath.
YLT
28Remove doth the increase of
his house, Poured forth in a day of His anger.
The increase of his house shall depart,.... Either
his children or his substance. Some interpret it, as KimchiF8Sepher
Shorash. rad. יבל. observes, of the walls of his
house, because of what follows, "they shall flow away", &c. as if
he should say, the stones of his house shall fall down, and his habitation
shall be destroyed, according to Micah 1:6; where a
dilapidation is expressed by a flow, or pouring down of stones:
and his goods shall flow
away in the day of his wrath; in the day of the wrath of God upon him,
which will come upon him like water split on the ground, of no more use and
service to him; the Targum interprets it of oil and wine, which shall flow away
and cease, and so Mr. Broughton renders it, "fruits for his house";
all desirable and useful ones, see Revelation 18:14.
Job 20:29 29 This is the portion
from God for a wicked man, The heritage appointed to him by God.”
YLT
29This [is] the portion of a
wicked man from God. And an inheritance appointed him by God.
This is the portion of a wicked man from God,.... All
before related, and which is very different from the portion of a good man,
which is God himself, both here and hereafter; the wicked man has indeed his
portion from God, which he has assigned him, but his portion is not himself;
nor is it with him, nor with his people, but it is at most and best in this
life, and but a worldly one, and hereafter will be with devils and damned
spirits; and a dreadful portion it is to be banished from the presence of God
to all eternity, and take up an everlasting abode with such company:
and the heritage appointed unto him by God; it is not
only a portion allotted to him, but an inheritance to abide continually with
him; and this by the irreversible decree and appointment of God, who has
foreordained ungodly men to condemnation, and made, appointed, and reserved
them to the day of wrath and destruction. Some choose to render the clause,
"and the inheritance of his word or wordsF9נחלת
אמרו "haereditas eloquii ejus", Pagninus,
Montanus; "verborum ejus", V. L. "impie dictorum ejus",
Codurcus. is unto him by God"; that is, punishment shall be inflicted upon
him, and continue with him as an inheritance, because of his words, his
indecent words, hard speeches and blasphemies uttered by him; referring, as it
is thought, to the words which had dropped from the lips of Job.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)