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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
A.—Zophar: For a time indeed the evil-doer can be prosperous; but so much the more terrible and irremediable will be his destruction
Job 20
1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said:
2 Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer,
and for this I make haste.
3 I have heard the check of my reproach,
and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer.
4 Knowest thou not this of old,
since man was placed upon earth,
5 that the triumphing of the wicked is short,
and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?
2. Expansion of the theme, showing from experience that the prosperity and riches of the ungodly must end in the deepest misery: Job_20:6-29
6 Though his excellency mount up to the heavens,
and his head reach unto the clouds;
7 yet he shall perish forever, like his own dung:
they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?
8 He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found;
yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
9 The eye also which saw him shall see him no more;
neither shall his place any more behold him.
10 His children shall seek to please the poor,
and his hands shall restore their goods.
11 His bones are full of the sin of his youth,
which shall lie down with him in the dust.
12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth,
though he hide it under his tongue;
13 though he spare, and forsake it not,
but keep it still within his mouth:
14 yet his meat in his bowels is turned,
it is the gall of asps within him.
15 He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again:
God shall cast them out of his belly.
16 He shall suck the poison of asps;
the viper’s tongue shall slay him.
17 He shall not see the rivers,
the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.
18 That which he labored for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down:
according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein.
19 Because he hath oppressed, and hath forsaken the poor;
because he hath violently taken away a house which he builded not;
20 Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly,
he shall not save of that which he desired.
21 There shall none of his meat be left;
therefore shall no man look for his goods.
22 In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits;
every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.
23 When he is about to fill his belly,
God shall cast the fury of His wrath upon him,
and shall rain it upon him while he is eating.
24 He shall flee from the iron weapon,
and the bow of steel shall strike him through.
25 It is drawn, and cometh out of the body;
yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall;
terrors are upon him!
26 All darkness shall be hid in his secret places;
a fire not blown shall consume him;
it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle.
27 The heaven shall reveal his iniquity;
and the earth shall rise up against him.
28 The increase of his house shall depart,
and his goods shall flow away in the day of His wrath.
29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God,
and the heritage appointed unto him by God.
2. Introduction, together with the theme of the discourse: Job_20:2-5.
Job_20:2. Therefore do my thoughts give answer to me.—[ ìָëֵï , by some rendered “still, yet,” (Umbreit, Noyes, Rodwell), or “truly,” (Elzas), but incorrectly]. äùéá with Accus. of the person, as in Job_13:22 [E. V., “cause me to answer,” and so Fürst, and this would correspond with Zophar’s eagerness to speak; but the other signification is the more common]. ùְׂòִôִּéí as in Job_4:13.—And hence (comes) the storming within me.—Lit. “my haste in me”: çåּùׁ here in the sense of perturbatio; and áִּé in immediate connection with çåּùִׁé , and more precisely qualifying it, comp. Job_4:21.—Both ìָëֵï in a, and áַּòֲáåּø in b, point forward to the statement given in Job_20:3 of the cause of Job’s discontent and excitement. [“On this account he feels called upon by his thoughts to answer, and hence his inward impulse leaves him no rest, because he hears from Job a contemptuous wounding reproof of himself.” Ewald, Hahn, Wordsworth, etc., point backward to the closing menace of Job’s discourse (Job_19:29) as the cause of Zophar’s feeling]. áַּòֲáåּø , which is evidently separated from çåּùִׁé by the accentuation is used as a preposition = “on account of,” but without its complement. We must supply either ëֵּï (from ìëï in a), or æֹàú ; comp. the similar elliptical use of ëְòַìּ in Isa_59:18. To connect áַּòֲáåּã immediately with çåּùִׁé : “because of my storming (Del. “because of my feeling”) [“because of my eager haste,” Ges., Con., Carey, Noyes] within me,” produces a less symmetrical structure for the verse, and a flatter sense.
Job_20:3. A chiding to my shame must I hear! Comp. Isa_53:5 [“chastisement of our peace,” i.e., which tends to our peace; so here, the chastisement or chiding which tends to my shame.—The E. V.’s rendering, “check of my reproach” is scarcely intelligible. Neither is “I have heard” sufficiently exact for the fut. àùîò , which means rather “I have to hear.”—E.].—Nevertheless the spirit out of my understanding gives me an answer; i.e., “out of the fulness of its perception it furnishes me with information as to what is to be thought of Job with his insulting attacks” (Delitzsch), viz., that he is to be warned and punished as an ungodly man. [E. V., éַòֲðֵðִé , as Hiph. “causeth me to answer;” better as Kal “answereth,” and thus equivalent to äùׁéá , Job_20:2. This exordium is strikingly suggestive of the prominent traits of Zophar’s character; his mental discursiveness and vivacity, or perhaps volatility, indicated by ùׂòôéí , his thoughts shot forth in various directions; his eager impetuosity, çåùׁé , he could scarcely contain himself until Job had finished, and then broke out hotly; his proud sensitive egotism, especially prominent in Job_20:3 a, “the chiding of my shame must I hear;” his subjective self-sufficient dogmatism—“the spirit out of my understanding gives answer.” It is questionable whether øåּçַ here is to be taken as Renan explains, of the universal (not as he terms it “impersonal”) spirit (comp. Job_32:8), speaking in man. The dogmatic character of the speaker, and the prominence which he gives to his own personality, is not altogether in harmony with such a view. Moreover, Elihu is put forward by the poet as the representative of an internal revelation, even as Eliphaz represents the external. Zophar on the other hand represents the individual reason, as Bildad represents the collective traditional wisdom of the race. See Introduction.—E.].
Job_20:4-5 present the substance of these communications of Zophar’s spirit in the form of a question addressed to Job.
Job_20:5. Knowest thou this indeed [either “the question implying that the contrary would be inferred from Job’s language” (Con.), or “sarcastically, equivalent to: thou surely knowest; or in astonishment, what! dost thou not know!” (Del.) hence it is unnecessary (with E. V., Ges., etc.), to supply the negative, äֲìֹà = äֲ ] from eternity (i.e., to be true, îִðִּéÎòַã , as a virtual adjective, or as a virtual predicate-accusative, Ewald § 336, b), since man was placed upon the earth. ùִׂéí Infinit. with an indefinite subject, “since one placed” [or, since the placing of] as in Job_13:9.— àָãָí , not precisely a proper name, referring to the first man, but collective or generic; comp. Deu_4:32.
Job_20:5. That the triumphing of the wicked is short (lit., from near, i. e., not extending far; comp. Deu_32:17; Jer_23:23), and the joy of the ungodly only for a moment.— òֲãֵé in òֲãֵéÎøֶâַò , like òַã in 2Ki_9:22 expresses the idea of duration, “during, for.” The whole question is intended to convey doubt and wonder that Job, judging by his speeches, was entirely unacquainted with the familiar proposition touching the short duration of the triumphing of the wicked which is made the theme of what follows. [This is Zophar’s short and cutting rejoinder to Job’s triumphant outburst in Job_19:25 seq.—That jubilant exclamation was, as Zophar indirectly suggests, a øִðְðַú øָùָׁò , that exulting joy a ùִׂîְçַú çָðֵó ].
3. The expansion of the theme: Job_20:6-29.
First Strophe: Job_20:6-11. [The wicked, however prosperous, perishes utterly, together with his family and acquisitions; he himself in the prime of life].
Job_20:6. Though his height ( ùִׂéà from ðùׂà , comp. ùׂåà Psa_89:10) [i. e., his exaltation in rank and power] mount up to Heaven, and his head reach unto the clouds; comp, Isa_14:13 seq.; Oba_1:4. [ äִâַּéòַ , not causative (Del.), but parallel to òìä , as øàùׂ to ùׁéà ].
Job_20:7. Like his dung he perishes forever; they who have seen him say: Where is he?—The subj. here is the çָðֵó , Job_20:5 b, and so continues to the end of the de scription. ëְּâֶìְìåֹ , “like his dung,” from âֵּì , globulus stercoris, Zep_1:17; Eze_4:12; Eze_4:15 (comp. âָּìָì , 1Ki_14:10). This comparison, which beyond a doubt expresses a meaning which is unfavorable and disgraceful to the ungodly man, refers to his own dung; in the same way that this is at once swept away, on account of its ill odor, so is he speedily removed by the Divine judgment (comp. Ezek. l.c.). In regard to the coarse harshness of the expression, comp. below, Job_20:15, as also Zophar’s former discourse, Job_11:12. [“The word is not low, as Eze_4:12; Zep_1:17 shows, and the figure, though revolting, is still very expressive.” Delitzsch]. The following explanations involve an unsuitable softening [and weakening] of the sense. (1) The attempt of Wetzstein in Delitzsch [I. 377 seq. adopted by Del. and Merx] to identify âֶּìְìåֹ with the cowdung heaped up for fuel in the dwelling of the wicked. (2) The attempt of Schultens, Ewald, Hirz., Heiligst., [Con.], to read ëִּâְìָìåֹ , “according to his greatness, in proportion as he was great,” from âְּìָì , magnificentia, majestas [Good (followed by Wemyss) adopts this with the additional amendment of ë to á , understanding the passage to teach that the wicked perishes in the midst of his greatness]. (3) The unfounded translation of the Syriac: “like the whirlwind” [regarding âìì , or âì as = âìâì , and so Fürst, who however defines it to mean “chaff.” Either of these renderings, as well as Wetzstein’s, makes the suffix superfluous.—E.]. (4) The equally untenable rendering of some of the Rabbis (as Gekatilia, Nachamanides): “as he turns himself,” or “in turning around, as one turns the hand around.”
Job_20:8. As a dream he flies away [and is no more to be found: and he is scared away as a vision of the night].—For the use of “dream” and “night-vision” ( çִæָּéåֹï as in Job_4:13 [“so everywhere in the book of Job instead of çָæåֹï , from which it perhaps differs as visum from visio,” Delitzsch]), as figures for that which is fleeting, quickly perishable, comp. Isa_29:7; Psa_73:20; Psa_90:5. éֻãַּã , Hiph.: “is scared away,” to wit, by God’s judicial intervention; a stronger expression than the Active éִãַּã , “he flies.”
Job_20:9. An eye has looked upon him (been sharply fixed upon him; ùׁæó as in Job_28:7); it does it not again; comp. Job_5:3; Job_7:8; Job_8:18. [The verb ùָׁæַó is found in Son_1:6 in the sense of scorching, or making swarthy (cogn. ùָׁãַó adurere). Hence the signification of a fixed scorching look is attached to it by Delitzsch. It may at least be said of it that it means as much as our “scan,” or “gaze upon.” It is suggested perhaps by the lofty position, the heaven-touching, cloud-capped attitude of the wicked in Job_20:6. Such a height, which the sun would ( ùׁæó ) look on, and cause to glow, the eye of man would ( ùׁæó ) gaze on intently. The clause is thus equivalent to: There was a time when he was the observed of all observers, but it is so no more—E.].—And his place beholds him no more.— îְ÷åֹîåֹ , which is doubtless the subject of b, is here construed as a feminine, as in Gen_18:24; 2Sa_17:12.
Job_20:10. His children must seek to please the poor.— éְøַöּåּ , 3d plur. Piel from øöä = to propitiate, appease, synonymous with çִìָּä ôְðֵéÎô× , an expression which is to be understood in a sense altogether general, and not specifically of asking alms [Barnes: “they would be beggars of beggars”] nor of appeasing by the use of money, although the second member approximates the latter meaning quite closely. The ancient versions read éָøֹöּåּ , or éְøִöְּöåּ (from øöֹõ ), and thus obtained the meaning, which is far less suitable, “His sons (object) the lowly smite down.” [Ewald, adopting this definition for the verb, and amending áָּðָéå to äָôְðָéå translates: “his fists smote down the weak”].—And his hands (must) give back his wealth: to wit, by the hands of his children, who will have to appease the creditors of their father. [“The suffix in éãéå might refer back, in the way of individualization, to the plural in áðéí (so Noyes); but against this is the fact that also in the following verse the wicked man is the subject of the discourse.” Schlott.]. The meaning would be much less simple if (with Carey, Dillmann) [Bernard, Renan, Lee], “his hands” were understood literally, and after the preceding mention of his death we were carried back here to the period of his life.
Job_20:11. His bones were full of youthful vigor (so correctly the LXX., Targ., Pesh.—while the Vulg., Rosenm., Vaih., etc., understand it of “secret sins,” and comp. Psa_90:8), [Jerome, however, followed, by E. V., Lee, and Barnes, combining the two ideas of sin and youth, while Renan, Good, Wemyss, Carey, render “secret sins.” Our other authorities, Ew., Dillmann, Schlott., Rodwell, Words., Con., Ber., Elz., with Ges. and Fürst agree with the LXX., etc.]—and it lies down with him in the dust; or “it is laid down,” viz., his youthful vigor; for the use of úִּùְׁëָá referring back to òֲìåּîָéå , comp. Job_14:19; Psa_103:5 b. For “dust,” meaning the “grave,” comp. Job_19:25; Job_17:16.
Second Strophe: Job_20:12-16. A description of the perishableness of the ungodly man’s prosperity by a comparison with poison, sweet to the taste, but deadly in its results.
Job_20:12-13 are the protasis dependent on àִí Job_20:14 seq., the apodosis.
Job_20:12. Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth ( äִîְúִּé÷ lit., “makes sweet,” Ewald, § 122, c [Green, § 79, 2]); he hides it under his tongue, i.e., he does not swallow it down, in order to enjoy the sweet taste of it so much the longer [“the evildoer likened to an epicure,” Delitzsch.—Renan: Comme un bonbon qu’ on laisse fondre dans la bouche].
Job_20:13. He is sparing of it ( çîì to indulge, to spare, here with òַì , the preposition commonly used with verbs of covering, protecting, guarding) and does not let it go, and retains it in his palate.—The tenacity with which the evil-doer persists in the lustful enjoyment of his wickedness, is set forth by five parallel and essentially synonymous expressions accumulated together.
Job_20:14. (Nevertheless) his food is changed in his bowels—into what is explained in the second member. The poison of asps is within him.— îְøåֹøָä (= îְøֵøָä , Job_16:13), lit, “gall,” is used here for “poison,”—because the ancients used interchangeably terms representing the bitter and the poisonous; comp. øàùׁ = a bitter, poisonous plant and the poison of serpents, in Job_20:16; Deu_32:33. The word is naturally chosen here as antithetic to äîúé÷ , verse 12. [On ôְּúָðִéí see below, Job_20:16.]
Job_20:15. He hath swallowed down riches.— çַéִì , “possessions, riches, property,” without the accompanying notion of forcible acquisition which rather first makes its appearance in áָּìַò . God will cast them forth again out of his belly—i.e., his riches, or that which he has swallowed. The greedy devourer of wealth will be made to vomit it forth, as by pains of colic. The LXX., from motives of decorum, substituted ἄããåëïò here for èåüò ; in Zophar’s mouth, however, the latter word need not surprise us.
Job_20:16 returns back to the figure of Job_20:14 b in order to describe more minutely the effect of the poison which he had been enjoying. [He sucked in the poison of asps], the tongue of adders slays him—the tongue being regarded as the seat or container of the poison (Psa_140:4 [3]), the original figure being at the same time changed, and the fatal bite taking the place of the deadly draught; comp. Pro_23:32. [ ôֶּúֶï , LXX. ἀóðßò ; according to some, e.g., Kitto, Pictorial Bible, the boeten of the Arabs, about a foot long, spotted black and white, the bite instantly fatal; according to others, the el-Haje of the Arabs, from three to five feet long, dark green, with oblique bands of brown, resembling the cobra di capello in its power of swelling the neck and rising on its tail in striking its prey. The àֶôְòֶä cannot be determined. See the Dictionaries and Cyclopædias, “Asp,” “Viper,” “Serpent,” etc.]
Third Strophe: Job_20:17-22. [The evil-doer cannot enjoy his prosperity—for he must restore his ill-gotten gains.]
Job_20:17. He may not delight in the sight of ( øàä á as in Job_3:9) brooks, streams, rivers of honey and cream.—[The negative àַì and the apocopated éֵøֶà express the concurrence of the speaker’s moral judgment and feeling with the affirmation of the fact. They are a mental Amen to the prediction.—E.] After ôְּìַâּåֹú in the absol. state there follow in apposition two nouns in the construct state, ðַäֲøֵé âַäֲìֵé , which form an assonance, and are co-ordinate. [Dillmann: “It is a more poetic artistic expression than the simple ðäøé ãáùׁ åðäìé çîàä .” Hupfeld conjectures that ðäøé may be a gloss. See Gesen. § 255, 3 a.] “Honey and milk” (or here, by way of gradation, “cream,” comp. Isa_7:15; Isa_7:22) are a familiar figurative expression denoting luxurious prosperity, as in Exo_3:8; Exo_3:17, and often; found also in the ancient classical poets, in their descriptions of the golden age; e.g., Theocritus, Idyll. V. 124 seq.; Ovid, Metam. I. 111 seq.: Flumina jam lactis, jam flumina nectaris ibant; comp. Virgil, Ecl. IV. 30; Horace, Epod. 16, 47.
Job_20:18. Giving back that which he has labored for ( éָâָò , subst. synonymous with éְâִéòַ ) [the participial clause îֵùִׁéá éָâָò coming first, and assigning the reason for what follows] he enjoys it not—lit. he swallows it not, he will not be happy. According to the property of his exchange ( úְּîåּøָä as in Job_15:31) he rejoices not—i.e., in accordance with the fact that he employed sinful, unjust means of exchange, in order to gain temporal possessions and enjoyments, he has no pleasure in the latter, he must lack the joy which he had promised himself in them. So correctly Ewald, Delitzsch, Dillmann, etc.; while Hirzel and others [E. V. Lee, Bernard, Renan, Rodwell], following the Targum, translate as though instead of ëְּçֵéì úְּîåּøָúåֹ , the passage read ëְּçֵéìåֹ úְּî× (“as his possessions, so his exchange”, i.e., his restitution). Gesenius, Schlottmann [Conant, Elzas] render: “as his property that is to be exchanged, i.e., to be restored” (similarly Hupfeld: sicut opes permutando comparatas), which, however, yields a strained sense [and is also “contrary to the relative independence of the separate lines of the verse, which our poet almost always preserves, and is also opposed by the interposing of åìà éáìò .” Del. Carey explains: “to the full amount of its value,” taking çéì in the sense of “power,” or “fullness”—a doubtful signification when used in connection with property. To be noted is òìí in our Book for òìæ or òìõ ].
Job_20:19. For he crushed, abandoned the poor—i.e., maltreated with persistent injustice the unprotected and defenceless. He has taken houses (lit. “a house,” collective) for his plunder, and builded them not—i.e., has not re-builded them, has not reached the point of reconstructing and fitting them up according to his own taste, because he was not allowed to retain permanent possession of them. Against the rendering of the Targ., Vulg., etc., also of Hupfeld [and E. V.]: “he has plundered a house which he builded not,” it may be urged that in that case it must have read åְìֹà áָðָäåּ . The causal relation in which the first member is placed to the second by Delitzsch: “because he cast down, let the destitute lie helpless, he shall not, in case he has seized a house, build it up” [Conant: “the houses he has plundered he shall not build up”] is indicated with too little clearness by the ëִּé at the beginning of the verse, and yields a meaning entirely too artificial. [Other constructions, according to the causal rendering of ëִּé , are (a) That of the E. V.: “Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor: because he hath violently taken away a house which he builded not; surely he shall not,” etc.; which cannot be justified in rendering ëִּé differently in Job_20:19 and in Job_20:20. (b) That of Noyes and Rodwell, who introduce the apodosis in 20b. (c) That of Good, Lee, Wemyss, Carey,—which assumes the apodosis to be introduced by òַìÎëֵּï in Job_20:21 b.—E.].
Job_20:20. For ( ëִּé co-ordinate to that at the beginning of the preceding verse) he knew no rest in his belly: the seat of his gluttony or avarice. ùָׁìֵå here a substantive (differently from Job_16:12, where it is an adjective), synonymous with ùַׁìְåָä , Pro_17:1. For the sentiment comp. Isa_59:8. [E. V.: “he shall not feel quietness,” etc., overlooks the distinction of tenses in the verse: éָãַò Perfect, éְîַìֵּè Imperf. Whether we translate ëִּé “for” or “because,” there is a relation of antecedent and consequent between a and b. This has been the evil-doer’s character—insatiable voracity; this shall be his doom—to be stripped of every thing.—E.] (Therefore) he shall not escape with his dearest treasure.— îִìֵּè without an object = to escape, like ôִּìֵּè , Job_23:7; or also = îִìֵּè ðַôְùׁåּ , comp. Amo_2:15. The á in áַּçֲîåּãåֹ is the á of accompaniment or of possession, as in Job_19:20. [Not, therefore, instrumental (Schlottmann—the object conceived of as the instrument), nor partitive: “of all his delights he shall save nothing” (Conant). The rendering of Carey, Elzas, etc.: “in his appetite he let (or lets) nothing escape,” is inadmissible on account of the passive form of çîåã , which signifies not the act, but the object, of desire.—E.]
Job_20:21. Nothing escaped his greediness [or gluttony]: lit. “there is nought of a remainder [or of that which has escaped] to his food—comp. Job_18:19. [ àָëְìåֹ from àֱëֹì , not àֹëֶì (E. V. “meat”); hence, more literally still than above: “there is nothing that has escaped his eating”]. Therefore his wealth shall not endure.— éçéì , as in Psa_10:5, means “to be solid, powerful, enduring.” èåּá , “wealth,” or also “prosperity,” as in Job_21:16. [E. V.: “no man shall look for his goods,” which can only mean (with éçéì ), no one shall wait for his property as his heir,—a meaning both less simple and less suitable than the above.]
Job_20:22. In the fullness of his superfluity it is strait with him—i.e., distress overtakes him, meaning external poverty (not internal anguish, etc.), as b shows. The Inf. constr. îְìֹàåú (written like ÷ְøֹàåú , Jdg_8:1), from îìà , after the analogy of ìä× , verbs; comp. Gesen. § 75 [§ 74], Rems. 20 and 21 [Green, § 166, 2]. éֵöֶø with retracted tone for éֵöַø [“on account of the following monosyllable.” Del.]; comp. Gen_32:8; Ewald, § 232 b.—Every hand of a wretched one (comp. Job_3:20) comes upon him (comp. Job_15:21)—viz.: to inflict retribution on him for the violence suffered at his hands, or in order to demand of him plundered property. [The primary reference is doubtless to the victims of his own rapacity, although we may give it, with Delitzsch, a more general application: “the rich uncompassionate man becomes a defenceless prey of the proletaries.”] So according to the reading òָîֵì , comp. Job_3:20. If, following the LXX. and the Vulg. (with Eichhorn, De Wette, etc.), we read òָîָì , we obtain the meaning—in itself indeed admissible, but less in harmony with Job_20:19-21 : “the whole power of misery comes upon him.” [So Rodwell. Bernard, Noyes and Renan take éã as in Job_33:2, for “wound” or “blow;’ and translate: “every blow of misfortune” (Ren.), or “every blow of the wretched,” i.e., every blow which cometh upon the wretched (Noyes), or every blow, every plague that can render a man miserable (Bernard).]
Fourth Strophe: Job_20:23-28. The end of the wicked according to the divine judgment.
Job_20:23. That it may serve to the filling of his belly, He casts the glow of His wrath upon him.—The subject is God, although He is not expressly named; as in Job_16:7. The Jussive éְäִé , at the head of the verse, is rendered by most as a simple future: “it shall come to pass,” viz. that which follows. But to express this we should rather expect åְäָéָä (as frequently with the prophets), or åַéְäִé (as frequently in prose). For this reason the construction of the Jussive as dependent on éְùַìַּç is to be preferred to any other (so Stickel, Hahn [Ewald], Dillmann. etc.). [It is certainly simpler, and in the spirit and style of Zophar in this discourse to take éְäִé as an independent verb, forming the first of the series of jussives in this verse, each of which expresses the strong sympathy of his feelings with the result which he predicts. See above on àַìÎéֵøֶà , Job_20:17; and Dillmann’s remark below.—E.]—The Jussives éְùַׁìַּç and åֲéַîְèֵø , however, are to be explained on the ground that the passage is intended to set forth the necessity for God’s punitive agency as established in the divine order of the world [“and at the same time to indicate his own agreement therewith.” Dillm.]. In regard to the descent of the divine wrath in the form of a rain of fire, comp. above on Job_18:15.—As to the phrase: “to fill the belly of any one,” comp. above Job_20:20; Luk_15:16.—And causes to rain upon him with his food.—( áְּ serving to introduce the object; comp. Job_16:4; Job_16:10). The subject here again is God. The food which He causes to rain upon the wicked, to wit, his just punishment (comp. Job_9:18; Jer_9:14 [15]) is called “his food” ( ìַçְîåֹ ), viz. that of the wicked, that which he is appointed to feed upon. [Ewald: “rain upon him what can satisfy him.”—Schlottm.: “Such a rain of fire, figuratively speaking, is to be the food of the ungodly, instead of the former dainty morsel of wickedness (comp. Job_20:12-13).”—Wordsworth: “He surfeited himself with rapine, and God will make him surfeit with His revenge.”—Carey: “Just as in Psa_11:6, the wicked are said to drink snares, fire and brimstone, so here the glutton shall have them for food.”] It is possible also to refer the suffix to God. Much too artificial is the rendering of the Targ., Aben-Ezra, Gerson, Delitzsch: “He causeth it to rain upon him into his flesh,”—although to be sure ìçí might in accordance with Zep_1:17 mean “flesh.” [In Zeph., however, the parallelism: “and their blood is poured forth as dust, and heir flesh ( ìְçֻîָּí ) as dung,” makes the application clear; whereas here he whole context points to the usual literal application.—E.]— òָìֵéîåֹ , poetic, full-toned form for òָìָéå as in Job_22:2; Job_27:23. [“The morally indignant speech which threatens punishment, intentionally seeks after rare solemn words, and dark-some tones.” Delitzsch. The partial assonance of òìéîå áìúåîå may also have had some influence in determining this form, which in this instance at least can scarcely be regarded as plur., on account of the pointed individual application to Job. The rendering of E. V., Good, Lee, Wem., Rod., Elz.: “and shall rain it upon him while he is eating,” is at variance with the form, and misses the striking force of the figure as given above.—E.]
Job_20:24 seq. describe how the divine decree of wrath is historically realized by the introduction of several illustrations, the first being that of a warlike pursuit and wounding [“a highly picturesque description.” Ewald].—If he flee from the iron armor (comp. Job_39:21), a bow of brass (Psa_18:35) pierces him through (comp. Jdg_5:26). [If he escapes one danger, it is only to fall into another, and from the same source]. The two members of the verse, which are put together asyndetically, are related to each other as antecedent and consequent, as in Job_19:4.
Job_20:25. He draws it out (viz. the arrow, in order to save his life, comp. Jdg_3:22). [The Targ. reads îִâִּåָäּ : he (the enemy, or God) draws, and it (the sword) comes out of its sheath; against which Delitzsch objects that âֵå cannot signify vagina. Carey also translates ùָׁìַó , “it is drawn,” i.e. the sword of the pursuing enemy, who plunges it into him, and then draws it out again; but this is much less natural, and mars the terrible vividness of the description given of his unavailing struggle with his doom.—E.]—Then it comes forth out of the body; or also “out of the back,” in case âֵּåָä , after the analogy of ðäøä , Job_3:4, should be identified with âֵּå . But the difficulty of accomplishing such a manipulation of the weapon scarcely permits this assumption (adopted among the moderns by Dillmann), [“The evildoer is imagined as hit in the back, the arrow consequently as passing out at the front.” Del.], which, moreover, has against it the following member: and the gleaming steel (comes) out of his gall (comp. Job_16:13; and above on Job_20:14 of this ch.). In regard to áָּøָ÷ , lit. “lightning,” here “gleaming steel, metal head” (not a “stream of blood,” as Hahn explains it), comp. Deu_32:41; Nah_3:3; Hab_3:11.—Upon him (come) the terrors of death.—The plur. àֵîִéí (from àֵéîָä , Job_9:34; Job_13:21) could indeed be connected as subject with éַäֲìֹêְ construed ad sensum (Hahn, Delitzsch), [Conant]; but the accents connect éַäֲìéְ rather with the second member of the verse, so that some such verb as “come, break upon,” must be supplied with òָìָéå àֵîִéí . Equally opposed to the accents, and altogether too difficult is the rendering of Rosenmüller and Hirzel [Schultens, Carey]: “he goes [departs, “he is going!” Carey] terrors upon him,” i.e., while terrors are upon him.
Job_20:26. Further description of the divine decree of punishment, with special reference to the wicked man’s possessions.—All darkness is hoarded up for his treasures, i.e., every kind of calamity, by divine appointment, awaits the treasures which he has gathered and laid up ( öְôåּðִéí as in Psa_17:14; comp. Deu_33:19). To the agency of the earthly-minded evildoer storing up treasures for himself corresponds the agency of God in opposition storing up the destruction which is destined to overtake them. Comp. èåóáõñßæåéí ἑáõôù ὅñãÞí , Rom_2:6. [As Delitzsch suggests, there is somewhat of a play upon words in èָîåּï ìִöְôåּðָéå ].—A fire which is not blown consumes him, lit. “which was not blown” ( ìֹàÎðֻôָּç , a relative clause, Gesenius, § 143, 1 [§ 121, 3], hence a “fire of God” burning down from heaven (comp. Job_1:16; Job_18:15; Isa_33:11 seq.). úְּàָëְìֵäåּ is most simply explained (with Ewald, Hupfeld, Dillmann) [Fürst, Conant], as an alternate form of the Jussive Kal, instead of the more common úֹּàëְìֵäåּ , comp. Ewald, § 253, a. [Gesenius takes it as Piel for úְּàַëְּìֵäåּ , with lengthened vowel in place of Daghesh-forte; Delitzsch as Poel with Hholem shortened to Kamets-Khatuph; Hirzel, Olsh., Green (§ 93, a; § 111, 2, e) as Pual for úְּàֻëְּìֵäåּ , with the rendering: “a fire not blown shall be made to consume them.” In ðֻôָç the gender of àֵùׁ is disregarded, the adoption of the masc. in both the verbs áôç and éøò making the personification of the supernatural fire more vivid. See on øåç Job_1:19.—E.]—It must devour that which survives (that which has escaped former judgments; ùָׂøִéã as in Job_20:21) in his tent.— éֵøַò is Jussive Kal [to be explained like the preceding Jussives, Job_20:17; Job_20:23] from øòä , “to graze, to feed upon,” the subject here being àֵùׁ used in the masc.; comp. for this rare masc. usage of àֵùׁ Psa_104:4; Jer_48:45. Olshausen’s emendation to éֵøָò (Jussive Niph.=“it shall be devoured”) is unnecessary. [E. V., Bernard, Barnes, Carey, etc., render: “It shall fare ill with him that is left,” etc., or “That which is left, etc., shall perish, or be destroyed” (Lee, Wemyss, Elzas, etc.), some deriving the form from øåò , “to fare ill,” others from éøò in the same sense (Mercier, Carey), others from øòò , either Kal (Fürst) or Niph. (Dathe, Lee). The context favors the root øòä .—E.]
Job_20:27. The heavens reveal his iniquity ( éֲâìּåּ also properly Jussive like the verbs in Job_20:26; Job_20:28), and the earth riseth up against him ( îִúְ÷åֹîָîָä pausal form for îִúְ÷åֹîְîָä ). Thus the two chief divisions of the creation, which Job had previously (Job_16:18 seq.) summoned as witnesses in behalf of his innocence, must rather testify the opposite, must thrust him out from themselves as one condemned by God, so that there remains for him as his abode only the gloomy Sheol, the third division of the creation besides heaven and earth; comp. Job_11:8-9; Psa_135:6; Sir_24:7-9.
Job_20:28. The increase of his house must depart, flowing forth (lit. “things that flow, or run away,” diffluentia, in apposition to éְáåּì ) in the day of His wrath, viz. the divine wrath. Ges., Olsh. [Gr., § 140, 2], etc., explain ðִâָּøåֹú as Part. Niph. from âøø with an Aram. formation, defining it to mean opes corrasæ, things which have been scraped or gathered together; but less satisfactorily, for the clause áְּéåֹí àַôּå , at the end of this member of the verse, hardly permits us to look for a second subject, synonymous with éְáåּì . Moreover we must have found that thought expressed rather by ðâøåúéå = opes ab eo corrasae. As it would seem that after Job_20:27 a return to the wicked man’s possessions and treasures could not properly be looked for, some commentators have indulged in attempted emendations of the passage, all of which touch upon éâì in the first member (Jussive Kal from âìä , “to depart, to wander forth, comp. Pro_27:25). Thus Dathe, Stickel, etc., read éָâֹì —“the flood rolls away his house, etc.:” Ewald, éִâַּì —“the revenue of his house must roll itself away (like a torrent;” comp. Amo_5:27): Dillmann finally éִâָּì , Jussive Niphal of âìä —“the produce of his house must become apparent as that which flows away in the day of His wrath.”
Job_20:29. Closing verse, lying outside of the strophic arrangement, like Job_5:27, etc.—This is the portion of the wicked man from Elohim; the lot or “portion” ( çֵìֶ÷ , comp. Job_27:13; Job_31:2) assigned to him by Elohim, [ àָãָí øָùָׁò , “a rare application of àָãָí , comp. Pro_6:12 instead of which àִéùׁ is more usual,” Del.].—And the heritage appointed to him by God.— ðַçֲìַú àִîְøåֹ , lit. “his heritage of the word,” i.e., his heritage as appointed to him by a word, by a command, a judicial sentence ( àֹîֶø in this sense only here; but used similarly nevertheless in Psa_77:9; Heb_3:9. It is possible moreover to take the suffix in àִîְøåֹ as genitive of the object to àֹîֶø [or àֵîֶø ], in which case the sense would be: “the heritage of the command concerning him.” In this case however the construction would be a much harsher one. [“ çì÷ and ðçìú taken in connection with the éáåì of the preceding verse form a striking oxymoron: that his heritage be taken away from him, that is the heritage adjudged to him by God.” Schlottmann].