Job 20:17

17 Let him not see the milk of the pastures, nor the supplies of honey and butter.

Job 20:17 Meaning and Commentary

Job 20:17

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 ) ( 66:12 ) ( Joel 3:18 ) ( Psalms 36:8 ) ( 46:4 ) ( Revelation 22:1 Revelation 22:2 ) ; 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 Job 19:27 ) . 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 20:17 In-Context

15 wealth unjustly collected shall be vomited up; a messenger shall drag him out of his house.
16 And let him suck the poison of serpents, and let the serpent's tongue slay him.
17 Let him not see the milk of the pastures, nor the supplies of honey and butter.
18 He has laboured unprofitably and in vain, wealth of which he shall not taste: as a lean thing, unfit for food, which he cannot swallow.
19 For he has broken down the houses of many mighty men: and he has plundered an habitation, though he built not.

The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.