Job 20:4

4 Hast thou known these things of old, from the time that man was set upon the earth?

Job 20:4 Meaning and Commentary

Job 20:4

Knowest thou [not] this of old
Or "from eternity" ^F7, 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 (de ynm) "ab aeterno", Junius & Tremellius, Drusius, Codurcus, Schmidt, Michaelis.

Job 20:4 In-Context

2 I did not suppose that thou wouldest answer thus: neither do ye understand more than I.

3 I will hear my shameful reproach; and the spirit of my understanding answers me.

4 Hast thou known these things of old, from the time that man was set upon the earth?

5 But the mirth of the ungodly is a signal downfall, and the joy of transgressors is destruction:

6 although his gifts should go up to heaven, and his sacrifice reach the clouds.