Job 20:4-14

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.

7 For when he shall seem to be now established, then he shall utterly perish: and they that knew him shall say, Where is he?

8 Like a dream that has fled away, he shall not be found; and he has fled like a vision of the night.

9 The eye has looked upon him, but shall not again; and his place shall no longer perceive him.

10 Let inferiors destroy his children, and let his hands kindle the fire of sorrow.

11 His bones have been filled with his youth, and it shall lie down with him in the dust.

12 Though evil be sweet in his mouth, he will hide it under his tongue;

13 though he will not spare it, and will not leave it, but will keep it in the midst of his throat:

14 yet he shall not at all be able to help himself; the gall of an asp is in his belly.

Job 20:4-14 Meaning and Commentary

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 20:1-3; 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 20:4,5; and the short enjoyment of their happiness is described by several elegant figures and similes, Job 20:6-9; 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 20:10,11; 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 20:12-16; 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 20:17-22; 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 20:23-28. 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.