Job 20:8

8 He will fly away like a dream, and not be found; he will be chased away like a vision of the night.

Job 20:8 Meaning and Commentary

Job 20:8

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 gone ^F13, 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 (skiav onar anyrwpoi) , Pindar. Pythia, Ode 8.

Job 20:8 In-Context

6 Though his height mount up to the heavens, and his head reach to the clouds,

7 he will perish for ever like his own dung; those who have seen him will say, 'Where is he?'

8 He will fly away like a dream, and not be found; he will be chased away like a vision of the night.

9 The eye which saw him will see him no more, nor will his place any more behold him.

10 His children will seek the favor of the poor, and his hands will give back his wealth.