Job 20:24

24 "He will flee from an iron weapon, [but] an arrow of bronze will pierce him.

Job 20:24 Meaning and Commentary

Job 20:24

He shall flee from the iron weapon
The sword, for fear of being thrust through with it; the flaming sword of justice God sometimes threatens to take, and whet, and make use of against ungodly men; the sword of God, as Bar Tzemach observes, is hereby figuratively expressed; fleeing from it, or an attempt to flee from it, shows guilt in the conscience, danger, and a sense of it, and a fear of falling into it, and yet there is no escaping the hand of God, or fleeing from his presence:

[and] the bow of steel shall strike him through;
that is, an arrow out of a bow, made of steel or brass, of which bows were formerly made, and reckoned the strongest and most forcible, see ( Psalms 18:34 ) ; signifying, that if he should escape the dint of a weapon, a sword or spear used near at hand, yet, as he fled, he would be reached by one that strikes at a distance, an arrow shot from a bow; the sense is, that, if a wicked man escapes one judgment, another will be sure to follow him, and overtake him and destroy him, see ( Isaiah 24:17 Isaiah 24:18 ) ( Amos 5:19 ) .

Job 20:24 In-Context

22 In the fullness of his excess {he will be in distress}; all of misery's power will come [upon] him.

23 {When his stomach fills up}, [God] will send {his burning anger} upon him, and he will let [it] rain down upon him as his food.

24 "He will flee from an iron weapon, [but] an arrow of bronze will pierce him.

25 He draws [it] forth, and it comes out from [his] body, and [the] glittering point comes from his gall-bladder; terrors come upon him.

26 {Total darkness} is hidden for his treasures; {an unfanned fire} will devour him; [the] remnant {will be consumed} in his tent.