Job 20:8

8 Like a dream that has fled away, he shall not be found; and he has fled 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 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.