Job 20:7

7 yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung; they that have seen him shall say, `Where is he?'

Job 20:7 Meaning and Commentary

Job 20:7

[Yet] he shall perish for ever like his own dung
Not only in this world, but in the world to come, both in his outward substance here, and in his body in the grave, and in his soul to all eternity, and that in the most shameful and disgraceful manner; he shall perish in his own corruption, and like his own dung inevitably, which is never returned to its place again: dead bodies were reckoned by the ancients as dung, and the carcasses of men are rather to be cast out than dung {i}; and the Arabians used, to bury in dunghills even their kings F11; to which some F12 think the allusion is:

they which have seen him shall say, where [is] he?
such as formerly gazed at him, in his prosperity, with wonder and amazement at his grandeur and greatness, now being removed from his outward splendour, or from the world, by death, ask where he is, not being able to see him in his former lustre, nor in the land of the living; see ( Job 14:10 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F9 Heraclitus apud Strabo. Geograph. l. 16. p. 539.
F11 Strabo, ib.
F12 Pineda in loc.

Job 20:7 In-Context

5 that the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?
6 Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds,
7 yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung; they that have seen him shall say, `Where is he?'
8 He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found; yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
9 The eye also which saw him shall see him no more, neither shall his place any more behold him.
Third Millennium Bible (TMB), New Authorized Version, Copyright 1998 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc., Gary, SD 57237. All rights reserved.