Job 20 Study Notes

20:1-3 Zophar still believed his understanding offered insight into Job’s problems.

20:4-5 Zophar asserted that the principle of the punishment of the wicked is as old as humanity.

20:6-7 Although the wicked person may believe he is self-sufficient and the master of his own fate, eventually he will perish—like the arrogant king of Babylon (Is 14:12-15) and the proud, self-assured city of Nineveh (Zph 2:15).

20:8-10 The wicked are as ephemeral as a dream, with nothing left behind.

20:11 The wicked person would die young, asserts Zophar. Zophar was playing on Job’s previous words (19:25). No longed-for Redeemer would appear over the dust of the wicked person’s grave.

20:12-14 Much as a person savors honey under the tongue, the wicked person clings fondly to his ill-gotten gain. But what tastes good in the mouth sometimes becomes harmful in the stomach (Pr 23:31-32).

20:15 As a physician may administer an emetic to force vomiting, so God would dislodge the wealth that the wicked person had coerced from others.

20:16 Obtaining wealth through illegitimate means was just as fatal as drinking poison or playing with a viper.

20:17 Honey was usually gathered from wild bees in ancient times (Jdg 14:8) rather than apiaries. “Honey” also designated thick date syrup. Together with refreshing curds (or fermented milk), honey symbolized an abundance of the best things in life (Ex 3:8; Jl 3:8).

20:18 Nothing the wicked acquired will benefit him.

20:19 The reason for the wicked man’s fall is that he had gained his wealth by victimizing the less fortunate. In some cases he had seized a house, either in lieu of a debt or by some dishonest means (Mc 2:2).

20:20 The wicked one is consumed by his craving. The second line of v. 20 may also be rendered “from his greed he will not escape.”

20:21 The wicked person’s ceaseless drive to get and use things would prove to be his undoing.

20:22-23 The image of eating expresses the idea of consuming life’s pleasures and delicacies and enjoying them to the fullest.

20:24-25 Referencing the war implements of the day, Zophar described God’s arsenal of weapons. It includes a sword made of iron, a powerful bronze bow, and arrows with metal tips (flashing tip). The force of the arrow is so great that it pierces the wicked person’s liver and goes through to his back. In attempting to remove the arrow, he pulls out his internal organs and only adds to his doom. Job had complained that God’s arrows had been unleashed against him (16:13) and had pierced him (6:4). Zophar might have been hinting that, like this wicked person, Job was being justly judged.

20:26 So drastic will be the wicked person’s end that even his valued belongings will suffer the darkness of death (15:22). He and anything that survives him will be destroyed in the fire of divine wrath (15:34; 22:20; Dt 32:22; Ps 21:8-9; 1Co 3:13).

20:27 The wicked man’s guilt is so great that the heavens and the earth will testify against him. The imagery portrays a trial in which the wicked person is accused by everyone before the heavenly court. Job had maintained that his innocence and integrity were on record in heaven (16:18-19). Zophar hinted that it could be otherwise.

20:28-29 Zophar’s final summation is not only a reiteration of his thesis with regard to retribution but a declaration that this is indeed God’s decreed policy. Rather than leaving an inheritance for his heirs, the wicked person will inherit the just judgment that God has ordained.