Job 20:14

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 20:10-22

The instances here given of the miserable condition of the wicked man in this world are expressed with great fulness and fluency of language, and the same thing returned to again and repeated in other words. Let us therefore reduce the particulars to their proper heads, and observe, I. What his wickedness is for which he is punished. 1. The lusts of the flesh, here called the sins of his youth (Job 20:11); for those are the sins which, at that age, people are most tempted to. The forbidden... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 20:14

Yet his meat in his bowels is turned ,.... Or "his bread" F18 לחמו "panis ejus", Pagninus, Montanus, Beza, Schmidt. , to which sin is compared, being what the sinner lives in, and lives upon; what he strengthens himself in and with, and by which he is nourished unto the day of slaughter, and by means of which he grows and proceeds to more ungodliness, though in the issue he comes into starving and famishing circumstances; for this is bread of deceit, and proves to be ashes and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 20:1-29

Zophar's second speech is even more harsh than his first ( Job 11:1-20 .). He adds coarseness and rudeness to his former vehement hostility ( Job 20:7 , Job 20:15 ). His whole discourse is a covert denunciation of Job as a wicked man and a hypocrite (verses 5, 12, 19, 29), deservedly punished by God for a life of crime. He ends by prophesying Job's violent death, the destruction of his house, and the rising up of heaven and earth in witness against him (verses 24-28). read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 20:1-29

Zophar to Job: an orthodox champion to the rescue. I. AN IMPETUOUS ORATOR PERTURBED . Threatened with Divine vengeance, Zophar advances to the combat in hopes of utterly confounding his antagonist. His appearance, manner, and address are characterized by: 1 . Bold defiance. "Therefore," i.e. in view of what you have just spoken; nay, "nevertheless," i.e. in spite of all your grandiloquent talk about a sword. Zophar had been unmoved, equally by Job's pathetic wail depicting... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 20:1-29

Godless prosperity short-lived. Here we have a new variation on the favourite theme of the friends—the inconstancy of godless prosperity. "The jubilation of the wicked is but of short duration, and the joy of the profligate but a moment." The wicked man is specially here described as a rich man, who greedily snatches at others' property, and whose ill-gotten gains become a deadly consuming fire to him and all his. It is related to Eliphaz's speech ( Job 15:1-35 .) as the superlative to the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 20:5-20

The temporary triumph of the wicked. Zophar now comes forth with wise words; but they are as arrows, slender, strong, and sharp, which, though drawn upon a strong bow, yet miss their mark. Only too true is his assertion of the brevity of the triumph of the evil-doer, the momentary joy of the hypocrite; only too accurate his forcible setting forth of the state and portion of the ungodly. Job has to hear again cruel words. His patient faith has yet to be further tested; his final triumph is... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 20:12-17

The sweet taste of sin and its bitter after-taste. I. THE SWEET TASTE OF SIN . How can we account for the tact that if sin is essentially an evil thing it should ever be attractive to us? Surely its natural hatefulness should make it repulsive. If it is hideous in the sight of God, by what witchery can it be made to appear fascinating to our eyes? 1 . It appeals to our lower desires. It makes its first appeal to nature. There was no evil at first in Adam and Eve, and yet... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 20:14

Yet his meat in his bowels is turned . Still, a time comes when the self-complacency of the wicked man is shaken. He experiences a failure of health or spirits. Then, suddenly, it is as if the meat that he has swallowed had been turned to poison in his bowels, as if the gall of asps were within him. Compare what Bishop Butler says of the sudden waking up of a man's conscience. The ancients seem to have known that the poison of serpents was a strong acid, and therefore supposed that it was... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 20:14

Yet his meat - His food.In his bowels is turned - That is, it is as if he had taken food which was exceedingly pleasant, and had retained it in his mouth as long as possible, that he might enjoy it, but when he swallowed it, it became bitter and offensive; compare Revelation 10:9-10. Sin may be pleasant when it is committed, but its consequences will be bitter.It is the gall of asps - On the meaning of the word here rendered “asps” (פתן pethen), see the notes at Isaiah 11:8. There can be little... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 20:12-14

Job 20:12-14. Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth Though it greatly please him while he is committing it; though he hide it under his tongue As an epicure doth a sweet morsel, which he keeps and rolls about his mouth, that he may longer enjoy the pleasure of it. Though he be highly pleased with the gratification of his lusts, and cleave to his sinful pleasures in hearty love, resolving to hold them fast, and improve them to the greatest delight and advantage; though he spare it Will... read more

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