Job 20:14,Job 20:16

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Job 20:1-29

Zophar speaks (20:1-29)On hearing Job’s bold forecast of punishment on his accusers (see 19:28-29), Zophar can hardly control his temper. Not only does he feel insulted, but he is burning with inward rage (20:1-3). His hasty reply is intended to hurt Job by reminding him that the wicked person’s happiness and success are shortlived (4-7). The wealth he unjustly gained will not save him, and his early death will be a fitting punishment (8-11).The wicked feed on sin, keeping it in their mouths as... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Job 20:14

meat = bread; "bread" put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Species) App-6 , for all kinds of food. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Job 20:14

14. turned—Hebrew denotes a total change into a disagreeable contrary ( :-; compare Revelation 10:9; Revelation 10:10). gall—in which the poison of the asp was thought to lie. It rather is contained in a sack in the mouth. Scripture uses popular language, where no moral truth is thereby endangered. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Job 20:1-29

5. Zophar’s second speech ch. 20This speech must have hurt Job more than any that his friends had presented so far. Zophar was brutal in his attack. He continued the theme of the fate of the wicked that Eliphaz and Bildad had emphasized. However, whereas Eliphaz stressed the distress of the wicked and Bildad their trapped position, Zophar elaborated on the fact that wicked people lose their wealth. He had nothing new to say, but he said it passionately."Zophar is deeply disturbed by Job’s... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Job 20:12-19

The certain punishment of sin 20:12-19Job 20:16 pictures the wicked eating his delicacies but finding that they have turned to poison in his stomach and are killing him (Job 20:14)."Sin tastes good in the mouth but creates terrible cramps and nausea in the stomach (Job 20:12-14)." [Note: Merrill, p. 387.] Ancient Near Easterners considered honey (often date syrup) and curds (the part of milk from which cheese comes) delicacies (cf. Judges 5:25). read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Job 20:1-29

Zophar’s Second SpeechZophar ignores Job’s conviction that God will one day establish his innocence, and proceeds to describe the short triumph of the wicked and his certain downfall and punishment at God’s hand. Perhaps he wishes Job to apply the description to himself and take warning therefrom; though quite apart from that the speech is relevant to his argument that the moral order of the world is not, as Job maintains, unrighteous.3. The check of my reproach] RV ’the reproof which putteth... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Job 20:1-29

Job 20:12-13 Zophar, the Naamathite, mentioneth a sort of men in whose mouths wickedness is sweet. 'They hide it under their tongues, they spare it, and forsake it not, but keep it still in their mouths.' This furnisheth me with a tripartite division of men in the world. The first and best are those who spit sin out, loathing it in their judgments, and leaving it in their practice. The second sort, notoriously wicked, who swallow sin down, actually and openly committing it. The third,... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Job 20:1-29

XVII.IGNORANT CRITICISM OF LIFEJob 20:1-29ZOPHAR SPEAKSTHE great saying that quickens our faith and carries thought into a higher world conveyed no Divine meaning to the man from Naamah. The author must have intended to pour scorn on the hide bound intelligence and rude bigotry of Zophar, to show him dwarfed by self-content and zeal not according to knowledge. When Job affirmed his sublime confidence in a Divine Vindicator, Zophar caught only at the idea of an avenger. What is this notion of a... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Job 20:1-29

CHAPTER 20 The Second Address of Zophar 1. Zophar’s swift reply (Job 20:1-3 ) 2. Another description of the life and fate of the wicked (Job 20:4-29 ) Job 20:1-3 . Zophar, the twitterer, begins his reply to Job with impatient haste. Job’s words, probably those found in chapter 19:2-3, and the last two verses, have made him angry. He boils over with indignation. He is ready now to confirm the testimony already given and wound the suffering servant of God still more. Job 20:4-29 . He follows... read more

L.M. Grant

L. M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible - Job 20:1-29

THE WICKED MAN'S BRIEF TRIUMPH (vv.1-5) Zophar does not even consider the possibility that Job is not wicked, but again strongly condemns the wicked, making it evident that he is really speaking of Job. He was evidently greatly stirred, not by the Spirit of God, but by his own misguided thoughts (v.2). Job had asked for some pity, but Zophar thinks he only deserves the opposite. He had heard Job's rebuke that was a reproach to Zophar, but makes it clear that he will accept no rebuke. He... read more