Read & Study the Bible Online - Bible Portal
Matthew Henry

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 20:16

He shall suck the poison of asps ,.... Or "the head of asps" F21 ראש פתנים "caput aspidum", V. L. Montanus. ; for their poison lies in their heads, particularly in their "teeth" F23 Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 37. Aelian. Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 4. ; or rather is a liquor in the gums, yellow like oil F24 Philosoph. Transact. ut supra. (abridged, vol. 2. p. 819.) ; according to Pliny F25 Ib. c. 62. , in copulation the male puts his head into the mouth of the female,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 20:16

He shall suck the poison of asps - That delicious morsel, that secret, easily-besetting sin, so palatable, and so pleasurable, shall act on the life of his soul, as the poison of asps would do on the life of his body. The poison is called the gall of asps, it being anciently supposed that the poison of serpents consists in their gall, which is thought to be copiously exuded when those animals are enraged; as it has been often seen that their bite is not poisonous when they are not angry.... 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 20:16

He shall suck the poison of asps . Probably Zophar does not affix any very distinct meaning to his threats. He is content to utter a series of fierce-sounding but vague menaces, which he knows that Job will regard as launched against himself, and does not care whether they are taken metaphorically or literally. Job will be equally distressed in either ease. The viper's tongue shall slay him . It is really the viper's tooth , and not his tongue , that slays; but Zophar is not, any... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 20:16

He shall suck the poison of asps - That which he swallowed as pleasant nutriment, shall become the most deadly poison; or the consequence shall be as if he had sucked the poison of asps. It would seem that the ancients regarded the poison of the serpent as deadly, however, it was taken into the system. They seem not to have been aware that the poison of a wound may be sucked out without injury to him who does it; and that it is necessary that the poison should mingle with the blood to be... read more

Group of Brands