Job 20:16 KJV

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 20:15-16

Job 20:15-16. He hath swallowed down riches He hath got possession of them, and thought them to be as much his own as the meat he had eaten. But he is deceived. He shall vomit them up again Shall be compelled to restore them: his own conscience perhaps may make him so uneasy in the keeping of what he has gotten, that, for the quiet of his own mind, he shall make restitution, and that not with the pleasure of a virtue, but with the utmost reluctancy, like the pain produced by an emetic. ... read more

Donald C. Fleming

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

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Job 20:16

16. shall suck—It shall turn out that he has sucked the poison, &c. 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

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Job 20:16

20:16 He shall suck the {g} poison of asps: the viper’s tongue shall slay him.(g) He compares ill-gotten goods to the venom of asps, which is a dangerous serpent, noting that Jobs great riches were not truly come by and therefore God plagues him justly for the same. read more