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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 20:25

25. It is drawn—Rather, "He (God) draweth (the sword, Joshua 5:13) and (no sooner has He done so, than) it cometh out of (that is, passes right through) the (sinner's) body" (Deuteronomy 32:41; Deuteronomy 32:42; Ezekiel 21:9; Ezekiel 21:10). The glittering sword is a happy image for lightning. gall—that is, his life (Job 16:13). "Inflicts a deadly wound." terrors—Zophar repeats Bildad's words (Job 17:11; Psalms 88:16; Psalms 55:4). 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 20:20-29

God’s swift judgment of the wicked 20:20-29Zophar explained that while the wicked greedily fill their own bellies, God sends His anger into their bowels (Job 20:23). In other words, the poor health that accompanies overindulgence is God’s instrument of judgment on the wealthy wicked. If God does not punish him this way, he will still not escape, because God will catch him some other way (Job 20:24-25; cf. Job 16:13). After he died, God would burn up his possessions and family in judgment as He... 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

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Job 20:25

(25) Yea, terrors overtake him.—Even when he has escaped a second and a third calamity, terrors shall still be upon him. This was all perfectly true in a sense, yea, even a truism, but it was utterly false in its application to Job himself. 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 20:25

20:25 It is drawn, and cometh out of the {n} body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors [are] upon him.(n) Some read, of the quiver. read more

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