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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 20:1-9

Here, I. Zophar begins very passionately, and seems to be in a great heat at what Job had said. Being resolved to condemn Job for a bad man, he was much displeased that he talked so like a good man, and, as it should seem, broke in upon him, and began abruptly (Job 20:2): Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer. He takes no notice of what Job had said to move their pity, or to evidence his own integrity, but fastens upon the reproof he gave them in the close of his discourse, counts that a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 20:8

He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found ,.... Either as a dream which is forgotten, as Nebuchadnezzar's was, and cannot be recovered; or as the matter and substance of a dream, which, though remembered, is a mere illusion; as when a hungry or thirsty man dreams he eats or drinks, but, awaking, finds himself empty, and not at all refreshed; what he fancied is fled and gone F13 σκιας οναρ ανθρωποι , Pindar. Pythia, Ode 8. , and indeed never had any existence but in his... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 20:8

He shall fly away as a dream - Instead of rising again from corruption, as thou hast asserted, ( Job 19:26 ;), with a new body, his flesh shall rot in the earth, and his spirit be dissipated like a vapor; and, like a vision of the night, nothing shall remain but the bare impression that such a creature had once existed, but shall appear no more for ever. 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 20:8

He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found ; i.e. "as a dream flies, when one awaketh" (see Psalms 73:20 ; Isaiah 29:7 , Isaiah 29:8 ). Yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night. A "vision of the night" is perhaps something more than a "dream;" but it is equally fugitive, equally unstable-with morning it wholly vanishes away. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 20:8

He shall fly away as a dream - As a dream wholly disappears or vanishes. This comparison of man with a dream is not uncommon, and is most impressive. See Psalms 73:20; see the notes at Isaiah 29:7-8.As a vision of the night - As when one in a dream seems to see objects which vanish when he awakes. The parallelism requires us to understand this of what appears in a dream, and not of a spectre. In our dreams we “seem” to see objects, and when we awake they vanish. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 20:6-9

Job 20:6-9. Though his excellency mount up to the heavens Though he be advanced to great dignity and authority in the world. He shall perish like his own dung Which men cast away with contempt and abhorrence. They who have seen him With admiration at his felicity; shall say, Where is he? He is nowhere to be found; he is utterly gone and lost. He shall fly away as a dream Which, for the present, affects the fancy, but hath nothing solid or permanent in it, for as soon as a man... read more

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