Job 20:23

Fourth strophe Heaven and earth conspire to make the doom of the wicked complete and inevitable, Job 20:23-28.

23. About to fill his belly Literally, It shall be to fill his belly.

God shall cast Rather, he casts on him the fury of his wrath, and causes (it) to rain upon him with his food.

While he is eating Literally, in his food. לחום , bowels, (Hitzig,) flesh, (Delitzsch.) The employment of unusual words leads Delitzsch to remark, “the morally indignant speech, which threatens punishment, intentionally seeks after rare solemn words and darksome tones.” But a little while ago the wicked hid dainty morsels of wickedness under his tongue, which were too delicious to swallow, (Job 20:12-13;) now his food is mixed with the wrath of God, which he, perforce, must swallow. “As he could never be satisfied with sensuous goods, (Job 20:20) God will satisfy him with his punishments.” Hirtzel. The Parthians poured melted gold down the throat of the greedy Roman general Crassus, whom they had defeated and slain. RAWLINSON, Sixth Monarchy, p. 175. The first word, יהי , is jussive, like the expressions “ casts” and “causes to rain,” and indicates the speaker’s acquiescence in the retributions of God. They are a kind of amen to the divine will.