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Commentary on Job 20 verses 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 pleasures of sense are said to be sweet in his mouth (Job 20:12); he indulges himself in all the gratifications of the carnal appetite, and takes an inordinate complacency in them, as yielding the most agreeable delights. That is the satisfaction which he hides under his tongue, and rolls there, as the most dainty delicate thing that can be. He keeps it still within his mouth (Job 20:13); let him have that, and he desires no more; he will never part with that for the spiritual and divine pleasures of religion, which he has no relish or nor affection for. His keeping it still in his mouth denotes his obstinately persisting in his sin (he spares it when he should kill and mortify it, and forsakes it not, but holds it fast, and goes on frowardly in it), and also his re-acting of his sin by revolving it and remembering it with pleasure, as that adulterous woman (Eze 23:19) who multiplied her whoredoms by calling to remembrance the days of her youth; so does this wicked man here. Or his hiding it and keeping it under his tongue denotes his industrious concealment of his beloved lust. Being a hypocrite, his haunts of sin are secret, that he may save the credit of his profession; but he who knows what is in the heart knows what is under the tongue too, and will discover it shortly.
2.The love of the world and the wealth of it. It is in worldly wealth that he places his happiness, and therefore he sets his heart upon it. See here, (1.) How greedy he is of it (Job 20:15): He has swallowed down riches as eagerly as ever a hungry man swallowed down meat; and is still crying, "Give, give." It is that which he desired (Job 20:20); it was, in his eye, the best gift, and that which he coveted earnestly. (2.) What pains he takes for it: It is that which he laboured for (Job 20:18), not by honest diligence in a lawful calling, but by an unwearied prosecution of all ways and methods, per fas, per nefas - right or wrong, to be rich. We must labour, not to be rich (Pro 23:4), but to be charitable, that we may have to give (Eph 4:28), not to spend. (3.) What great things he promises himself from it, intimated in the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter (Job 20:17); his being disappointed of them supposes that he had flattered himself with the hopes of them: he expected rivers of sensual delights.
3.Violence and oppression, and injustice in his poor neighbours, Job 20:19. This was the sin of the giants of the old world, and a sin that, as much as any, brings God's judgments upon nations and families. It is charged upon this wicked man, (1.) That he has forsaken the poor, taken no care of them, shown no kindness to them, nor made any provision for them. At first perhaps, for a pretence, he gave alms like the Pharisees, to gain a reputation; but, when he had served his turn by this practice, he left it off, and forsook the poor, whom before he seemed to be concerned for. Those who do good, but not from a good principle, though they may abound in it, will not abide in it. (2.) That he has oppressed them, crushed them, taken all advantages against them to do them a mischief. To enrich himself, he has robbed the spital, and made the poor poorer. (3.) That he has violently taken away their houses, which he had no right to, as Ahab took Naboth's vineyard, not by secret fraud, by forgery, perjury, or some trick in law, but avowedly, and by open violence.
II. What his punishment is for this wickedness.
1.He shall be disappointed in his expectations, and shall not find that satisfaction in his worldly wealth which he vainly promised himself (Job 20:17): He shall never see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter, with which he hoped to glut himself. The world is not that to those who love it, and court it, and admire it, which they fancy it will be. The enjoyment sinks far below the raised expectation.
2.He shall be diseased and distempered in his body; and how little comfort a man has in riches if he has not health! Sickness and pain, especially it they be in extremity, embitter all his enjoyments. This wicked man has all the delights of sense wound up to the height of pleasurableness; but what real happiness can he enjoy when his bones are full of the sins of his youth (Job 20:11), that is, of the effects of those sins? By his drunkenness and gluttony, his uncleanness and wantonness, when he was young, he contracted those diseases which are painful to him long after, and perhaps make his life very miserable, and, as Solomon speaks, consume his flesh and his body, Pro 5:11. Perhaps he was given to fight when he was young, and then made nothing of a cut or a bruise in a fray; but he feels it in his bones long after. But can he get no ease, no relief? No, he is likely to carry his pains and diseases with him to the grave, or rather they are likely to carry him thither, and so the sins of his youth shall lie down with him in the dust; the very putrefying of his body in the grave is to him the effect of sin (Job 24:19), so that his iniquity is upon his bones there, Eze 32:27. The sin of sinners follows them to the other side death.
3.He shall be disquieted and troubled in his mind: Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, Job 20:20. He has not that ease in his own mind that people think he has, but is in continual agitation. The ill-gotten wealth which he has swallowed down makes him sick, and, like undigested meat, is always upbraiding him. Let none expect to enjoy that comfortably which they have gotten unjustly. The unquietness of his mind arises, (1.) From his conscience looking back, and filling him with the fear of the wrath of God against him for his wickedness. Even that wickedness which was sweet in the commission, and was rolled under the tongue as a delicate morsel, becomes bitter in the reflection, and, when it is reviewed, fills him with horror and vexation. In his bowels it is turned (Job 20:14) like John's book, in his mouth as sweet as honey, but, when he had eaten it, his belly was bitter, Rev 10:10. Such a thing is sin; it is turned into the gall of asps, than which nothing is more bitter, the poison of asps (Job 20:16), than which nothing more fatal, and so it will be to him; what he sucked so sweetly, and with so much pleasure, will prove to him the poison of asps; so will all unlawful gains be. The fawning tongue will prove the viper's tongue. All the charming graces that are thought to be in sin will, when conscience is awakened, turn into so many raging furies. (2.) From his cares, looking forward, Job 20:22. In the fulness of his sufficiency, when he thinks himself most happy, and most sure of the continuance of his happiness, he shall be in straits, that is, he shall think himself so, through the anxieties and perplexities of his own mind, as that rich man who, when his ground brought forth plentifully, cried out, What shall I do? Luk 12:17.
4.He shall be dispossessed of his estate; that shall sink and dwindle away to nothing, so that he shall not rejoice therein, Job 20:18. He shall not only never rejoice truly, but not long rejoice at all. (1.) What he has unjustly swallowed he shall be compelled to disgorge (Job 20:15): He swallowed down riches, and then thought himself sure of them, and that they were as much his own as the meat he had eaten; but he was deceived: he shall vomit them up again; 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 the pain of a vomit, and with the utmost reluctancy. Or, if he do not himself refund what he has violently taken away, God will, by his providence, force him to it, and bring it about, one way or other, that ill-gotten goods shall return to the right owners: God shall cast them out of his belly, while yet the love of the sin is not cast out of his heart. So loud shall the clamours of the poor, whom he has impoverished, be against him, that he shall be forced to send his children to them to soothe them and beg their pardon (Job 20:10): His children shall seek to please the poor, while his own hands shall restore them their goods with shame (Job 20:18): That which he laboured for, by all the arts of oppression, shall he restore, and shall not so swallow it down as to digest it; it shall not stay with him, but according to his shame shall the restitution be; having gotten a great deal unjustly, he shall restore a great deal, so that when every one has his own he will have but little left for himself. To be made to restore what was unjustly gotten, by the sanctifying grace of God, as Zaccheus was, is a great mercy; he voluntarily and cheerfully restored four-fold, and yet had a great deal left to give to the poor, Luk 19:8. But to be forced to restore, as Judas was, merely by the horrors of a despairing conscience, has none of that benefit and comfort attending it, for he threw down the pieces of silver and went and hanged himself. (2.) He shall be stripped of all he has and become a beggar. He that spoiled others shall himself be spoiled (Isa 33:1); for every hand of the wicked shall be upon him. The innocent, whom he has wronged, sit down by their loss, saying, as David, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked, but my hand shall not be upon him, Sa1 24:13. But though they have forgiven him, though they will make no reprisals, divine justice will, and often makes the wicked to avenge the quarrel of the righteous, and squeezes and crushes one bad man by the hand of another upon him. Thus, when he is plucked on all sides, he shall not save of that which he desired (Job 20:20), not only he shall not save it all, but he shall save nothing of it. There shall none of his meat (which he coveted so much, and fed upon with so much pleasure) be left, Job 20:21. All his neighbours and relations shall look upon him to be in such bad circumstances that, when he is dead, no man shall look for his goods, none of his kindred shall expect to be a penny the better for him, nor be willing to take out letters of administration for what he leaves behind him. In all this Zophar reflects upon Job, who had lost all and was reduced to the last extremity.
“They will not rejoice on the division of the rivers, the streams flowing with honey and curds.” These words mean that those rivers were divided on Mount Calvary, and the streams derived from the rivers signify the gifts of the Spirit communicated by the revelation of the Gospel.
19. The ‘asp’ is a small serpent, but the ‘viper’ hath more length of body. And asps produce eggs, and their young are hatched from the eggs. But when vipers have conceived, their ‘young ravin in their womb, which bursting the parents’ sides issue out of their bellies. Hence too it is called the ‘viper,’ because it is a ‘parent [vi parit.] by violence.’ Thus the viper is so produced that it comes forth by violence, and is brought into the world by the killing of the mother. What then is represented by the little asps, saving the hidden suggestions of impure spirits, who steal upon [Ben. ‘surripiunt,’ Steal from, both others ‘surrepunt.’] the hearts of men by slight prompting at first, and what by the ‘viper’s tongue’ save the violent temptation of the devil? For at first he steals upon them gently, but afterwards he drags them even by force. And so he ‘sucks the poison of asps,’ in that the little beginning of secret suggestion is first produced in the heart, but ‘the viper’s tongue slayeth him,’ in that afterwards the captive soul is killed by the venom of violent temptation. In the first case unclean spirits speak to the heart of man with their crafty counsels, and these, while they persuade with gentleness, as it were infuse the poison of asps. Whence it is written, They break asps eggs, and weave the spider’s web; He that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is hatched breaketh out into a basilisk. [Is. 59, 5] Since to ‘break asps’ eggs,’ to wicked men is, to manifest by evil deeds the counsels of evil spirits, which lurk in their hearts. Moreover, to ‘weave spiders’ webs’ is, on account of the lust of this world, to be busied in any temporal employments. Which, whilst they are established with no stedfastness, assuredly are carried off by the wind of a mortal life. And it is well added; He that eateth of their eggs dieth. In that he that admits the counsels of impure spirits kills the life of his soul in him. ‘And that which is hatched, breaketh out into a basilisk,’ in that the suggestion of the bad spirit which is covered up in the heart, is nursed unto full iniquity. For ‘basilisk’ [‘Regulus,’ which is a translation of the Greek Basiliscov. see Plin. viii. 21.] means the king of serpents, and who is the head of the sons of perdition, save Antichrist? Therefore ‘that, which is hatched, will break out into a basilisk,’ in that he who harbours in himself the counsel of the ‘asp’ to nourish them to life, being made a member of the wicked head, is engrafted into the body of Antichrist. Of which hypocrite it is said, He shall suck the head of asps, and the viper’s tongue shall slay him, in that when he gladly welcomes the evil suggestion of our old enemy, afterwards he surrenders himself vanquished to his forcible temptations. Hence too in Paradise, to man when he was standing, he brought in words of soft suggestion, but him whom he once caught away to the act of consent, now henceforth he forces on even resisting him, and conquered by the gratifications of his corrupt state of being, kills him well nigh by dint of violence. But perhaps we may be able to make out the meaning of these same sentences by a contrary mode of interpretation. Thus because the ‘asp’ kills quickly by its venom, but the ‘viper’ more slowly, by the ‘asp’ we have denoted a violent and instantaneous temptation, but by the ‘viper’ a gentle and prolonged one. And hence to the one death is said to lie in the ‘sucking of the head,’ but to the viper ‘in the tongue,’ in that a sudden temptation often as soon as it arises kills the soul off its guard, but a lengthened temptation, because it is longer recommending evil things by the suggesting of them, kills as does a viper with its tongue. And because every hypocrite, being penetrated with the suggestion of evil spirits, as with the poison of serpents, never considers what are the gifts from above of the Holy Spirit, while he spreads abroad the bent of the heart in golden opinions without.
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SUMMARY
Job 20:16 is a potent declaration from Zophar the Naamathite, delivered during his second speech to Job. This verse, laden with vivid and disturbing imagery of deadly serpents, encapsulates Zophar's unwavering conviction that the wicked, despite any fleeting prosperity, are destined for a catastrophic and self-inflicted downfall. It asserts that the very nature of their evil deeds will turn against them, consuming them with a fatal poison, symbolizing the inescapable and severe consequences of unrighteous living.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Job 20:16 is rich with powerful literary devices that amplify its message of inevitable judgment. Imagery is paramount, creating a vivid and terrifying mental picture of a person consuming deadly snake venom. This visceral image immediately conveys the lethal nature of the consequences. The "poison of asps" and "viper's tongue" also function as potent Symbolism, where the snakes represent not just physical danger but the insidious, destructive nature of sin and the inescapable divine retribution that follows. Furthermore, "the viper's tongue" is a striking Metonymy, where the tongue stands in for the fangs and the fatal bite, emphasizing the direct and deadly strike. The entire verse also employs Hyperbole to underscore the extreme and gruesome nature of the wicked's downfall, painting a picture of utter and self-consuming destruction.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
While Zophar's application of retributive theology to Job's specific suffering is ultimately critiqued and shown to be flawed within the broader narrative of Job, the underlying principle that wickedness carries inherent, destructive consequences remains a consistent biblical truth. This verse powerfully illustrates the self-destructive nature of sin, portraying it as a venom that, once embraced, inevitably leads to ruin. It speaks to the theological reality that unrighteousness is not merely an external transgression but an internal corruption that poisons the soul and brings about spiritual and often physical death. The imagery serves as a stark warning against the allure of evil, reminding us that its temporary sweetness always gives way to bitter and fatal consequences.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Job 20:16, though spoken by Zophar, carries a profound warning that transcends his flawed theology. It serves as a stark reminder that sin, like a deadly poison, contains the seeds of its own destruction. While the wicked may appear to prosper for a time, their choices are ultimately self-consuming. This verse challenges us to consider what "poison" we might be "sucking" in our own lives – perhaps destructive habits, ungodly ambitions, or unrepentant sin that, while seemingly offering temporary gratification, is slowly but surely leading to spiritual and relational decay. It calls us to a radical self-examination, urging us to recognize that true flourishing comes not from ill-gotten gains or fleeting pleasures, but from walking in integrity and righteousness before God. The consequences of sin are not always immediate or externally imposed; often, they are the natural, internal outworking of choices that corrupt the soul and lead to a bitter end. Therefore, this verse compels us to choose wisdom, embrace repentance, and pursue a life aligned with God's will, trusting that His ways lead to life, not death.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Does Zophar's view of the wicked's punishment in Job 20:16 accurately reflect God's justice?
Answer: Zophar's statement in Job 20:16, while containing a kernel of truth about the destructive nature of sin, is part of a broader theological framework that the book of Job ultimately critiques as incomplete and flawed. Zophar, like Eliphaz and Bildad, adheres to a strict retributive theology, believing that all suffering is a direct and immediate consequence of personal sin. He uses this principle to accuse Job of hidden wickedness. However, the entire narrative of Job demonstrates that suffering is not always a direct result of sin, and God's ways are far more complex than human logic can grasp. While the Bible consistently teaches that sin has consequences (e.g., Romans 6:23), Zophar's error lies in his rigid application of this principle to Job's specific situation, failing to acknowledge the possibility of righteous suffering or God's sovereign purposes beyond human comprehension. The book of Job ultimately affirms God's justice but also His inscrutable wisdom, which often operates outside human expectations of immediate retribution.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Job 20:16, with its chilling imagery of deadly poison and the viper's fatal strike, finds its ultimate Christ-centered fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Humanity, by its fall into sin, had indeed "sucked the poison" of spiritual death, inheriting the venomous curse of the serpent (Genesis 3:13-15). This poison, the "wages of sin," was spiritual separation and eternal death (Romans 6:23). However, Christ, the true Seed of the woman, came to crush the head of the serpent, Satan, and to disarm the power of sin and death (Genesis 3:15; Hebrews 2:14). He became the antidote to the poison we had consumed, bearing the full curse of the law and the venom of God's wrath against sin on the cross (Galatians 3:13). Through His death and resurrection, Jesus swallowed the poison of death, overcoming its sting, so that all who believe in Him might be delivered from its fatal grip (1 Corinthians 15:55-57). He transforms the very instrument of death into the means of life, offering eternal salvation to those who were once enslaved by sin's deadly venom.