TRV
See on the biblical-era map
Study This Verse
Commentary on Job 20 verses 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 reproach, and thinks himself therefore obliged to answer, because Job had bidden them be afraid of the sword, that he might not seem to be frightened by his menaces. The best counsel is too often ill taken from an antagonist, and therefore usually may be well spared. Zophar seemed more in haste to speak than became a wise man; but he excuses his haste with two things: - 1. That Job had given him strong provocation (Job 20:3): "I have heard the check of my reproach, and cannot bear to hear it any longer." Job's friends, I doubt, had spirits too high to deal with a man in his low condition; and high spirits are impatient of contradiction, and think themselves affronted if all about them do not say as they say; they cannot bear a check but they call it the check of their reproach, and then they are bound in honour to return it, if not to draw upon him that gave it. 2. That his own heart gave him a strong instigation. His thoughts caused him to answer (Job 20:2), for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks; but he fathers the instigation (Job 20:3) upon the spirit of his understanding: that indeed should cause us to answer; we should rightly apprehend a thing and duly consider it before we speak of it; but whether it did so here or no is a question. Men often mistake the dictates of their passion for the dictates of their reason, and therefore think they do well to be angry.
II. Zophar proceeds very plainly to show the ruin and destruction of wicked people, insinuating that because Job was destroyed and ruined he was certainly a wicked man and a hypocrite. Observe,
1.How this doctrine is introduced, Job 20:4, where he appeals, (1.) To Job's own knowledge and conviction: "Knowest thou not this? Canst thou be ignorant of a truth so plain? Or canst thou doubt of a truth which has been confirmed by the suffrages of all mankind?" Those know little who do not know that the wages of sin is death. (2.) To the experience of all ages. It was known of old, since man was placed upon the earth; that is, ever since man was made he has had this truth written in his heart, that the sin of sinners will be their ruin; and ever since there were instances of wickedness (which there were soon after man was placed on the earth) there were instances of the punishments of it, witness the exclusions of Adam and Cain. When sin entered into the world death entered with it: all the world knows that evil pursues sinners, whom vengeance suffers not to live (Act 28:4), and subscribes to that (Isa 3:11), Woe to the wicked; it shall be ill with him, sooner or later.
2.How it is laid down (Job 20:5): The triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment. Observe, (1.) He asserts the misery, not only of those who are openly wicked and profane, but of hypocrites, who secretly practice wickedness under a show and profession of religion, because such a wicked man he looked upon Job to be; and it is true that a form of godliness, if it be made use of for a cloak of maliciousness, does but make bad worse. Dissembled piety is double iniquity, and the ruin that attends it will be accordingly. The hottest place in hell will be the portion of hypocrites, as our Saviour intimates, Mat 24:51. (2.) He grants that wicked men may for a time prosper, may be secure and easy, and very merry. You may see them in triumph and joy, triumphing and rejoicing in their wealth and power, their grandeur and success, triumphing and rejoicing over their poor honest neighbours whom they vex and oppress: they feel no evil, they fear none. Job's friends were loth to own, at first, that wicked people might prosper at all (Job 4:9), until Job proved it plainly (Job 9:24, Job 12:6), and now Zophar yields it; but, (3.) He lays it down for a certain truth that they will not prosper long. Their joy is but for a moment, and will quickly end in endless sorrow. Though he be ever so great, and rich, and jovial, the hypocrite will be humbled, and mortified, and made miserable.
3.How it is illustrated, Job 20:6-9. (1.) He supposes his prosperity to be very high, as high as you can imagine, Job 20:6. It is not his wisdom and virtue, but his worldly wealth or greatness, that he accounts his excellency, and values himself upon. We will suppose that to mount up to the heavens, and, since his spirit always rises with his condition, you may suppose that with it his head reaches to the clouds. He is every way advanced; the world has done the utmost it can for him. He looks down upon all about him with disdain, while they look up to him with admiration, envy, or fear. We will suppose him to bid fair for a universal monarchy. And, though he cannot but have made himself many enemies before he arrived to this pitch of prosperity, yet he thinks himself as much out of the reach of their darts as if he were in the clouds. (2.) He is confident that his ruin will accordingly be very great, and his fall the more dreadful for his having risen so high: He shall perish for ever, Job 20:7. His pride and security were the certain presages of his misery. This will certainly be true of all impenitent sinners in the other world; they shall be undone, for ever undone. But Zophar means his ruin in this world; and indeed sometimes notorious sinners are remarkably cut off by present judgments; they have reason enough to fear what Zophar here threatens even the triumphant sinner with. [1.] A shameful destruction: He shall perish like his own dung or dunghill, so loathsome is he to God and all good men, and so willing will the world be to part with him, Psa 119:119; Isa 66:24. [2.] A surprising destruction. He will be brought into desolation in a moment (Psa 73:19), so that those about him, that saw him but just now, will ask, "Where is he? Could he that made so great a figure vanish and expire so suddenly?" [3.] A swift destruction, Job 20:8. He shall fly away upon the wings of his own terrors, and be chased away by the just imprecations of all about him, who would gladly get rid of him. [4.] An utter destruction. It will be total; he shall go away like a dream, or vision of the night, which was a mere phantasm, and, whatever in it pleased the fancy, it is quite gone, and nothing of it remains but what serves us to laugh at the folly of. It will be final (Job 20:9): The eye that saw him, and was ready to adore him, shall see him no more, and the place he filled shall no more behold him, having given him an eternal farewell when he went to his own place, as Judas, Act 1:25.
1. As though he said in plain words; ‘Because I see the terribleness of the last Judgment, therefore I am confounded in a state of consternation by the tumults of my thoughts.’ For the mind spreads itself wider in its range of thought, the more it considers how dreadful that is which threatens it. And ‘the mind is transported diverse ways,’ when with anxious alarm she weighs and considers, one while the evil she has done, at another time the good she has left undone, now all the blameable practices that she remains in, and now the right habits that she sees to be lacking to her. But though the friends of blessed Job, instructed by habituation to his life, knew how to live well, yet, being uninstructed to form an exact estimate of God’s judgments, that anyone of the righteous can be susceptible of ills here below, they did not believe possible. And hence they imagined that holy man to be wicked, whom they saw scourged, and, in consequence of this suspicion, it came to pass that they slipt aside into the upbraiding of him as well, whereunto nevertheless they do not descend, save under the guise of a kind of respect.
Continue studying Job 20:2 across the web’s major study libraries — every link below opens this exact verse, chapter, or book on the destination site.
Read & Compare
BibleGatewayThis verse in more than 200 translations and 70 languages.
Bible.comThe YouVersion reader — hundreds of translations, reading plans, and highlights.
ESV.orgCrossway's official English Standard Version reader.
NET BibleThe NET translation with 60,000+ translators' notes on every rendering decision.
STEP BibleTyndale House's free study tool — original text, vocabulary, and scholarly resources.
BibliaLogos Bible Software's free web reader.
USCCBThe New American Bible (Revised Edition) with the U.S. bishops' study notes.
Commentaries
BibleHub CommentariesDozens of classic commentaries on this verse, gathered on one page.
StudyLightMore than 100 commentary sets — the largest collection on the web.
BibleRefPlain-English commentary on what this verse means, verse by verse.
Enduring WordDavid Guzik's free commentary on this chapter, widely used by Bible teachers.
Bible Study ToolsVerse commentary alongside Greek and Hebrew study aids.
Original Language & Research
- BibleHub InterlinearThe verse word by word — original language, transliteration, and English.
- BibleHub LexiconEvery word's original-language definition and Strong's entry.
Blue Letter BibleDeep-study tools — Strong's numbers, concordance, and word studies.
SefariaThe Hebrew text with Rashi and centuries of Jewish commentary.
Sermons, Hymns & Audio
TrulyRandomVerse is not affiliated with these sites and doesn’t control their content. They’re linked because they’re genuinely useful.
SUMMARY
Job 20:2 opens Zophar the Naamathite's second and final discourse, immediately revealing his profound internal agitation and an urgent, almost involuntary, compulsion to respond to Job. Feeling deeply provoked by Job's persistent claims of innocence and his lament, Zophar articulates a compelling intellectual and emotional necessity to answer swiftly and decisively, thereby establishing a tone of impatience and unyielding conviction for his subsequent accusatory address.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Zophar's opening statement in Job 20:2 is rich with several impactful literary techniques. The verse functions as a form of Internal Monologue or Confession, where Zophar explicitly and directly reveals his agitated mental state and the powerful, driving force behind his speech. This candid declaration of his internal compulsion and haste immediately establishes his emotional rather than purely rational disposition, setting a personal tone for his address. The pervasive use of Pathos is evident, as Zophar's words, while intended to justify his immediate and forceful response, inadvertently expose his own lack of composure, his personal vexation, and perhaps even his intellectual discomfort, which stands in stark contrast to the ideal of calm, collected wisdom. Furthermore, the verse powerfully acts as Foreshadowing, setting the precise tone and expectation for Zophar's subsequent speech. His declaration of haste and internal agitation signals that his address will be swift, unyielding, dogmatic, and driven by a fixed, accusatory perspective, rather than a compassionate engagement with Job's profound suffering or a humble, open-minded search for understanding.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Zophar's opening declaration in Job 20:2 provides a poignant and enduring illustration of the inherent pitfalls of human judgment and the severe limitations of a rigid, unyielding theological framework when confronted with the complexities of divine providence. His internal compulsion and haste to answer Job underscore a common human tendency to react impulsively, to prioritize one's own established understanding of truth over empathetic listening, and to offer simplistic, often harsh, solutions to profound and complex suffering. This verse highlights the profound danger of speaking for God without truly understanding His mysterious ways or His compassionate heart, a significant flaw that God later explicitly rebukes in Job's friends. It serves as a powerful theological warning against intellectual arrogance, dogmatic certainty, and the critical lack of humility in theological discourse, especially when confronted with the unfathomable mystery of divine sovereignty and the reality of human suffering.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Zophar's hasty and internally compelled response in Job 20:2 serves as a timeless and convicting mirror reflecting our own human tendencies and spiritual pitfalls. In a contemporary world saturated with instant communication, social media, and the constant pressure to form and express strong opinions, it is all too easy to allow our "thoughts cause us to answer" out of agitation, personal offense, intellectual pride, or a rigid conviction, rather than out of careful consideration, profound humility, and genuine empathy. This verse profoundly challenges us to pause and meticulously examine the motivations that lie beneath our words, especially when engaging in difficult conversations, confronting others' pain, or participating in theological debates. Are we quick to judge, to offer simplistic solutions, or to fiercely defend our own theological or ideological frameworks, much like Zophar? Or do we diligently cultivate a spirit of active listening, profound patience, and compassionate understanding, seeking first to understand before being understood? True wisdom, as revealed throughout Scripture, often manifests not in the speed or cleverness of our reply, but in the depth of our listening, the humility of our silence, and the grace of our measured response.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why is Zophar so eager to respond to Job?
Answer: Zophar's eagerness to respond stems from a deep-seated and unyielding commitment to the traditional retribution theology, which posits that all suffering is a direct and proportional consequence of sin. Job's unwavering claims of innocence, particularly his deeply moving and defiant lament in Job 19, directly challenge and threaten this foundational belief system that Zophar holds dear. Zophar perceives Job's defiance not only as a personal affront to his own wisdom and theological understanding but also as a direct challenge to God's justice as he rigidly interprets it. His internal "thoughts" are profoundly agitated by what he views as Job's blasphemy, stubbornness, and denial of divine truth, compelling him to quickly reassert what he believes to be God's righteous governance and defend His honor. His declared haste indicates a strong conviction that he must correct Job's perceived error immediately and decisively.
What does Zophar's "haste" tell us about his character?
Answer: Zophar's declared "haste" in Job 20:2 reveals several key and often unflattering aspects of his character. Firstly, it highlights his profound impatience and a notable lack of genuine empathy for Job's immense and inexplicable suffering. Instead of listening patiently, offering comfort, or seeking to understand, he is driven by an overwhelming need to assert his theological correctness and defend his worldview. Secondly, it strongly suggests a dogmatic, rigid, and unyielding personality, one far more concerned with defending a fixed system of belief than with understanding the complex nuances of human experience or the mysterious ways of God. His quickness to speak indicates a mind that has already formed its conclusions and is closed to new information or a deeper, more compassionate understanding. This contrasts sharply with the wisdom literature's consistent emphasis on prudence, measured speech, and the virtue of being slow to speak, as eloquently articulated in passages like Proverbs 29:20.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
In profound contrast to Zophar's hasty, agitated, and ultimately accusatory response rooted in limited human understanding and rigid theology, the person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ offer the ultimate and perfect fulfillment of divine wisdom, boundless patience, and deeply empathetic engagement with human suffering. While Zophar's "thoughts cause him to answer" out of agitation and a flawed, rigid theological framework, Christ, the very Word made flesh, embodies divine truth, perfect grace, and unfathomable understanding, speaking not from human compulsion or intellectual pride but from perfect love and infinite wisdom. He did not come into the world to condemn it with hasty judgment or a rigid system of retribution, but rather to save it through His sacrificial love (John 3:17). Unlike Zophar, who rushes to accuse Job of hidden sin and to pronounce judgment, Jesus consistently demonstrates profound compassion for the suffering, the marginalized, and the sinner, offering healing, restoration, and forgiveness rather than condemnation or theological accusation. His divine response to human brokenness is never one of rigid adherence to a system that excludes mercy, but a dynamic, redemptive love that tirelessly seeks to restore and reconcile. Even in the face of His own accusers and unjust condemnation, Christ often remained silent, fulfilling the ancient prophecy of the suffering servant who "opened not his mouth" (Isaiah 53:7), thereby demonstrating a divine patience and self-control that far surpasses any human haste. He is the ultimate, perfect mediator Job longed for, one who truly understands the depths of human suffering and perfectly bridges the infinite gap between a holy God and fallen humanity (Job 9:33; 1 Timothy 2:5).