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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.
“For he has broken down the houses of many poor men, and he has plundered a dwelling, though he did not build it. His possessions provide no security.” He has broken down, that is, has shattered mercilessly [their houses], has carried off all their properties and has not given them back. In fact, he has not mended this situation, that is, has not returned what he has stolen. But, as he has carried off the properties of the poor and has not restored them, so his own possessions will not be saved either. “He shall not be saved by his desire. There is nothing remaining of his provisions; therefore his goods shall not flourish.” The impious, Zophar says, will not save himself through his desire, and then he will not have any provision left, because he does not possess anything that has been left to him by his absolute misery.
25. ‘His meat’ is all that he coveted with wrong desire; but when the hypocrite is struck, ‘there is none of his meat left,’ in that when he is himself carried to eternal punishments, he is parted from all the good things that he had gotten here. And hence it is yet further added;
Therefore shall nought remain from his goods.
For if ‘aught did remain of his goods,’ he would take along with him the things that he had possession of. But because while going after every thing, he would not fear the Judge, upon being removed out of this life, he goes naked to the Judge. To which same wicked man, it is but little for his recompensing that he is tormented in after punishment, if only in this life he is let to go free. But there is no liberty in sin, seeing that it is written; where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty; [2 Cor. 3, 17] and to the wicked soul usually its very own sin becomes its own punishment. And hence it is rightly added;
In the fulness of his sufficiency, he shall be in straits.
26. For first from avarice he pants to heap together things he covets, and when he has gathered together a great multitude as it were in a kind of belly of avarice, ‘in the fulness of his sufficiency, he is in straits,’ in that whilst he is full of anxiety how he may keep the things he has gotten, his own fulness itself straitens him. For the field of a certain rich man had brought abundant fruits, but because he had not where to lay up such stores, he said, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits. And he said, This will I do; I will pull down my barns, and build greater. [Luke 12, 17. 18.] He then who from being straitened by his abundance said, What shall I do? was in a fever as if oppressed with a quantity of food. Let us consider with what longings he desired his land might produce abundant crops. Behold now his wishes are completed, seeing that the land did bring him abundant fruits. But forasmuch as there are not places enough to stow it away, the rich man being greatly aggrandized knows not what he should do. O straitness caused by ‘fulness of sufficiency!’ By the abundance of his land the mind of the covetous man is straitened. For when he says, What shall I do? he clearly shows that, surcharged with the engrossments of his desires, he went heavily under a kind of bundle of stores; and so it is well said, In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits. Since the mind of the covetous man, which had before looked for rest from plenty, was afterwards put to worse trouble for the keeping thereof.
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SUMMARY
Job 20:21, a declaration from Zophar the Naamathite's second discourse, powerfully asserts the utter and complete desolation awaiting the wicked. It posits that any material wealth or provisions accumulated through unrighteousness will be entirely consumed and vanish, leaving no trace or legacy. This verse serves as a stark pronouncement of the transient and ultimately futile nature of ill-gotten gains, emphasizing Zophar's conviction that divine justice ensures the wicked's material legacy will disappear without a trace.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Zophar employs several literary devices to emphasize the severity and finality of the wicked's downfall. The most prominent is hyperbole, where the statements "none of his meat be left" and "no man look for his goods" are exaggerated to convey absolute destruction and oblivion. This overstatement serves to underscore the utter futility and impermanence of ill-gotten gain. There is also strong imagery of desolation and emptiness, painting a vivid picture of a life stripped bare of all its material comforts and legacy. The two clauses function in a clear form of consequential parallelism, where the first clause (the complete disappearance of "meat") directly leads to and reinforces the second (no one seeking "goods"), creating a powerful cause-and-effect statement about the inevitable nature of divine retribution. Zophar's declaration also carries the weight of a prophetic utterance, presented as an undeniable, universal truth about the fate of the wicked, even though its specific application to Job is demonstrably flawed within the broader narrative of the book.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
While Zophar's application of this principle to Job was a profound misdiagnosis of Job's suffering, the underlying theological truth about the temporary nature of material wealth, especially that acquired unrighteously, remains a consistent and vital theme throughout Scripture. This verse powerfully articulates the conviction that divine justice ultimately prevails, ensuring that ill-gotten gains offer no lasting security or legacy. It serves as a potent challenge to the human tendency to find ultimate security in accumulated possessions, particularly when such accumulation comes at the expense of righteousness, justice, or compassion for others. The Bible consistently teaches that true prosperity is not merely material, and that God is sovereign over all resources, ensuring that what is built on injustice will ultimately crumble. This serves as a potent reminder for believers to prioritize eternal values and trust in God's ultimate justice, even when the apparent prosperity of the wicked seems to endure for a time. It calls for a re-evaluation of what constitutes true and lasting "goods."
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Job 20:21, despite its flawed application by Zophar to Job, contains a profound and enduring truth for all believers: the ultimate futility and transience of wealth acquired through unrighteousness. In a world often relentlessly driven by the pursuit of material gain, this verse serves as a stark warning against covetousness, exploitation, and any means of acquiring "meat" or "goods" that dishonors God, harms others, or compromises one's integrity. It calls us to critically examine the source and purpose of our prosperity and to recognize that true security and a lasting inheritance are not found in perishable earthly possessions, but in a right relationship with God and in the eternal treasures He offers. Our ultimate trust should be in God's faithful provision and His perfect justice, knowing that what is built on unrighteousness will ultimately collapse and vanish, while what is built on faith, integrity, and obedience to God will endure beyond the confines of this life. It encourages us to live with an eternal perspective, prioritizing spiritual richness, a good name, and a righteous walk over fleeting material gain.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Did Zophar's statement in Job 20:21 accurately apply to Job's situation?
Answer: No, Zophar's statement, while articulating a general principle found elsewhere in Scripture regarding the fate of the wicked, was a severe misapplication to Job's specific situation. The central tension and profound theological question of the book of Job is precisely that Job was a righteous man who suffered immensely, not because of hidden sin, unrighteous gain, or any fault of his own, but for reasons beyond his comprehension and the friends' limited theology. Zophar, like Eliphaz and Bildad, operated under a rigid, simplistic retributive theology that failed to account for the complexities of divine sovereignty, the reality of suffering in a fallen world, and the unsearchable depths of God's purposes. While the principle that ill-gotten gains do not last is biblically sound and widely affirmed (e.g., Proverbs 10:2), Zophar's accusation that Job's suffering was a direct result of such unrighteousness was fundamentally incorrect and ultimately condemned by God Himself (see Job 42:7).
Does this verse imply that all wealthy people are wicked or that wealth itself is inherently bad?
Answer: No, this verse does not imply that all wealthy people are wicked or that wealth itself is inherently bad. The context of Job 20:21 is specifically about the "wicked" and their "meat" and "goods," implying wealth obtained through unjust, oppressive, or unrighteous means. The Bible contains numerous examples of righteous individuals who were blessed with significant wealth (e.g., Abraham in Genesis 13:2, David, and even Job himself before his trials in Job 1:3), and it often speaks of wealth as a blessing from God when acquired and used righteously. However, Scripture consistently warns against the love of money (1 Timothy 6:10), the pursuit of wealth through unrighteousness (Proverbs 28:8), and trusting in riches instead of God (Psalm 52:7). Zophar's words are a condemnation of ill-gotten gain and the false security it offers, not a blanket condemnation of wealth itself.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Job 20:21, though spoken within the Old Testament framework of retributive justice and tragically misapplied to Job, finds its ultimate and profound fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Zophar's grim pronouncement on the wicked's fleeting "meat" and vanishing "goods" stands in stark contrast to the eternal, incorruptible, and abundant inheritance secured by Christ for His followers. Jesus Himself directly warned against laying up treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, advocating instead for the laying up of treasures in heaven, which are imperishable and secure. The "meat" that truly sustains and the "goods" that truly last are not found in earthly possessions, especially those gained unjustly, but in the spiritual blessings in Christ and the eternal life He offers. The wicked's ultimate loss, as described by Zophar, points to a deeper spiritual reality: those who reject Christ and build their lives on self-serving pursuits and perishable earthly gains will find that all their supposed "meat" and "goods" vanish, leaving them utterly destitute in the face of eternal judgment. Conversely, Christ, who, though He was rich in glory and divine prerogatives, yet for our sakes became poor, so that through His poverty we might become rich, demonstrates that true wealth is found not in accumulation but in self-giving love, sacrifice, and obedience to God. He offers the true bread of life that satisfies eternally, and an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for those who are guarded by God's power through faith. Thus, Zophar's words, in their prophetic echo, underscore that only what is built on Christ and His eternal kingdom will endure, while all that is built on unrighteousness and fleeting earthly pursuits will ultimately vanish, leaving nothing behind but eternal emptiness.