FocusAccusation and protest intensify
Connection to the wholeThe argument sharpens as the friends connect suffering with wickedness and Job challenges their account of the wicked's fortunes.
interpretation Job 20:29
KJVThis is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.
Read it in context
Zophar: Destruction Awaits the Wicked
Start reading at Job 20:1 (Job 20:1 to Job 20:29).
An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
The argument sharpens as the friends connect suffering with wickedness and Job challenges their account of the wicked's fortunes.
- 20:1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
- 20:2 Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste.
- 20:3 I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer.
- 20:4 Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth,
- 20:5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?
- 20:6 Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds;
- 20:7 Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?
- 20:8 He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
- 20:9 The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.
- 20:10 His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods.
- 20:11 His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.
- 20:12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;
- 20:13 Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth:
- 20:14 Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.
- 20:15 He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.
- 20:16 He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper's tongue shall slay him.
- 20:17 He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.
- 20:18 That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down: according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein.
- 20:19 Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;
- 20:20 Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired.
- 20:21 There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods.
- 20:22 In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.
- 20:23 When he is about to fill his belly, God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while he is eating.
- 20:24 He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through.
- 20:25 It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him.
- 20:26 All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle.
- 20:27 The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.
- 20:28 The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.
- 20:29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.
Who
- Who wrote the book? The author is unknown. Moses is one ancient traditional proposal, but neither that proposal nor another named author can be established with confidence. Historical source: Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 14b–15a (record of Jewish attribution, not contemporary proof). book background
- Who was present or being addressed in this passage? In the surrounding chapter context (Job 20:1–20:29): Zophar again addresses Job. stated in the text
- Who was the book written to? Readers within Israel's wisdom tradition, wrestling with innocent suffering, justice, and the limits of human judgment. No named individual or first community is identified. Biblical references: Job 28:28; Job 42:7. book background
What
- What is the topic of this reading unit? Zophar: Destruction Awaits the Wicked. Read Job 20:1 through Job 20:29 as a connected unit. interpretation
- How does it contribute to the book? The argument sharpens as the friends connect suffering with wickedness and Job challenges their account of the wicked's fortunes. interpretation
When
- When are the events or message set? The book supplies no royal date or exact historical year for Job's experiences. Proposed patriarchal-era settings are historical inferences, not a date explicitly stated by the narrative. book background
Where
- What is the book’s geographic setting? Job is introduced as a man in the land of Uz. The poetic speeches range through imagined and remembered scenes that should not all be treated as the speakers' physical locations. book background
- Where does the context start? This passage sits in Zophar: Destruction Awaits the Wicked (Job 20:1 to Job 20:29). Start reading at Job 20:1. An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
How
- How does this book connect with Jesus Christ? James refers to Job's endurance and the Lord's compassion. Connections between Job's suffering and Christ may be considered as comparisons; Job's speeches should not all be treated as direct predictions of Jesus. See Job 1:1, James 5:11, Hebrews 4:15. interpretation
- How should this book guide our response? Do not assume that a sufferer's losses prove a hidden sin. Listen carefully, distinguish the speakers, and read their claims alongside the LORD's concluding rebuke of the friends. interpretation
Cited: Job 20:1, Job 20:29, Job 1:1, James 5:11, Hebrews 4:15
Who wrote it, and how we know
Uncertain; among the oldest books of Scripture
Not known
What Scripture saysThe book does not name its author.
Early traditionJewish tradition (Baba Bathra 14b) suggested Moses, but ancient opinion varied widely.
What is debatedThe author is unknown and the date is uncertain. The setting appears patriarchal, but the book could have been written far later.
Related passages
- the portion Job 18:21 Job 27:13 Job 31:2-3 Deut 29:20-28 Ps 11:5-6 Matt 24:51
- appointed unto him by God Lam 3:38
Cross references from CrossReferences-org (CC BY 4.0).
Macro-Structure
See how this passage fits the chapter and the book.
Macro-Structure of Job 20
Job contains narrative, lament, and extended disputation. The speakers must be identified before treating an assertion as the book's teaching: the LORD explicitly rebukes Job's friends near the end. Neither the author nor an exact historical date is stated. Local headings and stanza divisions are editorial reading aids adapted from public-domain BSB headings; verse boundaries and Scripture links use the KJV. Connections describe the surrounding book movement.
Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.
Macro-Structure of Job
Job contains narrative, lament, and extended disputation. The speakers must be identified before treating an assertion as the book's teaching: the LORD explicitly rebukes Job's friends near the end. Neither the author nor an exact historical date is stated.
Job's losses and the friends' arrival
Job 1:1–2:13FocusSuffering and the opening test
Connection to the wholeThe narrative establishes Job's losses and integrity before the speeches begin, giving readers information the disputing friends do not possess.
interpretation The lament and first exchange
Job 3:1–14:22FocusSuffering questioned and explained
Connection to the wholeJob's lament leads into the first cycle of speeches, in which the friends' explanations are challenged by Job's experience.
interpretation FocusAccusation and protest intensify
Connection to the wholeThe argument sharpens as the friends connect suffering with wickedness and Job challenges their account of the wicked's fortunes.
interpretation The final exchange and Job's defense
Job 22:1–31:40FocusWisdom and the demand for an answer
Connection to the wholeThe later speeches, poem on wisdom, and Job's final defense bring the dispute to the point of his appeal for an answer.
interpretation Elihu speaks
Job 32:1–37:24FocusClaims about God's justice and instruction
Connection to the wholeA new speaker responds to Job and the friends before the LORD's speeches begin; his speech must be distinguished from the divine answer.
interpretation The LORD answers
Job 38:1–41:34FocusCreation and the limits of human knowledge
Connection to the wholeThe LORD questions Job concerning the created order, confronting the limits of his knowledge and his attempt to contend with God.
interpretation Job's response and the conclusion
Job 42:1–17FocusRepentance, rebuke, and restoration
Connection to the wholeJob responds, the friends are rebuked, and the narrative closes with intercession and restoration without turning every speech into endorsed doctrine.
interpretation Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.