Job 20:17

King James Version

He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.

Parallel Translations

New Living Translation
They will never again enjoy streams of olive oil or rivers of milk and honey.

English Revised Version
He shall not look upon the rivers, the flowing streams of honey and butter.

Update Bible Version
He shall not look at the rivers, The flowing streams of honey and butter.

New Century Version
They will not admire the sparkling streams or the rivers flowing with honey and cream.

New English Translation
He will not look on the streams, the rivers, which are the torrents of honey and butter.

Webster's Bible Translation
He shall not see the river, the floods, the brooks of honey and buttermilk.

World English Bible
He shall not look at the rivers, The flowing streams of honey and butter.

Amplified Bible
"He does not look at the rivers, The flowing streams of honey and butter [to enjoy his wealth].

English Standard Version
He will not look upon the rivers, the streams flowing with honey and curds.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Se he not the stremys of the flood of the stronde, of hony, and of botere.

Berean Standard Bible
He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.

Contemporary English Version
and never enjoy rivers flowing with milk and honey.

American Standard Version
He shall not look upon the rivers, The flowing streams of honey and butter.

Bible in Basic English
Let him not see the rivers of oil, the streams of honey and milk.

Complete Jewish Bible
He will not enjoy the rivers, the streams flowing with honey and cream.

Darby Translation
He shall not see streams, rivers, brooks of honey and butter.

Easy-to-Read Version
He will never again enjoy so much wealth— rivers flowing with honey and cream.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
He shall not look upon the rivers, the flowing streams of honey and curd.

King James Version (1611)
Hee shall not see the riuers, the floods, the brookes of hony and butter.

New Life Bible
He will not look at the rivers, the rivers flowing with honey and milk.

New Revised Standard
They will not look on the rivers, the streams flowing with honey and curds.

Geneva Bible (1587)
He shall not see the riuers, nor the floods and streames of honie and butter.

George Lamsa Translation
He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.

Good News Translation
They will not live to see rivers of olive oil or streams that flow with milk and honey.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Let him not see in the channels the flowings of torrents of honey and milk.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Let him not see the streams of the river, the brooks of honey and of butter.

Revised Standard Version
He will not look upon the rivers, the streams flowing with honey and curds.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
So that he shall no more see the ryuers and brookes of hony and butter.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Let him not see the milk of the pastures, nor the supplies of honey and butter.

Christian Standard Bible®
He will not enjoy the streams,the rivers flowing with honey and curds.

Hebrew Names Version
He shall not look at the rivers, The flowing streams of honey and butter.

Lexham English Bible
He will not enjoy the streams, the torrents of honey and curds.

Literal Translation
He shall not see the rivers, the flowings of torrents of honey and curd;

Young's Literal Translation
He looketh not on rivulets, Flowing of brooks of honey and butter.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
so that he shal nomore se the ryuers and brokes of hony and butter:

New American Standard Bible
"He does not look at the streams, The rivers flowing with honey and curds.

New King James Version
He will not see the streams, The rivers flowing with honey and cream.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"He does not look at the streams, The rivers flowing with honey and curds.

Legacy Standard Bible
He does not look at the streams,The rivers flowing with honey and curds.

Contextual Overview

¹⁰ His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods. ¹¹ His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust. ¹² Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue; ¹³ Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth: ¹⁴ Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him. ¹⁵ He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly. ¹⁶ He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper's tongue shall slay him. ¹⁷ He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter. 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. ¹⁹ Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

shall not see: Numbers 14:23, 2 Kings 7:2, Jeremiah 17:6-8, Luke 16:24

the rivers: Psalms 36:8, Psalms 36:9, Isaiah 41:17, Jeremiah 17:6, Revelation 22:1

floods: or, streaming brooks

of honey: Deuteronomy 32:13, Deuteronomy 32:14, 2 Samuel 17:29, Psalms 81:16, Isaiah 7:15, Isaiah 7:22

Reciprocal: Genesis 4:16 - went Job 29:6 - I washed Isaiah 36:17 - a land of corn

Cross-References

Genesis 20:7
Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.

Genesis 20:9
Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.

Genesis 20:10
And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?

Genesis 20:11
And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake.

Genesis 20:12
And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

Genesis 29:31
And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.

Ezra 6:10
That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.

Proverbs 15:8
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord : but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

Proverbs 15:29
The Lord is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.

Isaiah 45:11
Thus saith the Lord , the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

He shall not see the rivers,.... Of water, or meet with any to assuage his thirst, which poison excites, and so makes a man wish for water, and desire large quantities; but this shall not be granted the wicked man; this might be illustrated in the case of the rich man in hell, who desired a drop of cold water to cool his tongue, but could not have it, Luke 16:24; though rather plenty of good things is here intended, see Isaiah 48:18; as also the following expressions:

the floods, the brooks of honey and butter; or "cream"; which are hyperbolical expressions, denoting the great profusion and abundance of temporal blessings, which either the covetous rich man was ambitious of obtaining, and hoped to enjoy, seeking and promising great things to himself, which yet he should never attain unto; or else the sense is, though he had enjoyed such plenty, and been in such great prosperity as to have honey and butter, or all temporal good things, flowing about him like rivers, and floods, and brooks; yet he should "see [them] no more", so Broughton reads the words; and perhaps Zophar may have respect to the abundance Job once possessed, but should no more, and which is by himself expressed by such like metaphors, Job 29:6; yea, even spiritual and eternal good things may be designed, and the plenty of them, as they often are in Scripture, by wine, and milk, and honey; such as the means of grace, the word and ordinances, the blessings of grace dispensed and communicated through them; spiritual peace and joy, called the rivers of pleasure; the love of God, and the streams of it, which make glad his people; yea, eternal glory and happiness, signified by new wine in the kingdom of God, and by a river of water of life, and a tree of life by it, see Isaiah 55:1; which are what carnal men and hypocrites shall never see or enjoy; and whereas Zophar took Job to be such a man, he may have a principal view to him, and object this to the beatific vision of God, and the enjoyment of eternal happiness he promised himself,

Job 19:26. Bar Tzemach observes, that these words are to be read by a transposition thus, "he shall not see rivers [of water], floods of honey, and brooks of butter".

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He shall not see the rivers - That is, he shall not be permitted to enjoy plenty and prosperity. Rivers or rills of honey and butter are emblems of prosperity; compare Exodus 3:17; Job 29:6. A land flowing with milk, honey, and butter, is, in the Scripture, the highest image of prosperity and happiness. The word rendered “rivers” (פלגה p^elaggâh), means rather “rivulets small streams - or brooks,” such as were made by “dividing” a large stream (from פלג pâlag, to “cleave, divide”), and would properly be applied to canals made by separating a large stream, or dividing it into numerous watercourses for the purpose of irrigating lands. The word rendered “floods,” and in the margin, “streaming brooks” (נחלי נהרי nâhârēy nachalēy), means “the rivers of the valley,” or such as flow through a valley when it is swelled by the melting of snow, or by torrents of rain.

A flood, a rapid, swollen, full stream, would express the idea. These were ideas of beauty and fertility among the Orientals; and where butter and honey were represented as flowing in this manner in a land, it was the highest conception of plenty. The word rendered “honey” (דבשׁ d^ebash) may, and commonly does, mean “honey;” but it also means the juice of the grape, boiled down to about the consistency of molasses, and used as an article of food. The Arabs make much use of this kind of food now, and in Syria, nearly two-thirds of the grapes are employed in preparing this article of food. It is called by the Arabs “Dibs,” which is the same as the Hebrew word used here. May not the word mean this in some of the places where it is rendered “honey” in the Scriptures? The word rendered “butter” (חמאה chem'âh) probably means, usually, “curdled milk.” See the notes at Isaiah 7:15. It is not certain that the word is ever used in the Old Testament to denote “butter.” The article which is used still by the Arabs is chiefly curdled milk, and probably this is referred to here. It will illustrate this passage to remark, that the inhabitants of Arabia, and of those who live in similar countries, have no idea of “butter,” as it exists among us, in a solid state. What they call “butter,” is in a fluid state, and is hence compared with flowing streams. An abundance of these articles was regarded as a high proof of prosperity, as they constitute a considerable part of the diet of Orientals. The same image, to denote plenty, is often used by the sacred writers, and by Classical poets; see Isaiah 7:22 :

And it shall come to pass in that day

That a man shall keep alive a young cow and two sheep,

And it shall be that from the plenty of milk which they shall give,

He shall eat butter

For butter and honey shall every one eat,

Who is left alone in the midst of the land.

See also in Joel 3:18 :

And it shall come to pass in that day,

The mountains shall drop down new wine,

And the hills shall flow with milk,

And all the rivers of Judah shall flow with water.

Thus, also Ovid, Metam. iii.

Flumina jam lactis, jam flumina nectaris ibant.

Compare Horace Epod. xvi. 41.

Mella cava manant ex ilice; montibus altis

Levis crepante lympha desilit pede.

From oaks pure honey flows, from lofty hills

Bound in light dance the murmuring rills.

Boscawen.

See also Euripides, Bacch. 142; and Theoc. Idyll. 5,124. Compare Rosenmuller’s Alte u. neue Morgenland on Exodus 3:8, No. 194.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 20:17. He shall not see the rivers — Mr. Good has the following judicious note on this passage: "Honey and butter are the common results of a rich, well-watered pasturage, offering a perpetual banquet of grass to kine, and of nectar to bees; and thus loading the possessor with the most luscious luxuries of pastoral life, peculiarly so before the discovery of the means of obtaining sugar. The expression appears to have been proverbial; and is certainly used here to denote a very high degree of temporal prosperity." See also Job 29:6. To the Hebrews such expressions were quite familiar. See Exodus 3:8; Exodus 13:5; Exodus 33:3; 2 Kings 18:32; Deuteronomy 31:20, and elsewhere.

The Greek and Roman writers abound in such images.

Milk and honey were such delicacies with the ancients, that Pindar compares his song to them for its smoothness and sweetness: -

Χαιρε

Φιλος. Εγω τοδε τοι

Πεμπω μεμιγμενον μελι λευκῳ

Συν γαλακτι· κιρναμενα δ' εερς' αμφεπει πομ' αοιδιμον, Αιολισιν εν πνοαισιν αυλων.

PIND. Nem. iii., ver. 133.

"Hail, friend! to thee I tune my song;

For thee its mingled sweets prepare;

Mellifluous accents pour along;

Verse, pure as milk, to thee I bear;

On all thy actions falls the dew of praise;

Pierian draughts thy thirst of fame assuage,

And breathing flutes thy songs of triumph raise."

J. B. C.

Qui te, Pollio, amat, veniat, quo te quoque gaudet;

Mella fluant illi, ferat et rubus asper amomum.

VIRG. Ecl. iii., ver. 88.

"Who Pollio loves, and who his muse admires;

Let Pollio's fortune crown his full desires

Let myrrh, instead of thorn, his fences fill;

And showers of honey from his oaks distil!"

DRYDEN.

OVID, describing the golden age, employs the same image: -

Flumina jam lactis, jam flumina nectaris ibant;

Flavaque de viridi stillabant ilice mella.

Metam. lib. i., ver. 3.

"Floods were with milk, and floods with nectar, fill'd;

And honey from the sweating oak distill'd."

DRYDEN.

HORACE employs a similar image in nearly the same words: -

Mella cava manant ex ilice, montibus altis;

Levis crepante lympha desilit pede.

Epod. xvi., ver. 46.

"From hollow oaks, where honey'd streams distil,

And bounds with noisy foot the pebbled rill."

FRANCIS.

Job employs the same metaphor, Job 29:6: -

When I washed my steps with butter,

And the rock poured out to me rivers of oil.

Isaiah, also, Isaiah 7:22, uses the same when describing the produce of a heifer and two ewes: -

From the plenty of milk that they shall produce,

He shall eat butter: butter and honey shall he eat,

Whosoever is left in the midst of the land.

And Joel, Joel 3:18: -

And it shall come to pass in that day,

The mountains shall drop down new wine,

And the hills shall flow with milk;

And all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters.

These expressions denote fertility and abundance; and are often employed to point out the excellence of the promised land, which is frequently denominated a land flowing with milk and honey: and even the superior blessings of the Gospel are thus characterized,Isaiah 51:1.