Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Job 20:24

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Job 20:24. He shall flee from the iron weapon — Or, "Though he should flee from the iron armour, the brazen bow should strike him through." So that yf he fle the yron weapens, he shal be shott with the stele bow. - Coverdale. That is, he shall most certainly perish: all kinds of deaths await him.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Zophar speaks (20:1-29)

On hearing Job’s bold forecast of punishment on his accusers (see 19:28-29), Zophar can hardly control his temper. Not only does he feel insulted, but he is burning with inward rage (20:1-3). His hasty reply is intended to hurt Job by reminding him that the wicked person’s happiness and success are shortlived (4-7). The wealth he unjustly gained will not save him, and his early death will be a fitting punishment (8-11).
The wicked feed on sin, keeping it in their mouths as long as possible to enjoy its taste before swallowing it. But it will be like poison in their stomachs and will kill them (12-16). Their lives of luxury will end, and the money they gained through oppression will be lost (17-19). Because of their greed, God will punish them with poverty and misery (20-23). The sword of God’s anger will pierce them and the fire of God’s wrath will burn them up (24-26). Zophar triumphantly concludes that heaven and earth will unite to destroy those who fight against God (27-29).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

ZOPHAR'S PROPHECY OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION FOR JOB

"Because he knew no quietness within him, He shall not save aught of that wherein he delighteth. There was nothing left that he devoured not; Therefore his prosperity shall not endure. In the fullness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: The hand of everyone that is in misery shall come upon him. When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fierceness of his wrath upon him, And will rain it upon him while he is eating. He shall flee from the iron weapon, And the bow of brass shall strike him through. He draweth it forth, and it cometh out of his body; Yea, the glittering point cometh out of his gall: Terrors are upon him. All darkness is laid up for his treasures: Afire not blown by man shall devour him; It shall consume that which is left in his tent. The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, And the earth shall rise up against him. The increase of his house shall depart; His goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath. This is the portion of a wicked man from God, And the heritage appointed unto him by God."

"He draweth it forth" The reference is to an arrow, the projectile discharged by the bow. The picture is that of a fatal wound.

"The heavens shall reveal his iniquity" "This is a direct contradiction of the great hope expressed by Job in Job 19:25; and this serves here, in case there should have been any doubt in Job's mind, to identify Job as the `wicked man' Zophar is talking about throughout this chapter."Ibid., p. 477.

It is most significant that Zophar contradicted Job 19:25. That "great hope" as Kline called it, was far more than a "hope." It was a confident assurance expressed in the boldest and most dogmatic terms, "I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER L1VETH" Satan's anger and savage hatred at once appeared in Zophar's lying interruption.

Zophar's speech was satanic, oriented absolutely against all truth. "His speech contains no hint that the wicked might repent, make amends, and again be restored to God's favor."Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, op. cit., p. 197.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

He shall flee from the iron weapon - The sword, or the spear. That is, he shall be exposed to attacks, and shall flee in cowardice and alarm. Bands of robbers shall come suddenly upon him, and he shall have no safety except in flight. Pref. Lee explains this as meaning, “While he flees from the iron weapon, the brass bow shall pierre him through.” Probably the expression is proverbial, like that in Latin, Incidit in Scyllam cupiens vitare Charybdin.

The bow of steel shall strike him through - That is, the “arrow” from the bow of steel shall strike him down. Bows and arrows were commonly used in hunting and in war. To a considerable extent they are still employed in Persia, though the use has been somewhat superseded by the gun. “Bows” were made of various materials. The first were, undoubtedly, of wood. They were inlaid with horn, or ivory, or were made in part of metal. Sometimes, it would seem that the whole bow was made of metal, though it is supposed that the metal bow was not in general use. The “weight,” if nothing else, would be an objection to it. The word which is here rendered “steel” (נחוּשׁה n^echûshâh), means properly “brass or copper” - but it is certain that brass or copper could never have been used to form the main part of the bow, as they are destitute of the elasticity which is necessary. Jerome renders it, et irruet in arcum aereum - “he rushes on the brazen bow.” So the Septuagint, τόξον χάλκειον toxon chalkeion. So the Chaldee, דכוכומא קשתא - “the bow of brass.” There is no certain proof that “steel” was then known - though “iron” is often mentioned. It is possible, however, that though the whole bow was not made of brass or copper, yet that such quantities of these metals were employed in constructing bows, that they might, without impropriety, be called bows of brass. The Oriental bow consists of three parts. The handle, or middle part - that on which the arrow rested - was straight, and might be made of wood, brass, copper, or any other strong substance. To this was affixed, at each end, pieces of horn, or of any other elastic substance, and, the string was applied to the ends of these horns. The straight piece might have been of brass, and so without impropriety it might be called a brass bow. It is not properly rendered “steel” at any rate, as the word used here is never employed to denote iron or steel.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 20

So Zophar, the third of the speakers, gives his second discourse. And again, he was the guy that was dealing with traditions earlier, and with wisdom and all, so he said to Job,

Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste ( Job 20:2 ).

In others words, "I want to be quick to answer you on this."

I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer. Don't you know this of old, since man was placed on the earth, That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite is for a moment? ( Job 20:3-5 )

He won't get off, you know, the same tune. "Job you're wicked. Job you're a hypocrite."

Though his excellency mount up to heavens, and the head reach unto the clouds; Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: for they which have seen him shall say, Where is he? He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night. And the eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him. His children shall seek to please the poor, his hands shall restore their goods. His bones are full of the sins of his youth, and he shall lie down with him in the dust. Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, and though he hide it under his tongue; Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth: Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him. He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly. He shall suck the poison of asps: and the viper's tongue shall slay him. He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter. That which he labored for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down: according to his substance shall be the restitution, and he shall not rejoice therein. Because ( Job 20:6-19 )

And this is now, here is what Zophar is suggesting that Job's evil was.

Because he has oppressed and has forsaken the poor; because he has violently taken away a house that he did not build ( Job 20:19 ).

"You've repossessed a house, Job. And you've taken away and oppressed the poor people." These are suggestions of Job's wickedness.

Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired. There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods. In the fullness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him. When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while he is eating. He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through. It is drawn, and comes out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him. All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; and it shall go ill with him that is left of his tent. The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; the earth shall rise up against him. The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath. This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God ( Job 20:20-29 ).

These guys just keep coming on with Job, insisting that he is wicked, that he is a hypocrite. They have the one tune; they can't get off of it. "And all of your problems are because you are so sinful and so wicked."

Now, you say, "But why does the Lord labor this so much?" Because there are people that are still that stupid today. That if you get in trouble, they'll come around and say, "Well, brother, why don't you repent? You know, so you can be prosperous. Why don't you forsake your sin? Because surely if you are good, God is going to prosper you. And if you're evil, you're going to be cut off." But that is not so. Righteous people suffer. Evil people prosper. Righteous people prosper. Evil people suffer. We don't know. We don't know why righteous people oft times suffer. We don't know. It is wrong to assume things about a person because he's suffering. It's wrong to assume that a person doesn't have the faith, and thus he is sick. It is wrong to assume that if you just had enough faith, you would never be sick, because it just isn't so.

And God allows this point to be pressed over and over from several different directions, to show the folly of seeking with our human wisdom and understanding to try to find out the ways and the reasons and the why's of God. We don't know them. The question of the book of Job is: why do godly people suffer? The question is not really answered. But what we are brought to is the assurance and the understanding that God does rule over our lives. And thus, I don't have to understand the why, all I have to understand is the fact that God is in control, and I rest there. God controls the affairs of my life.

Shall we pray.

Father, help us that we will not be guilty of speaking deceitfully for You. Thinking that we understand more than we do, the causes, the reasons, the whys, the particular things that happen to certain people. Help us, Father, that we will be intercessors. And if a brother be overtaken in a fall, may we restore him in a spirit of weakness. If a brother is down, may we seek to lift him up. May we stretch out our hand of love and understanding to those who have fallen. Give us a heart like Yours, Lord, a heart of compassion for the oppressed and for the needy. In Jesus' name. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

5. Zophar’s second speech ch. 20

This speech must have hurt Job more than any that his friends had presented so far. Zophar was brutal in his attack. He continued the theme of the fate of the wicked that Eliphaz and Bildad had emphasized. However, whereas Eliphaz stressed the distress of the wicked and Bildad their trapped position, Zophar elaborated on the fact that wicked people lose their wealth. He had nothing new to say, but he said it passionately.

"Zophar is deeply disturbed by Job’s accusations that the friends are increasing his torment and that God is the source of his present affliction. But unfortunately he does not know how to comfort Job. Neither does he know how to address the issues Job has raised. After a brief rebuke of Job he delivers a long discourse on a single topic-the certain evil fate of every evildoer. He is indirectly rejecting Job’s assertion that God will appear as his Redeemer to vindicate him. He counters Job’s statement of confidence by saying that the heavens and the earth will stand as witnesses against the evildoer, even against Job. In his view Job’s hope is false, and it is deluding him." [Note: Hartley, p. 299.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

God’s swift judgment of the wicked 20:20-29

Zophar explained that while the wicked greedily fill their own bellies, God sends His anger into their bowels (Job 20:23). In other words, the poor health that accompanies overindulgence is God’s instrument of judgment on the wealthy wicked. If God does not punish him this way, he will still not escape, because God will catch him some other way (Job 20:24-25; cf. Job 16:13). After he died, God would burn up his possessions and family in judgment as He already had done in Job’s case (Job 20:26; cf. ch. 1). Rather than anticipating divine vindication on the earth, Job should expect God to reveal his iniquity and the earth to rise up against him (Job 20:27; cf. Job 16:18-19).

Was Zophar correct in his assessment of the wicked person’s fate? He was correct in saying that God judges sin, but he was wrong in claiming that God’s judgment always takes place during our earthly lifetime. He was also inaccurate in saying that Job was the type of person he described.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

He shall flee from the iron weapon,.... The sword, for fear of being thrust through with it; the flaming sword of justice God sometimes threatens to take, and whet, and make use of against ungodly men; the sword of God, as Bar Tzemach observes, is hereby figuratively expressed; fleeing from it, or an attempt to flee from it, shows guilt in the conscience, danger, and a sense of it, and a fear of falling into it, and yet there is no escaping the hand of God, or fleeing from his presence:

[and] the bow of steel shall strike him through; that is, an arrow out of a bow, made of steel or brass, of which bows were formerly made, and reckoned the strongest and most forcible, see Psalms 18:34; signifying, that if he should escape the dint of a weapon, a sword or spear used near at hand, yet, as he fled, he would be reached by one that strikes at a distance, an arrow shot from a bow; the sense is, that, if a wicked man escapes one judgment, another will be sure to follow him, and overtake him and destroy him, see Isaiah 24:17.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      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.   24 He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through.   25 It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him.   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.   27 The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.   28 The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.   29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.

      Zophar, having described the many embarrassments and vexations which commonly attend the wicked practices of oppressors and cruel men, here comes to show their utter ruin at last.

      I. Their ruin will take its rise from God's wrath and vengeance, Job 20:23; Job 20:23. The hand of the wicked was upon him (Job 20:22; Job 20:22), every hand of the wicked. His hand was against every one, and therefore every man's hand will be against him. Yet, in grappling with these, he might go near to make his part good; but his heart cannot endure, nor his hands be strong, when God shall deal with him (Ezekiel 22:14), when God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him and rain it upon him. Every word here speaks terror. It is not only the justice of God that is engaged against him, but his wrath, the deep resentment of provocations given to himself; it is the fury of his wrath, incensed to the highest degree; it is cast upon him with force and fierceness; it is rained upon him in abundance; it comes on his head like the fire and brimstone upon Sodom, to which the psalmist also refers, Psalms 11:6. On the wicked God shall rain fire and brimstone. There is no fence against this, but in Christ, who is the only covert from the storm and tempest, Isaiah 32:2. This wrath shall be cast upon him when he is about to fill his belly, just going to glut himself with what he has gotten and promising himself abundant satisfaction in it. Then, when he is eating, shall this tempest surprise him, when he is secure and easy, and in apprehension of no danger; as the ruin of the old world and Sodom came when they were in the depth of their security and the height of their sensuality, as Christ observes, Luke 17:26-31, c. Perhaps Zophar here reflects on the death of Job's children when they were eating and drinking.

      II. Their ruin will be inevitable, and there will be no possibility of escaping it (Job 20:24; Job 20:24): He shall flee from the iron weapon. Flight argues guilt. He will not humble himself under the judgments of God, nor seek means to make his peace with him. All his care is to escape the vengeance that pursues him, but in vain: if he escape the sword, yet the bow of steel shall strike him through. God has weapons of all sorts; he has both whet his sword and bent his bow (Psalms 7:12; Psalms 7:13); he can deal with his enemies cominus vel eminus--at hand or afar off. He has a sword for those that think to fight it out with him by their strength, and a bow for those that think to avoid him by their craft. See Isaiah 24:17; Isaiah 24:18; Jeremiah 48:43; Jeremiah 48:44. He that is marked for ruin, though he may escape one judgment, will find another ready for him.

      III. It will be a total terrible ruin. When the dart that has struck him through (for when God shoots he is sure to hit his mark, when he strikes he strikes home) comes to be drawn out of his body, when the glittering sword (the lightning, so the word is), the flaming sword, the sword that is bathed in heaven (Isaiah 34:5), comes out of his gall, O what terrors are upon him! How strong are the convulsions, how violent are the dying agonies! How terrible are the arrests of death to a wicked man!

      IV. Sometimes it is a ruin that comes upon him insensibly, Job 20:26; Job 20:26. 1. The darkness he is wrapped up in is a hidden darkness: it is all darkness, utter darkness, without the least mixture of light, and it is hid in his secret place, whither he has retreated and where he hopes to shelter himself; he never retires into his own conscience but he finds himself in the dark and utterly at a loss. 2. The fire he is consumed by is a fire not blown, kindled without noise, a consumption which every body sees the effect of, but nobody sees the cause of. It is plain that the gourd is withered, but the worm at the root, that causes it to wither, is out of sight. He is wasted by a soft gentle fire--surely, but very slowly. When the fuel is very combustible, the fire needs no blowing, and that is his case; he is ripe for ruin. The proud, and those that do wickedly, shall be stubble,Malachi 4:1. An unquenchable fire shall consume him (so some read it), and that is certainly true of hell-fire.

      V. It is a ruin, not only to himself, but to his family: It shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle, for the curse shall reach him, and he shall be cut off perhaps by the same grievous disease. There is an entail of wrath upon the family, which will destroy both his heirs and his inheritance, Job 20:28; Job 20:28. 1. His posterity will be rooted out: The increase of his house shall depart, shall either be cut off by untimely deaths or forced to run their country. Numerous and growing families, if wicked and vile, are soon reduced, dispersed, and extirpated, by the judgments of God. 2. His estate will be sunk. His goods shall flow away from his family as fast as ever they flowed into it, when the day of God's wrath comes, for which, all the while his estate was in the getting by fraud and oppression, he was treasuring up wrath.

      VI. It is a ruin which will manifestly appear to be just and righteous, and what he has brought upon himself by his own wickedness; for (Job 20:27; Job 20:27) the heaven shall reveal his iniquity, that is, the God of heaven, who sees all the secret wickedness of the wicked, will, by some means or other, let all the world know what a base man he has been, that they may own the justice of God in all that is brought upon him. The earth also shall rise up against him, both to discover his wickedness and to avenge it. The earth shall disclose her blood,Isaiah 26:21. The earth will rise up against him (as the stomach rises against that which is loathsome), and will no longer keep him. The heaven reveals his iniquity, and therefore will not receive him. Whither then must he go but to hell? If the God of heaven and earth be his enemy, neither heaven nor earth will show him any kindness, but all the hosts of both are and will be at war with him.

      VII. Zophar concludes like an orator (Job 20:29; Job 20:29): This is the portion of a wicked man from God; it is allotted him, it is designed him, as his portion. He will have it at last, as a child has his portion, and he will have it for a perpetuity; it is what he must abide by: This is the heritage of his decree from God; it is the settled rule of his judgment, and fair warning is given of it. O wicked man! thou shalt surely die,Ezekiel 33:8. Though impenitent sinners do not always fall under such temporal judgments as are here described (therein Zophar was mistaken), yet the wrath of God abides upon them, and they are made miserable by spiritual judgments, which are much worse, their consciences being either, on the one hand, a terror to them, and then they are in continual amazement, or, on the other hand, seared and silenced, and then they are given up to a reprobate sense and bound over to eternal ruin. Never was any doctrine better explained, or worse applied, than this by Zophar, who intended by all this to prove Job a hypocrite. Let us receive the good explication, and make a better application, for warning to ourselves to stand in awe and not to sin.