Job 20:4-11
Christian Standard Bible
4 Don’t you know that ever since antiquity,
from the time a human was placed on earth,
5 the joy of the wicked has been brief
and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment?(A)
6 Though his arrogance reaches heaven,
and his head touches the clouds,(B)
7 he will vanish forever like his own dung.
Those who know[a] him will ask, “Where is he?” (C)
8 He will fly away like a dream and never be found;
he will be chased away like a vision in the night.(D)
9 The eye that saw him will see him no more,(E)
and his household will no longer see him.(F)
10 His children will beg from[b] the poor,
for his own hands must give back his wealth.
11 His frame may be full of youthful vigor,
but it will lie down with him in dust.(G)
Job 20:4-11
New English Translation
4 “Surely you know[a] that it has been from old,
ever since humankind was placed[b] on the earth,
5 that the elation of the wicked is brief,[c]
the joy of the godless[d] lasts but a moment.[e]
6 Even though his stature[f] reaches to the heavens
and his head touches the clouds,
7 he will perish forever, like his own excrement;[g]
those who used to see him will say, ‘Where is he?’
8 Like a dream he flies away, never again to be found,[h]
and like a vision of the night he is put to flight.
9 People[i] who had seen him will not see him again,
and the place where he was
will recognize him no longer.
10 His sons must recompense[j] the poor;
his own hands[k] must return his wealth.
11 His bones[l] were full of his youthful vigor,[m]
but that vigor will lie down with him in the dust.
Footnotes
- Job 20:4 tn The MT has “Do you not know?” The question can be interpreted as a rhetorical question affirming that Job must know this. The question serves to express the conviction that the contents are well-known to the audience (see GKC 474 §150.e).
- Job 20:4 tn Heb “from the putting of man on earth.” The infinitive is the object of the preposition, which is here temporal. If “man” is taken as the subjective genitive, then the verb would be given a passive translation. Here “man” is a generic, referring to “mankind” or “the human race.”
- Job 20:5 tn The expression in the text is “quite near.” This indicates that it is easily attained, and that its end is near.
- Job 20:5 tn For the discussion of חָנֵף (khanef, “godless”) see Job 8:13.
- Job 20:5 tn The phrase is “until a moment,” meaning it is short-lived. But see J. Barr, “Hebrew ʿad, especially at Job 1:18 and Neh 7:3, ” JSS 27 (1982): 177-88.
- Job 20:6 tn The word שִׂיא (siʾ) has been connected with the verb נָשָׂא (nasaʾ, “to lift up”), and so interpreted here as “pride.” The form is parallel to “head” in the next part, and so here it refers to his stature, the part that rises up and is crowned. But the verse does describe the pride of such a person, with his head in the heavens.
- Job 20:7 tn There have been attempts to change the word here to “like a whirlwind,” or something similar. But many argue that there is no reason to remove a coarse expression from Zophar.
- Job 20:8 tn Heb “and they do not find him.” The verb has no expressed subject, and so here is equivalent to a passive. The clause itself is taken adverbially in the sentence.
- Job 20:9 tn Heb “the eye that had seen him.” Here a part of the person (the eye, the instrument of vision) is put by metonymy for the entire person.
- Job 20:10 tn The early versions confused the root of this verb, taking it from רָצַץ (ratsats, “mistreat”) and not from רָצָה (ratsah, “be please with”). So it was taken to mean, “Let inferiors destroy his children.” But the verb is רָצָה (ratsah). This has been taken to mean “his sons will seek the favor of the poor.” This would mean that they would be reduced to poverty and need help from even the poor. Some commentators see this as another root רָצָה (ratsah) meaning “to compensate; to restore” wealth their father had gained by impoverishing others. This fits the parallelism well, but not the whole context that well.
- Job 20:10 tn Some commentators are surprised to see “his hands” here, thinking the passage talks about his death. Budde changed it to “his children,” by altering one letter. R. Gordis argued that “hand” can mean offspring, and so translated it that way without changing anything in the text (“A note on YAD,” JBL 62 [1943]: 343).
- Job 20:11 tn “Bones” is often used metonymically for the whole person, the bones being the framework, meaning everything inside, as well as the body itself.
- Job 20:11 sn This line means that he dies prematurely—at the height of his youthful vigor.
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