Job 20:20-29
Lexham English Bible
20 Because he has not known satisfaction in his stomach,
he lets nothing escape that he desires.[a]
21 There is nothing left after he has eaten;[b]
therefore his prosperity will not endure.
22 In the fullness of his excess he will be in distress;[c]
all of misery’s power will come upon him.
23 When his stomach fills up,[d] God will send his burning anger[e] upon him,
and he will let it rain down upon him[f] as his food.
24 “He will flee from an iron weapon,
but an arrow of bronze will pierce him.
25 He draws it forth, and it comes out from his body,
and the glittering point comes from his gall-bladder;
terrors come upon him.
26 Total darkness[g] is hidden for his treasures;[h]
an unfanned fire[i] will devour him;
the remnant[j] will be consumed[k] in his tent.
27 The heavens will reveal his guilt,
and the earth will rise up against him.
28 The products of his house will be carried away[l]
like gushing waters[m] on the day of his wrath.
29 This is a wicked human being’s portion from God
and the inheritance of his decree from God.”[n]
Footnotes
- Job 20:20 Literally “in his desire he does not let be saved”
- Job 20:21 Literally “There is not a remnant at his eating”
- Job 20:22 Literally “it will be in distress for him”
- Job 20:23 Literally “It will be to fill up his stomach”
- Job 20:23 Literally “the blaze of his nose/anger”
- Job 20:23 Or “them”
- Job 20:26 Literally “All darkness”
- Job 20:26 Or “His treasures are hidden by total darkness”
- Job 20:26 Literally “a fire not fanned”
- Job 20:26 Of his treasures
- Job 20:26 Literally “will be evil,” or “will be bad”
- Job 20:28 Or “the produce of his house will go away into exile”
- Job 20:28 Or “by gushing waters”
- Job 20:29 Or “and the inheritance decreed for him by God” (compare ESV, NJPS)
Job 20:20-29
New English Translation
20 For he knows no satisfaction in his appetite;[a]
he does not let anything he desires[b] escape.[c]
21 “Nothing is left for him to devour;[d]
that is why his prosperity does not last.[e]
22 In the fullness of his sufficiency,[f]
distress overtakes[g] him.
The full force of misery will come upon him.[h]
23 “While he is[i] filling his belly,
God[j] sends his burning anger[k] against him,
and rains down his blows upon him.[l]
24 If he flees from an iron weapon,
then an arrow[m] from a bronze bow pierces him.
25 When he pulls it out[n] and it comes out of his back,
the gleaming point[o] out of his liver,
terrors come over him.
26 Total darkness waits to receive his treasures;[p]
a fire that has not been kindled[q]
will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.
27 The heavens reveal his iniquity;
the earth rises up against him.
28 A flood will carry off his house,
rushing waters on the day of God’s wrath.
29 Such is the lot God allots the wicked,
and the heritage of his appointment[r] from God.”
Footnotes
- Job 20:20 tn Heb “belly,” which represents his cravings, his desires and appetites. The “satisfaction” is actually the word for “quiet; peace; calmness; ease.” He was driven by greedy desires, or he felt and displayed an insatiable greed.
- Job 20:20 tn The verb is the passive participle of the verb חָמַד (khamad) which is one of the words for “covet; desire.” This person is controlled by his desires; there is no escape. He is a slave.
- Job 20:20 tn The verb is difficult to translate in this line. It basically means “to cause to escape; to rescue.” Some translate this verb as “it is impossible to escape”; this may work, but is uncertain. Others translate the verb in the sense of saving something else: N. Sarna says, “Of his most cherished possessions he shall save nothing” (“The Interchange of the Preposition bet and min in Biblical Hebrew,” JBL 78 [1959]: 315-16). The RSV has “he will save nothing in which he delights”; NIV has “he cannot save himself by his treasure.”
- Job 20:21 tn Heb “for his eating,” which is frequently rendered “for his gluttony.” It refers, of course, to all the desires he has to take things from other people.
- Job 20:21 sn The point throughout is that insatiable greed and ruthless plundering to satisfy it will be recompensed with utter and complete loss.
- Job 20:22 tn The word שָׂפַק (safaq) occurs only here; it means “sufficiency; wealth; abundance (see D. W. Thomas, “The Text of Jesaia 2:6 and the Word שׂפק,” ZAW 75 [1963]: 88-90).
- Job 20:22 tn Heb “there is straightness for him.” The root צָרַר (tsarar) means “to be narrowed in straits, to be in a bind.” The word here would have the idea of pressure, stress, trouble. One could say he is in a bind.
- Job 20:22 tn Heb “every hand of trouble comes to him.” The pointing of עָמֵל (ʿamel) indicates it would refer to one who brings trouble; LXX and Latin read an abstract noun עָמָל (ʿamal, “trouble”) here.
- Job 20:23 tn D. J. A. Clines observes that to do justice to the three jussives in the verse, one would have to translate “May it be, to fill his belly to the full, that God should send…and rain” (Job [WBC], 477). The jussive form of the verb at the beginning of the verse could also simply introduce a protasis of a conditional clause (see GKC 323 §109.h, i). This would mean, “if he [God] is about to fill his [the wicked’s] belly to the full, he will send….” The NIV reads “when he has filled his belly.” These fit better, because the context is talking about the wicked in his evil pursuit being cut down.
- Job 20:23 tn “God” is understood as the subject of the judgment.
- Job 20:23 tn Heb “the anger of his wrath.”
- Job 20:23 tn Heb “rain down upon him, on his flesh.” Dhorme changes עָלֵימוֹ (ʿalemo, “upon him”) to “his arrows”; he translates the line as “he rains his arrows upon his flesh.” The word בִּלְחוּמוֹ (bilkhumo, “his flesh”) has been given a wide variety of translations: “as his food,” “on his flesh,” “upon him, his anger,” or “missiles or weapons of war.”
- Job 20:24 tn Heb “a bronze bow pierces him.” The words “an arrow from” are implied and are supplied in the translation; cf. “pulls it out” in the following verse.
- Job 20:25 tn The MT has “he draws out [or as a passive, “it is drawn out/forth”] and comes [or goes] out of his back.” For the first verb שָׁלַף (shalaf, “pull, draw”), many commentators follow the LXX and use שֶׁלַח (shelakh, “a spear”). It then reads “and a shaft comes out of his back, a sword flash comes out of his liver.” But the verse could also be a continuation of the preceding.
- Job 20:25 tn Possibly a reference to lightnings.
- Job 20:26 tn Heb “all darkness is hidden for his laid up things.” “All darkness” refers to the misfortunes and afflictions that await. The verb “hidden” means “is destined for.”
- Job 20:26 tn Heb “not blown upon,” i.e., not kindled by man. But G. R. Driver reads “unquenched” (“Hebrew notes on the ‘Wisdom of Jesus Ben Sirach’,” JBL 53 [1934]: 289).
- Job 20:29 tn For the word אִמְרוֹ (ʾimro) some propose reading “his appointment,” and the others, “his word.” Driver shows that “the heritage of his appointment” means “his appointed heritage” (see GKC 440 §135.n).
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