19 Because he has been cruel to the poor, turning away from them in their trouble; because he has taken a house by force which he did not put up;
Because the hand of the cruel is hard on them, men are making sounds of grief; they are crying out for help because of the arm of the strong.
He who is hard on the poor puts shame on his Maker; but he who has mercy on those who are in need gives him honour.
See, the money which you falsely kept back from the workers cutting the grass in your field, is crying out against you; and the cries of those who took in your grain have come to the ears of the Lord of armies.
For the man who has had no mercy will be judged without mercy, but mercy takes pride in overcoming judging.
The women of my people you have been driving away from their dearly loved children; from their young ones you are taking my glory for ever.
They have a desire for fields and take them by force; and for houses and take them away: they are cruel to a man and his family, even to a man and his heritage.
Give ear to this word, you cows of Bashan, who are in the hill of Samaria, by whom the poor are kept down, and those in need are crushed; who say to their lords, Get out the wine and give us drink. The Lord God has taken an oath by his holy name, that the days are coming when they will take you away with hooks, and the rest of you with fish-hooks. And you will go out through the broken places, every one going straight before her, and you will be sent into Harmon, says the Lord.
The people of the land have been acting cruelly, taking men's goods by force; they have been hard on the poor and those in need, and have done wrong to the man from a strange land.
In a man's crushing under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,
For the vine-garden of the Lord of armies is the people of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of his delight: and he was looking for upright judging, and there was blood; for righteousness, and there was a cry for help. Cursed are those who are joining house to house, and putting field to field, till there is no more living-space for any but themselves in all the land!
It is good generally for a country where the land is worked to have a king.
The fruit of your land and all the work of your hands will be food for a nation which is strange to you and to your fathers; you will only be crushed down and kept under for ever:
Because of the crushing of the poor and the weeping of those in need, now will I come to his help, says the Lord; I will give him the salvation which he is desiring.
To give decision for the child without a father and for the broken-hearted, so that the man of the earth may no longer be feared.
If I did wrong in the cause of my man-servant, or my woman-servant, when they went to law with me; What then will I do when God comes as my judge? and what answer may I give to his questions? Did not God make him as well as me? did he not give us life in our mothers' bodies? If I kept back the desire of the poor; if the widow's eye was looking for help to no purpose; If I kept my food for myself, and did not give some of it to the child with no father; (For I was cared for by God as by a father from my earliest days; he was my guide from the body of my mother;) If I saw one near to death for need of clothing, and that the poor had nothing covering him; If his back did not give me a blessing, and the wool of my sheep did not make him warm; If my hand had been lifted up against him who had done no wrong, when I saw that I was supported by the judges; May my arm be pulled from my body, and be broken from its base.
The landmarks are changed by evil men, they violently take away flocks, together with their keepers. They send away the ass of him who has no father, they take the widow's ox for debt. The crushed are turned out of the way; all the poor of the earth go into a secret place together. Like asses in the waste land they go out to their work, looking for food with care; from the waste land they get bread for their children. They get mixed grain from the field, and they take away the late fruit from the vines of those who have wealth. They take their rest at night without clothing, and have no cover in the cold. They are wet with the rain of the mountains, and get into the cracks of the rock for cover. The child without a father is forced from its mother's breast, and they take the young children of the poor for debt. Others go about without clothing, and though they have no food, they get in the grain from the fields. Between the lines of olive-trees they make oil; though they have no drink, they are crushing out the grapes. From the town come sounds of pain from those who are near death, and the soul of the wounded is crying out for help; but God does not take note of their prayer.
See, I am conscious of your thoughts, and of your violent purposes against me; For you say, Where is the house of the ruler, and where is the tent of the evil-doer?
In his tent will be seen that which is not his, burning stone is dropped on his house.
Here I am: give witness against me before the Lord and before the man on whom he has put the holy oil: whose ox or ass have I taken? to whom have I been untrue? who has been crushed down by me? from whose hand have I taken a price for the blinding of my eyes? I will give it all back to you. And they said, You have never been untrue to us or cruel to us; you have taken nothing from any man.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Job 20
Commentary on Job 20 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 20
SECOND SERIES.
Job 20:1-29. Reply of Zophar.
2. Therefore—Rather, the more excited I feel by Job's speech, the more for that very reason shall my reply be supplied by my calm consideration. Literally, "Notwithstanding; my calm thoughts (as in Job 4:13) shall furnish my answer, because of the excitement (haste) within me" [Umbreit].
3. check of my reproach—that is, the castigation intended as a reproach (literally, "shame") to me.
spirit of … understanding—my rational spirit; answering to "calm thoughts" (Job 20:2). In spite of thy reproach urging me to "hastiness." I will answer in calm reason.
5. the hypocrite—literally, "the ungodly" (Ps 37:35, 36).
6. (Isa 14:13; Ob 3, 4).
7. dung—in contrast to the haughtiness of the sinner (Job 20:6); this strong term expresses disgust and the lowest degradation (Ps 83:10; 1Ki 14:10).
8. (Ps 73:20).
9. Rather "the eye followeth him, but can discern him no more." A sharp-looking is meant (Job 28:7; Job 7:10).
10. seek to please—"Atone to the poor" (by restoring the property of which they had been robbed by the father) [De Wette]. Better than English Version, "The children" are reduced to the humiliating condition of "seeking the favor of those very poor," whom the father had oppressed. But Umbreit translates as Margin.
his hands—rather, "their (the children's) hands."
their goods—the goods of the poor. Righteous retribution! (Ex 20:5).
11. (Ps 25:7), so Vulgate. Gesenius has "full of youth"; namely, in the fulness of his youthful strength he shall be laid in the dust. But "bones" plainly alludes to Job's disease, probably to Job's own words (Job 19:20). Umbreit translates, "full of his secret sins," as in Ps 90:8; his secret guilt in his time of seeming righteousness, like secret poison, at last lays him in the dust. The English Version is best. Zophar alludes to Job's own words (Job 17:16).
with him—His sin had so pervaded his nature that it accompanies him to the grave: for eternity the sinner cannot get rid of it (Re 22:11).
12. be—"taste sweet." Sin's fascination is like poison sweet to the taste, but at last deadly to the vital organs (Pr 20:17; Job 9:17, 18).
hide … tongue—seek to prolong the enjoyment by keeping the sweet morsel long in the mouth (so Job 20:13).
14. turned—Hebrew denotes a total change into a disagreeable contrary (Jer 2:21; compare Re 10:9, 10).
gall—in which the poison of the asp was thought to lie. It rather is contained in a sack in the mouth. Scripture uses popular language, where no moral truth is thereby endangered.
15. He is forced to disgorge his ill-gotten wealth.
16. shall suck—It shall turn out that he has sucked the poison, &c.
17. floods—literally, "stream of floods," plentiful streams flowing with milk, &c. (Job 29:6; Ex 3:17). Honey and butter are more fluid in the East than with us and are poured out from jars. These "rivers" or water brooks are in the sultry East emblems of prosperity.
18. Image from food which is taken away from one before he can swallow it.
restitution—(So Pr 6:31). The parallelism favors the English Version rather than the translation of Gesenius, "As a possession to be restored in which he rejoices not."
he shall not rejoice—His enjoyment of his ill-gotten gains shall then be at an end (Job 20:5).
19. oppressed—whereas he ought to have espoused their cause (2Ch 16:10).
forsaken—left helpless.
house—thus leaving the poor without shelter (Isa 5:8; Mic 2:2).
20. Umbreit translates, "His inward parts know no rest" from desires.
his belly—that is, peace inwardly.
not save—literally, "not escape with that which," &c., alluding to Job's having been stripped of his all.
21. look for—rather, "because his goods," that is, prosperity shall have no endurance.
22. shall be—rather, "he is (feeleth) straitened." The next clause explains in what respect.
wicked—Rather, "the whole hand of the miserable (whom he had oppressed) cometh upon him"; namely, the sense of his having oppressed the poor, now in turn comes with all its power (hand) on him. This caused his "straitened" feeling even in prosperity.
23. Rather, "God shall cast (may God send) [Umbreit] upon him the fury of His wrath to fill his belly!"
while … eating—rather, "shall rain it upon him for his food!" Fiery rain, that is, lightning (Ps 11:6; alluding to Job's misfortune, Job 1:16). The force of the image is felt by picturing to one's self the opposite nature of a refreshing rain in the desert (Ex 16:4; Ps 68:9).
24. steel—rather, "brass." While the wicked flees from one danger, he falls into a greater one from an opposite quarter [Umbreit].
25. It is drawn—Rather, "He (God) draweth (the sword, Jos 5:13) and (no sooner has He done so, than) it cometh out of (that is, passes right through) the (sinner's) body" (De 32:41, 42; Eze 21:9, 10). The glittering sword is a happy image for lightning.
gall—that is, his life (Job 16:13). "Inflicts a deadly wound."
terrors—Zophar repeats Bildad's words (Job 17:11; Ps 88:16; 55:4).
26. All darkness—that is, every calamity that befalls the wicked shall be hid (in store for him) in His (God's) secret places, or treasures (Jude 13; De 32:34).
not blown—not kindled by man's hands, but by God's (Isa 30:33; the Septuagint in the Alexandrian Manuscript reads "unquenchable fire," Mt 3:12). Tact is shown by the friends in not expressly mentioning, but alluding under color of general cases, to Job's calamities; here (Job 1:16) Umbreit explains it, wickedness, is a "self-igniting fire"; in it lie the principles of destruction.
ill … tabernacle—Every trace of the sinner must be obliterated (Job 18:15).
27. All creation is at enmity with him, and proclaims his guilt, which he would fain conceal.
28. increase—prosperity. Ill got—ill gone.
flow away—like waters that run dry in summer; using Job's own metaphor against himself (Job 6:15-17; 2Sa 14:14; Mic 1:4).
his wrath—God's.
29. appointed—not as a matter of chance, but by the divine "decree" (Margin) and settled principle.