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Text -- Job 20:1-4 (NET)

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Context
Zophar’s Second Speech
20:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered: 20:2 “This is why my troubled thoughts bring me back– because of my feelings within me. 20:3 When I hear a reproof that dishonors me, then my understanding prompts me to answer. 20:4 “Surely you know that it has been from old, ever since humankind was placed on the earth,
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics

Names, People and Places:
 · Naamathite a resident of the town of Naamah
 · Zophar a Naamathite man who was a friend of Job


Dictionary Themes and Topics: Zophar | Worldliness | Uncharitableness | REASON; REASONABLE; REASONING | Naamathite | Job | Hypocrisy | HASTE | Death | CHECK | ADAM IN THE OLD TESTAMENT | more
Table of Contents

Word/Phrase Notes
Wesley , JFB , Clarke , TSK

Word/Phrase Notes
Barnes , Poole , Haydock , Gill

Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes , Geneva Bible

Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis , MHCC , Matthew Henry , Keil-Delitzsch , Constable

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Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Job 20:2 - -- For this thy severe sentence.

For this thy severe sentence.

Wesley: Job 20:2 - -- I speak sooner than I intended. And possibly interrupted Job, when he was proceeding in his discourse.

I speak sooner than I intended. And possibly interrupted Job, when he was proceeding in his discourse.

Wesley: Job 20:3 - -- Thy opprobrious reproofs of us.

Thy opprobrious reproofs of us.

Wesley: Job 20:3 - -- I speak, not from passion, but certain knowledge.

I speak, not from passion, but certain knowledge.

Wesley: Job 20:4 - -- Which I am now about to say.

Which I am now about to say.

Wesley: Job 20:4 - -- Since the world was made.

Since the world was made.

JFB: Job 20:2 - -- 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, "Notwit...

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].

JFB: Job 20:3 - -- That is, the castigation intended as a reproach (literally, "shame") to me.

That is, the castigation intended as a reproach (literally, "shame") to me.

JFB: Job 20:3 - -- 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.

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.

Clarke: Job 20:2 - -- Therefore do my thoughts - It has already been observed that Zophar was the most inveterate of all Job’ s enemies, for we really must cease to ...

Therefore do my thoughts - It has already been observed that Zophar was the most inveterate of all Job’ s enemies, for we really must cease to call them friends. He sets no bounds to his invective, and outrages every rule of charity. A man of such a bitter spirit must have been, in general, very unhappy. With him Job is, by insinuation, every thing that is base, vile, and hypocritical. Mr. Good translates this verse thus: "Whither would my tumult transport me? And how far my agitation within me?"This is all the modesty that appears in Zophar’ s discourse. He acknowledges that he is pressed by the impetuosity of his spirit to reply to Job’ s self-vindication. The original is variously translated, but the sense is as above

Clarke: Job 20:2 - -- For this I make haste - ובעבור חושי בי ubaabur chushi bi , there is sensibility in me, and my feelings provoke me to reply.

For this I make haste - ובעבור חושי בי ubaabur chushi bi , there is sensibility in me, and my feelings provoke me to reply.

Clarke: Job 20:3 - -- I have heard the check of my reproach - Some suppose that Zophar quotes the words of Job, and that some words should be supplied to indicate this me...

I have heard the check of my reproach - Some suppose that Zophar quotes the words of Job, and that some words should be supplied to indicate this meaning; e.g., "I have heard (sayest thou) the check or charge of my reproach?"Or it may refer to what Job says of Zophar and his companions, Job 19:2, Job 19:3 : How long will ye vex may soul - these ten times have ye reproached me. Zophar therefore assumes his old ground, and retracts nothing of what he had said. Like many of his own complexion in the present day, he was determined to believe that his judgment was infallible, and that he could not err.

Clarke: Job 20:4 - -- Knowest thou not this of old - This is a maxim as ancient as the world; it began with the first man: A wicked man shall triumph but a short time; Go...

Knowest thou not this of old - This is a maxim as ancient as the world; it began with the first man: A wicked man shall triumph but a short time; God will destroy the proud doer

Clarke: Job 20:4 - -- Since man was placed upon earth - Literally, since Adam was placed on the earth; that is, since the fall, wickedness and hypocrisy have existed; but...

Since man was placed upon earth - Literally, since Adam was placed on the earth; that is, since the fall, wickedness and hypocrisy have existed; but they have never triumphed long. Thou hast lately been expressing confidence in reference to a general judgment; but such is thy character, that thou hast little reason to anticipate with any joy the decisions of that day.

TSK: Job 20:1 - -- Zophar : Job 2:11, Job 11:1, Job 42:9

TSK: Job 20:2 - -- my thoughts : Job 20:3, Job 4:2, Job 13:19, Job 32:13-20; Psa 39:2, Psa 39:3; Jer 20:9; Rom 10:2 and for : Psa 31:22, Psa 116:11; Pro 14:29, Pro 29:20...

my thoughts : Job 20:3, Job 4:2, Job 13:19, Job 32:13-20; Psa 39:2, Psa 39:3; Jer 20:9; Rom 10:2

and for : Psa 31:22, Psa 116:11; Pro 14:29, Pro 29:20; Ecc 7:9; Mar 6:25; Jam 1:19

I make haste : Heb. my haste is in me

TSK: Job 20:3 - -- the check : Job 19:29 the spirit : Job 20:2, Job 27:11, Job 33:3; Psa 49:3, Psa 78:2-5

the check : Job 19:29

the spirit : Job 20:2, Job 27:11, Job 33:3; Psa 49:3, Psa 78:2-5

TSK: Job 20:4 - -- thou not : Job 8:8, Job 8:9, Job 15:10, Job 32:7 man : Gen 1:28, Gen 9:1-3; Psa 115:16

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Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Job 20:2 - -- Therefore - לכן lākên , "certainly, truly."In view of what has been just said. Or perhaps the word means merely certainly, truly. ...

Therefore - לכן lākên , "certainly, truly."In view of what has been just said. Or perhaps the word means merely certainly, truly.

Do my thoughts cause me to answer - This is variously rendered. The Vulgate renders it, Idcirco cogitationes meae variae succedunt sibi, et mens in diversa rapitur - "Therefore my various thoughts follow in succession, and the mind is distracted."The Septuagint, "I did not suppose that thou wouldst speak against these things, and you do not understand more than I."How this was ever made from the Hebrew it is impossible to say. On the word "thoughts,"see the notes at Job 4:13. The word denotes thoughts which divide and distract the mind; not calm and collected reflections, but those which disturb, disconcert, and trouble. He acknowledges that it was not calm reflection which induced him to reply, but the agitating emotions produced by the speech of Job. The word rendered "cause me to answer"( ישׁיבוּני ye shı̂ybûnı̂y ), "cause me to return"- and Jerome understood it as meaning that his thoughts returned upon him in quick and troublesome succession, and says in his Commentary on Job, that the meaning is, "I am troubled and agitated because you say that you sustain these evils from God without cause, when nothing evil ought to be suspected of God."

And for this I make haste - Margin, "my haste is in me."The meaning is, "the impetuosity of my feelings urges me on. I reply on account of the agitation of my soul, which will admit of no delay."His heart was full, and he hastened to give vent to his feelings in impassioned and earnest language.

Barnes: Job 20:3 - -- I have heard the check of my reproach - I have heard your violent and severe language reproaching us. Probably he refers to what Job had said i...

I have heard the check of my reproach - I have heard your violent and severe language reproaching us. Probably he refers to what Job had said in the close of his speech Job 19:29, that they had occasion to dread the wrath of God, and that they might anticipate heavy judgments as the result of their opinions. Or it may be, as Schultens supposes, that he refers to what Job said in Job 19:2, and the rebuke that he had administered there. Or possibly, and still more probably, I think, he may refer to what Job had said in reply to the former speech of Zophar Job 12:2, where he tauntingly says that "they were the people, and that wisdom would die with them."The Hebrew literally is, "the correction of my shame"( כלמה מוּסר mûsâr ke lı̂mmâh ), "the correction of my shame."that is, the castigation or rebuke which tends to cover me with ignominy. The sense is, "you have accused me of that which is ignominious and shameful, and under the impetuous feelings caused by such a charge I cannot refrain from replying."

And the spirit of my understanding - Meaning, perhaps, "the emotion of his mind."The word "mind"or "soul"would better express the idea than the word "understanding;"and the word "spirit"here seems to be used in the sense of violent or agitating emotions - perhaps in allusion to the primary signification of the word ( רוּח rûach ), "mind."

Barnes: Job 20:4 - -- Knowest thou not this of old - That is, dost thou not know that this has always happened from the beginning of the world, or that this is the i...

Knowest thou not this of old - That is, dost thou not know that this has always happened from the beginning of the world, or that this is the invariable course of events. His purpose is to show that it was the settled arrangement of Providence that the wicked would be overtaken with signal calamity. It was "so"settled that Job ought not to be surprised that it had occurred in "his"case. Zophar goes on to show that though a wicked man might rise high in honor, and obtain great wealth, yet that the fall would certainly come, and he would sink to a depth of degradation corresponding to the former prosperity.

Since man was placed upon earth - Since the creation; that is, it has always been so.

Poole: Job 20:2 - -- Therefore for this thy severe sentence and denunciation of God’ s judgments against us, Job 19:29 , which much more justly belongs to thyself an...

Therefore for this thy severe sentence and denunciation of God’ s judgments against us, Job 19:29 , which much more justly belongs to thyself and is actually executed upon thee; and because of thy reproaches, as it followeth, Job 20:3 .

My thoughts cause me to answer: I thought to have troubled myself and thee with no further discourses, considering how exceptious and incorrigible thou art; but my thoughts or consideration of thy reproachful words force me to break silence, and to answer thee as the matter requires.

For this I make haste I speak sooner than I intended, because I am not able to contain myself longer, and fear lest I should forget what is in my mind. Possibly he interrupted Job when he was proceeding further in his discourse; or he prevented some of his brethren who made an offer to speak.

Poole: Job 20:3 - -- I have heard from thy mouth. Or, Shall I hear , to wit, with patience, and without a reply? Who can endure it? The check of my reproach i.e. thy s...

I have heard from thy mouth. Or, Shall I hear , to wit, with patience, and without a reply? Who can endure it?

The check of my reproach i.e. thy shameful and opprobrious reproofs of us, as if we and all thy friends were void of all humanity and natural affection towards them, and were haters, and cruel persecutors, and even devourers, of thee, Job 19:19,22 ; and as if we were guilty of most heinous crimes, and might expect God’ s vengeance upon us.

The spirit i.e. my soul or mind.

Of my understanding or, because of (for so the Hebrew mem oft signifies)

my understanding i.e. out of, or because of, that certain knowledge which I have of this matter from study and experience; I have not spoken, and I shall not speak, out of ignorance, or prejudice, or passion and rage against Job, as he asperseth us, but only what I evidently know, and yet hope that I can and shall convince thee of.

Causeth me to answer i.e. forceth me to speak. Or, answereth for me , i.e. either vindicates me against thy calumnies, or suggesteth an answer to me.

Poole: Job 20:4 - -- i.e. This which I am now about to say. How canst thou, thou I say, who pretendest to such an exact and universal knowledge of men and things, be...

i.e. This which I am now about to say. How canst thou,

thou I say, who pretendest to such an exact and universal knowledge of men and things, be ignorant of so notorious a thing, which wicked men sensibly feel, and good men diligently observe, and all men are forced to acknowledge, one time or other?

Of old i.e. from the experience of all former ages.

Since man was placed upon earth i.e. since the world was made, and there were any men to observe God’ s government of it.

Haydock: Job 20:1 - -- Doings. Literally, "words." Hebrew, "of his decree." (Haydock) --- This is what he may expect for him impiety both in words and actions. (Calmet...

Doings. Literally, "words." Hebrew, "of his decree." (Haydock) ---

This is what he may expect for him impiety both in words and actions. (Calmet)

Haydock: Job 20:2 - -- Therefore. From this concession which thou hast just made. (Menochius) --- Various. Hebrew, "Hence do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for t...

Therefore. From this concession which thou hast just made. (Menochius) ---

Various. Hebrew, "Hence do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I hasten." Septuagint, "I did not thus suspect that thou wouldst contradict these things," &c. (Haydock) ---

Sophar only speaks this second time; and he produces little new, but begins with an air of more moderation, as if the arguments of Job had made some impression upon him. (Calmet) ---

He attempts to prove that the wicked have no comfort long; which is true in one sense, as all time is short, though they may prosper all their lives, as Job corrects his observation, chap. xxi. 13. (Worthington)

Haydock: Job 20:4 - -- I know. Hebrew and Septuagint, "dost thou not know?"

I know. Hebrew and Septuagint, "dost thou not know?"

Gill: Job 20:1 - -- Then answered Zophar the Naamathite,.... Notwithstanding the sad distressed condition Job was in, an account of which is given in the preceding chapte...

Then answered Zophar the Naamathite,.... Notwithstanding the sad distressed condition Job was in, an account of which is given in the preceding chapter, enough to pierce a heart of stone, notwithstanding his earnest request to his friends to have pity on him, and notwithstanding the noble confession of his faith he had made, which showed him to be a good man, and the excellent advice he gave his friends to cease persecuting him, for their own good, as well as for his peace; yet, regardless of these things, Zophar starts up and makes a reply, and attacks him with as much heat and passion, wrath and anger, as ever, harping upon the same string, and still representing Job as a wicked man and an hypocrite;

and said, as follows.

Gill: Job 20:2 - -- Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer,.... Or "to return" a and appear upon the stage again, and enter the lists once more with his antagonist; ...

Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer,.... Or "to return" a and appear upon the stage again, and enter the lists once more with his antagonist; he suggests as if he had intended to have said no more in this controversy, but observing what Job had said last, could not forbear replying: "therefore" because he had represented him and his friends as cruel persecutors of him, as men devoid of all humanity, pity, and compassion, and endeavoured to terrify them with the punishments of the sword, and the judgment of God to come; these occasioned many "thoughts" in him, and those thoughts obliged him to give an answer; they came in so thick and fast upon him, that out of the abundance, his heart suggested to him he could not but speak, he was full of matter, and the spirit within him, the impulse upon his mind, constrained him to make a reply; and he seems desirous of having it understood that his answer proceeded from thought; that he did not speak without thinking, but had well weighed things in his mind; and what he was about to say was the fruit of close thinking and mature deliberation:

and for this I make haste; because his thoughts crowded in upon him, he had a fulness of matter, an impulse of mind, promptitude and readiness to speak on this occasion, and for fear of losing what was suggested to him, he made haste to give in his answer, perhaps observing some other of his friends rising up before him. The Targum is,

"because my sense is in me;''

and so other Jewish writers b; be apprehended he had a right sense of things, and understood the matter in controversy full well, and therefore thought it incumbent on him to speak once more in it: Gussetius c renders it, "because of my disquietude"; the uneasiness of his mind raised by what Job had said, that he would have them know and consider there was a judgment; and he intimates he had considered it, and was fearful that should he be silent, and make no reply, God would condemn him in judgment for his silence; and therefore he was in a hurry to make answer, and could not be easy without it; and for his reasons for so doing he further explains himself in Job 20:3.

Gill: Job 20:3 - -- I have heard the check of my reproach,.... He took it that Job had reproached him and his friends, by representing them as hardhearted men, and persec...

I have heard the check of my reproach,.... He took it that Job had reproached him and his friends, by representing them as hardhearted men, and persecuting him wrongly in a violent manner; and he had observed the "check" or reproof given for it, by bidding them beware of the sword, and lest the punishment of it should be inflicted on them; and if that should not be the case, yet there was a righteous judgment they could not escape. Now Zophar heard this, but could not hear it with patience; be could not bear that he and his friends should be insulted, as he thought, in this manner; and therefore it was he was in such baste to return an answer; though some d think he here pretends to a divine oracle, like that which Eliphaz makes mention of in the beginning of this dispute, Job 4:12, &c. which he had from God, and from which he had heard the "correction of his reproach" e, or a full confutation of the thing Job had reproached him with; and being thus divinely furnished, he thought it his duty to deliver it:

and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer; or his rational spirit, his natural understanding, furnished him at once with an answer; he had such a clear insight into the controversy on foot, and such a full view of it, that he thought himself capable of speaking very particularly to the matter in hand, and to the conviction and confusion of Job; nay, his conscience, or the spirit of his conscience, as Mr. Broughton renders it, not only readily dictated to him what he should say, but obliged him to it; though some think he meant the Holy Spirit of God, by which he would be thought to be inspired; that he "out of his understanding" f, enlightened by him, caused him to answer, or would answer for him, or supply him with matter sufficient to qualify him for it; and this he might observe to Job, in order to raise his attention to what he was about to say.

Gill: Job 20:4 - -- Knowest thou not this of old,.... Or "from eternity" g, from the beginning of time, ever since the world was; as if he should say, if you are the kno...

Knowest thou not this of old,.... Or "from eternity" g, from the beginning of time, ever since the world was; as if he should say, if you are the knowing man you pretend to be, you must know this I am about to observe; and if you do not know it, you must be an ignorant man, since it is an ancient truth, confirmed by all experience from the creation; not that Job could know it so early, he was not the first man that was born, nor was he made before the hills, but was of yesterday, and comparatively knew nothing; but the sense is, that this about to be delivered was an old established maxim, of which there had been numerous instances,

since man, or "Adam",

was placed upon earth; referring to the putting of Adam in Eden to dress the garden, and keep it; and every man, ever since, is placed on earth by the ordination, and according to the will of God, where and for purposes he pleases: the instances Zophar might have in view are perhaps the expulsion of our first parents out of paradise, the vagabond state of Cain, the destruction of the old world by a flood, and of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire from heaven; which show that God, sooner or later, gives manifest tokens of his displeasure at sin and sinners, by his punishment of them for it. What he means is as follows.

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Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Job 20:1 Zophar breaks in with an impassioned argument about the brevity and prosperity of the life of the wicked. But every statement that he makes is complet...

NET Notes: Job 20:2 The word is normally taken from the root “to hasten,” and rendered “because of my haste within me.” But K&D 11:374 propose...

NET Notes: Job 20:3 To take this verb as a simple Qal and read it “answers me,” does not provide a clear idea. The form can just as easily be taken as a Hiphi...

NET Notes: Job 20:4 Heb “from the putting of man on earth.” The infinitive is the object of the preposition, which is here temporal. If “man” is t...

Geneva Bible: Job 20:3 I have heard ( a ) the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer. ( a ) He declares that two things moved him to ...

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Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Job 20:1-29 - --1 Zophar shews the state and portion of the wicked.

MHCC: Job 20:1-9 - --Zophar's discourse is upon the certain misery of the wicked. The triumph of the wicked and the joy of the hypocrite are fleeting. The pleasures and ga...

Matthew Henry: Job 20:1-9 - -- Here, I. Zophar begins very passionately, and seems to be in a great heat at what Job had said. Being resolved to condemn Job for a bad man, he was ...

Keil-Delitzsch: Job 20:1-5 - -- 1 Then began Zophar the Naamathite, and said: 2 Therefore do my thoughts furnish me with a reply, And indeed by reason of my feeling within me. 3...

Constable: Job 15:1--21:34 - --C. The Second Cycle of Speeches between Job and His Three Friends chs. 15-21 In the second cycle of spee...

Constable: Job 20:1-29 - --5. Zophar's second speech ch. 20 This speech must have hurt Job more than any that his friends h...

Constable: Job 20:1-3 - --Zophar's anger 20:1-3 "Therefore" (v. 2) must refer to what Job had said. Job had previo...

Constable: Job 20:4-11 - --The brief prosperity of the wicked 20:4-11 Zophar reminded Job that everyone knew the wi...

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Introduction / Outline

JFB: Job (Book Introduction) JOB A REAL PERSON.--It has been supposed by some that the book of Job is an allegory, not a real narrative, on account of the artificial character of ...

JFB: Job (Outline) THE HOLINESS OF JOB, HIS WEALTH, &c. (Job 1:1-5) SATAN, APPEARING BEFORE GOD, FALSELY ACCUSES JOB. (Job 1:6-12) SATAN FURTHER TEMPTS JOB. (Job 2:1-8)...

TSK: Job (Book Introduction) A large aquatic animal, perhaps the extinct dinosaur, plesiosaurus, the exact meaning is unknown. Some think this to be a crocodile but from the desc...

TSK: Job 20 (Chapter Introduction) Overview Job 20:1, Zophar shews the state and portion of the wicked.

Poole: Job 20 (Chapter Introduction) CHAPTER 20 Zophar’ s answer: the state and portion of the wicked, not withstanding for a time he may prosper and flourish.

MHCC: Job (Book Introduction) This book is so called from Job, whose prosperity, afflictions, and restoration, are here recorded. He lived soon after Abraham, or perhaps before tha...

MHCC: Job 20 (Chapter Introduction) (Job 20:1-9) Zophar speaks of the short joy of the wicked. (Job 20:10-22) The ruin of the wicked. (Job 20:23-29) The portion of the wicked.

Matthew Henry: Job (Book Introduction) An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Book of Job This book of Job stands by itself, is not connected with any other, and is therefore to...

Matthew Henry: Job 20 (Chapter Introduction) One would have thought that such an excellent confession of faith as Job made, in the close of the foregoing chapter, would satisfy his friends, or...

Constable: Job (Book Introduction) Introduction Title This book, like many others in the Old Testament, got its name from...

Constable: Job (Outline) Outline I. Prologue chs. 1-2 A. Job's character 1:1-5 B. Job's calamitie...

Constable: Job Job Bibliography Andersen, Francis I. Job. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries series. Leicester, Eng. and Downe...

Haydock: Job (Book Introduction) THE BOOK OF JOB. INTRODUCTION. This Book takes its name from the holy man, of whom it treats; who, according to the more probable opinion, was ...

Gill: Job (Book Introduction) INTRODUCTION TO JOB This book, in the Hebrew copies, generally goes by this name, from Job, who is however the subject, if not the writer of it. In...

Gill: Job 20 (Chapter Introduction) INTRODUCTION TO JOB 20 Zophar and his friends, not satisfied with Job's confession of faith, he in his turn replies, and in his preface gives his r...

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