โยบ 20:22 วิจารณ์

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 at least mollify them; but they do not seem to have taken any notice of it, and therefore Zophar here takes his turn, enters the lists with Job, and attacks him with as much vehemence as before. I. His preface is short, but hot (Job 20:2, Job 20:3). II. His discourse is long, and all upon one subject, the very same that Bildad was large upon (ch. 18), the certain misery of wicked people and the ruin that awaits them. 1. He asserts, in general, that the prosperity of a wicked person is short, and his ruin sure (Job 20:4-9). 2. He proves the misery of his condition by many instances - that he should have a diseased body, a troubled conscience, a ruined estate, a beggared family, an infamous name and that he himself should perish under the weight of divine wrath: all this is most curiously described here in lofty expressions and lively similitudes; and it often proves true in this world, and always in another, without repentance (v. 10-29). But the great mistake was, and (as bishop Patrick expresses it) all the flaw in his discourse (which was common to him with the rest), that he imagined God never varied from this method, and therefore Job was, without doubt, a very bad man, though it did not appear that he was, any other way than by his infelicity.

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 reasons why he made any answer at all, and was so quick in it, Job 20:1; and appeals to Job for the truth of an old established maxim, that the prosperity of wicked men and hypocrites is very short lived, Job 20:4; and the short enjoyment of their happiness is described by several elegant figures and similes, Job 20:6; such a wicked man being obliged, in his lifetime, to restore his ill gotten goods, and at death to lie down with the sins of his youth, Job 20:10; his sin in getting riches, the disquietude of his mind in retaining them, and his being forced to make restitution, are very beautifully expressed by the simile of a sweet morsel kept in the mouth, and turned to the gall of asps in the bowels, and then vomited up, Job 20:12; the disappointment he shall have, the indigent and strait circumstances he shall be brought into, and the restitution he shall be obliged to make for the oppression of the poor, and the uneasiness he shall feel in his own breast, are set forth in a very strong light, Job 20:17; and it is suggested, that not only the hand of wicked men should be upon him, but the wrath of God also, which should seize on him suddenly and secretly, and would be inevitable, he not being able to make his escape from it, and which would issue in the utter destruction of him and his in this world, and that to come, Job 20:23. And the chapter is, concluded with this observation, that such as before described is the appointed portion and heritage of a wicked man from God, Job 20:29

In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits,.... For though he may not only have a sufficient competency to live upon, but even a fulness of temporal blessings, have as much as heart can wish, or more, even good things, and plenty of them laid up for many years; yet amidst it all shall be reduced to the utmost straits and difficulties, either through fear of losing what he has, insomuch that his abundance will not suffer him to sleep in the night, nor to enjoy an hour's pleasure in the day; or being so narrow spirited, notwithstanding his fulness, that he cannot allow himself to eat of the fruit of his labours, and rejoice therein; or fearing, notwithstanding all his plenty, that he shall come to want and poverty; or rather while he is in the most flourishing circumstances, and in the height of his prosperity, he is suddenly, as Nebuchadnezzar was, dispossessed of all, and reduced to the utmost extremity, Dan 4:31; the Targum is, "when his measure is filled, he shall take vengeance on him:'' every hand of the wicked shall come upon him: or of the labourer, as the Targum, the hire of whose labour he has detained, or has taken away from him that which he laboured for; and so Broughton, "the hand of the injured or grieved;'' such as he had been injurious to, and had grieved by his oppressions of them; or rather every troublesome wicked man, the hand of every thief or robber; respect seems to be had to the hand of the Sabeans and Chaldeans, that had been on Job and his substance.

Perhaps not even his goods will flourish, but they will become corrupted while still in bloom. In fact, if he appears to be full and abundant in all goods, then every need and affliction will assault him, so that he fills his belly, that is, fills his soul with every pain. “Let God send upon him the fury of wrath; let him bring a torrent of pains upon him.” God, by striking him with the most severe punishment, will bury him in pains as under a snowstorm.

As to the fact that he consumed superfluous things for his own uses he then adds another fitting punishment saying, "When he is satisfied he will be bloated." Here he uses the comparison of a man who eats too much and whose bowels become bloated because of an excess of food. By this he means the man who expends his superfluous goods for his own uses, or who acquired superfluous things for himself, will suffer a kind of bloating, unable to dispose correctly of all the things he acquired. This is clear in the Gospel of St. Luke concerning the rich man whose fields produced such abundant crops, and who wanted to tear down his barns to build larger ones. (12:18) Inordinate temperature and anxiety follow the bloating of the bowels, and so he then says, "and he will burn with desire." The same is true of those who inordinately amass many possessions for themselves and are afflicted with excessive anxiety. Finally, pain from too much food often comes to all the members of the body as a result of surplus food, and so he adds, "and every pain rushes against him." Likewise, many pains arise for those who have amassed surplus goods when they lose most of them.

Against wine and strong drink. We should avoid contentions. The sluggard. The righteous man. Weights and measures. Tale-bearers. The wicked son. The wise king. The glory of young men. The beauty of old men. The benefit of correction.

In the fullness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits - This is a fine saying, and few of the menders of Job's text have been able to improve the version. It is literally true of every great, rich, wicked man; he has no God, and anxieties and perplexities torment him, notwithstanding he has his portion in this life. Every hand of the wicked shall come upon him - All kinds of misery shall be his portion. Coverdale translates: Though he had plenteousnesse of every thinge, yet was he poore; and, therefore, he is but a wretch on every syde.

REPLY OF ZOPHAR. (Job 20:1-29) 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].

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.