Bible Study Job 20
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Job 20 · WEB

Zophar's Second Speech: The Triumph of the Wicked Is Short

Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.

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Then Zophar the Naamathite answered,
2"Therefore my thoughts give answer to me, even by reason of my haste that is in me.
3I have heard the reproof which is an insult to me. My understanding inspires me to answer.
4"Don't you know this from old time, since man was placed on earth,
5that the triumphing of the wicked is short and the joy of the godless but for a moment?
6Though his pride mount up to the sky and his head reach to the clouds,
7yet he shall perish forever like his own dung. Those who have seen him shall say, 'Where is he?'
8He shall fly away as a dream and shall not be found. Yes, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
9The eye which saw him shall see him no more. His place shall see him no more.
10His children shall seek the favor of the poor. His hands shall give back his wealth.
11"His bones are full of his youth, but it shall lie down with him in the dust.
12Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, though he hides it under his tongue,
13though he is loath to let it go and keeps it still within his mouth,
14yet his food in his bowels is turned. It is the venom of asps within him.
15He has swallowed down riches and he shall vomit them up again. God will cast them out of his belly.
16He shall suck the poison of asps. The viper's tongue shall kill him.
17He shall not look at the rivers, the flowing streams of honey and butter.
18That for which he labored he shall restore and shall not swallow it down. According to the substance he has gotten, he shall not rejoice.
19For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor. He has violently taken a house, and he shall not build it.
20"Surely he shall have no quiet in his belly. He shall not save anything of that in which he delights.
21There shall be nothing left for him to eat. Therefore his prosperity shall not endure.
22In the fullness of his sufficiency, he shall be in distress. Every hand of the wicked shall come on him.
23When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fierceness of his wrath on him and will rain it on him while he is eating.
24He shall flee from the iron weapon. The bronze arrow shall strike him through.
25He draws it out, and it comes out of his body. Yes, the glittering point comes out of his gallbladder. Terrors are on him.
26All darkness is laid up for his treasures. A fire not blown by man shall devour him. It shall consume that which is left in his tent.
27The heavens shall reveal his iniquity. The earth shall rise up against him.
28The increase of his house shall depart. They shall rush away in the day of his wrath.
29This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed to him by God."
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Summary

Zophar is stung by Job's words and responds with haste. He insists the triumph of the wicked is short: the wicked man rises high, then perishes like his own dung — a brutally graphic image. What sweetness he found in wickedness becomes poison in his belly; he vomits up his wealth. Heaven and earth conspire against him. The wealth stolen from the poor will be returned. Fire will consume his tent. Darkness is stored for him. This is the theology of swift divine justice — beautiful in its symmetry, deeply wrong as an explanation for Job's specific situation.

Themes

  • The impermanence of ill-gotten gain
  • The certainty of divine justice — in the friends' view, always swift
  • The gap between theological framework and pastoral reality

Key verses

  • Job 20:12-14 — “Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth... yet his food in his bowels is turned. It is the venom of asps within him.”
  • Job 20:29 — “This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed to him by God.”
  • Job 20:5 — “The triumphing of the wicked is short and the joy of the godless but for a moment.”

Context & background

Zophar's speech is arguably the most vivid of all the friends' addresses — his imagery of poison and vomit, of wealth disgorged, of heaven and earth conspiring against the wicked, is arresting. The speech contains real wisdom: ill-gotten gain is rarely sustainable, and the wicked often do eventually reap what they sow. But Zophar applies it as a verdict against an innocent man. The "rivers of honey and butter" (v. 17) are imagery of abundant blessing — the Promised Land's prosperity — which the wicked man will not enjoy. Chapter 21 will be Job's direct refutation of everything Zophar says here.

Cross-references

  • Luke 16:25 — "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things" — a reversal like Zophar describes
  • Psalm 37:9-10 — "Evildoers shall be cut off... a little while and the wicked will be no more" — the same expectation
  • Psalm 73:18-20 — "You set them in slippery places... they are destroyed in a moment" — confirms Zophar's principle...
  • Psalm 73:2-3 — "My feet almost slipped... I envied the arrogant" — but then immediately qualifies the principle
  • Revelation 18:11-17 — Babylon's wealth and destruction; Zophar's imagery fulfilled at an eschatological scale

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    What does Zophar say happens to the wicked man's enjoyment of his wealth (vv. 12-15)?

  2. Observe

    According to Zophar (vv. 26-28), what conspires against the wicked man?

  3. Interpret

    What makes Zophar's theology dangerous even though it contains partial truth?

  4. Interpret

    How does Job's own experience challenge Zophar's claim that the triumph of the wicked is "but for a moment"?

  5. Apply

    When you form strong theological convictions from observation, how should you test them?

  6. Apply

    How should you respond when someone pronounces a confident but wrong verdict on your situation?

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