Job 20:17

_HE SHALL NOT SEE THE RIVERS, THE FLOODS, THE BROOKS OF HONEY AND BUTTER._ The wicked is not allowed to have the enjoyment of the overflowing abundance of goods which he has accumulated. FLOODS - literally, streams of floods; plentiful streams flowing with milk, etc. (Job 29:6; Exodus 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....

10-22 The miserable condition of the wicked man in this world is fully set forth. The lusts of the flesh are here called the sins of his youth. His hiding it and keeping it under his tongue, denotes concealment of his beloved lust, and delight therein. But He who knows what is in the heart, knows what is under the tongue, and will discover it. The love of the world, and of the wealth of it, also is wickedness, and man sets his heart upon these. Also violence and injustice, these sins bring God's judgments upon nations and families. Observe the punishment of the wicked man for these things. Sin is turned into gall, than which nothing is more bitter; it will prove to him poison; so will all unlawful gains be. In his fulness he shall be in straits, through the anxieties of his own mind. To be led by the sanctifying grace of God to restore what was unjustly gotten, as Zaccheus was, is a gre...

Verse Job 20:17. _HE SHALL NOT SEE THE RIVERS_] Mr. _Good_ has the following judicious note on this passage: "Honey and butter are the common results of a rich, well-watered pasturage, offering a perpetual banquet of grass to kine, and of nectar to bees; and thus loading the possessor with the most luscious luxuries of pastoral life, peculiarly so before the discovery of the means of obtaining _sugar_. The expression appears to have been proverbial; and is certainly used here to denote a very high degree of temporal prosperity." See also Job 29:6. To the Hebrews such expressions were quite familiar. See Exodus 3:8; Exodus 13:5;...

HE SHALL NOT SEE THE RIVERS - That is, he shall not be permitted to enjoy plenty and prosperity. Rivers or rills of honey and butter are emblems of prosperity; compare Exodus 3:17; Job 29:6. A land flowing with milk, honey, and butter, is, in the Scripture, the highest image of prosperity and happiness. The word rendered “rivers” (פלגה _p__e__laggâh_), means rather “rivulets small streams - or brooks,” such as were made by “dividing” a large stream (from פלג _pâlag_, to “cleave, divide”), and would properly be applied to canals made by separating a large stream, or dividing it into numerous watercourses for the purpose of irrigating lands. The word rendered “floods,” and in the margin, “streaming broo

EXPOSITION JOB 20:1 Zophar's second speech is even more harsh than his first (Job 11:1.). He adds coarseness and rudeness to his former vehement hostility (Job 20:7, Job 20:15). His whole discourse is a covert denunciation of Job as a wicked man and a hypocrite (verses 5, 12, 19, 29), deservedly punished by God for a life of crime. He ends by prophesying Job's violent death, the destruction of his house, and the rising up of heaven and earth in witness against him (verses 24-28). JOB 20:1,...

HE SHALL NOT SEE THE RIVERS,.... Of water, or meet with any to assuage his thirst, which poison excites, and so makes a man wish for water, and desire large quantities; but this shall not be granted the wicked man; this might be illustrated in the case of the rich man in hell, who desired a drop of cold water to cool his tongue, but could not have it, Luke 16:24; though rather plenty of good things is here intended, see Isaiah 48:18; as also the following expressions: THE FLOODS, THE BROOKS OF HONEY AND BUTTER; or "cream"; which are hyperbolical expressions, denoting the great profusion and abundance of temporal blessings, which either the covetous rich man was ambitious of obtaining, and hoped to enjoy, seeking and promising great things to himself, which yet he should never attain unto; or

CHAPTER 20 THE SECOND ADDRESS OF ZOPHAR _ 1. Zophar's swift reply (Job 20:1)_ 2. Another description of the life and fate of the wicked (Job 20:4) Job 20:1. Zophar, the twitterer, begins his reply to Job with impatient haste. Job's words, probably those found in chapter 19:2-3, and the last two verses, have made him angry. He boils over with indignation. He is ready now to confirm the testimony already given and wound the suffering servant of God still more. Job 20:4. He follows the same path and there is again nothing new in his argument. The description of the wicked is great; no fault can be found with what he says about those who

JOB 20. SECOND SPEECH OF ZOPHAR. Zophar helps the return to the wider problem by appearing once more with a strong doctrine as to the shortness of the prosperity of the wicked. His theme is, Sin brings its own reward. JOB 20:1. Zophar replies to Job's exasperating words (Job 19:1). In Job 20:2 b _mg._ is probably to be followed. In Job 20:3 b Duhm, on the basis of LXX, reads, and with wind void of understanding thou answerest me. JOB 20:4. The portion of the wicked. How short is his joy, how utter his destruction! In...

RIVERS. divisions of water for irrigation, as in. garden. Hebrew. _palgey mayim._ See notes on Proverbs 21:1, and Psalms 1:3. FLOODS. rivers. Hebrew. _nahar,_ ever flowing. BROOKS. wadys. Hebrew. _nahal,_ summer streams....

His sin changes into his punishment....