Job 11:20
in Job 11But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and escape will elude them; they will hope for their last breath.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, And they shall have no way to flee; And their hope shall be the giving up of the ghost.
KJV
But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.
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This verse in Job 11
Commentary
9 notes on this verseBut the eyes of the wicked shall fail and refuge shall perish from them, and their hope shall be the abomination of the soul. That by the designation of 'eyes' the energy of the intention is set forth to us, 'Truth' testifies in the Gospel, saying, If thine eye shall be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. Forasmuch as if a pure intention have preceded our action, howsoever it may seem otherwise to men, yet to the eyes of our interior Judge, the body of the deed that follows after is presented pure.
This site's exposition
the eyes of the wicked will fail
Zophar closes his first speech with a warning, "the eyes of the wicked will fail", the fate he leaves hanging over Job. The line "they will hope for their last breath" sets the death of the wicked against the brightness promised the repentant.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Because he had promised these rewards if Job be willing to depart from evil, he shows as a consequence that these rewards are not given to the evil man. So he continues, "The eyes of the wicked will be deficient," because they will not obtain …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Fail - Either with grief and tears for their sore calamities: or with long looking for what they shall never attain. Their hope - They shall never obtain deliverance out of their distresses, but shall perish in them. Ghost - Shall be as vain and desperate as the hope of life is in a man, when he is at the very point of death.
But the eyes of the wicked shall fail,....
Eliphaz began with a very modest preface, ch. iv. Bildad was a little more rough upon Job, ch. viii. But Zophar falls upon him without mercy, and gives him very bad language: Should a man full of talk be justified?
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The eyes of the wicked shall fail - They shall be continually looking out for help and deliverance; but their expectation shall be cut off. And they shall not escape - They shall receive the punishment due to their deserts; for God has his eye continually upon them. מנהם ומנוס אבד umanos abad minnehem, literally, “And escape perishes from them.” Flight from impending destruction is impossible. And their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost - ותקותם מפח נפש vethikratham mappach naphesh, “And their hope an exhalation of breath,” or a mere wish of the mind.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The wicked--that is, obdurate sinners. eyes . . . fail--that is, in vain look for relief (De 28:65). Zophar implies Job's only hope of relief is in a change of heart. they shall not escape--literally, "every refuge shall vanish from them." giving up of the ghost--Their hope shall leave them as the breath does the body (Pr 11:7).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
But the eyes of the wicked shall fail - That is, they shall be wearied out by anxiously looking for relief from their miseries. “Noyes.” Their expectation shall be vain, and they shall find no relief. Perhaps Zophar here means to apply this to Job, and to say to him that with his present views and character, his hope of relief would fail. His only hope of relief was in a change - in turning to God - since it was a settled maxim that the wicked would look for relief in vain. This assumption that he was a wicked man, must have been among the most trying things that Job had to endure. Indeed nothing could he more provoking than to have others take it for granted as a matter that did not admit of argument, that he was a hypocrite, and that God was dealing with him as an incorrigible sinner. And they shall not escape - Margin, “Flight shall perish from them.” The margin is a literal translation of the Hebrew. The sense is, escape for the wicked is out of the question. They must be arrested and punished. And their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost - literally, “the breathing out of the life or soul.” Their hope shall leave them as the breath or life does the body. It is like death. The expression does not mean that their hope would always expire at death, but that it would certainly expire as life leaves the body. The meaning is, that whatever hope a wicked man has of future happiness and salvation, must fail. The time must come when it will cease to comfort and support him. The hope of the pious man lives until it is lost in fruition in heaven. It attends him in health; supports him in sickness; is with him at home; accompanies him abroad; cheers him in solitude; is his companion in society; is with him as he goes down into the shades of adversity, and it brightens as he travels along the valley of the shadow of death. […]
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעֵינֵ֥י | veeinei | and [the] eyes of | H5869 → | 887 times |
| רְשָׁעִ֗ים | reshaim | wicked [people] | H7563 → | 263 times |
| תִּ֫כְלֶ֥ינָה | tikhleinah | they will fail | H3615 → | 208 times |
| וּ֭מָנוֹס | umanos | and a place of escape | H4498 → | |
| אָבַ֣ד | ʾavad | it will be lost | H6 → | 184 times |
| מִנְהֶ֑ם | minhem | from them | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| וְ֝תִקְוָתָ֗ם | vetikvatam | and hope their | H8615 → | 34 times |
| מַֽפַּח־ | mapach- | [will be] a gasp of | H4646 → | |
| נָֽפֶשׁ׃ פ | nafesh | life | H5315 → | 754 times |
וְעֵינֵ֥יand [the] eyes of
veeineiH5869 →887 times
רְשָׁעִ֗יםwicked [people]
reshaimH7563 →263 times
תִּ֫כְלֶ֥ינָהthey will fail
tikhleinahH3615 →208 times
וּ֭מָנוֹסand a place of escape
umanosH4498 →
אָבַ֣דit will be lost
ʾavadH6 →184 times
מִנְהֶ֑םfrom them
minhemH4480 →1188 times
וְ֝תִקְוָתָ֗םand hope their
vetikvatamH8615 →34 times
מַֽפַּח־[will be] a gasp of
mapach-H4646 →
נָֽפֶשׁ׃ פlife
nafeshH5315 →754 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 10:24What the wicked man dreads will overtake him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.
it leads to
- Psalms 145:19
He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.
- Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
- Isaiah 66:4
So I will choose their punishment and I will bring terror upon them, because I called and no one answered, I spoke and no one listened. But they did evil in My sight and…
- Job 15:21
Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.
- 1 John 5:14–15
And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
- Psalms 145:19
Through
Psalms 69:3I am weary from my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.
it leads to
- Isaiah 38:14
I chirp like a swallow or crane; I moan like a dove. My eyes grow weak as I look upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 6:6
I am weary from groaning; all night I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.
- Psalms 119:82
My eyes fail, looking for Your promise; I ask, “When will You comfort me?”
- Isaiah 38:14
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book X; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.