Job 20:14
in Job 20yet in his stomach his food sours into the venom of cobras within him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Yet his food in his bowels is turned, It is the gall of asps within him.
KJV
Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.
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This verse in Job 20
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThey have theories that are not sweet but as the gall of asps, that is, evil; and those theories come from the wine of their doctrine. "For their wine comes from the vine of Sodom." The gall of asps is in the belly of the heretics and those who declare impious dogmas contrary to truth.
This site's exposition
evil is sweet in his mouth
on Job 20:12-16
The central figure runs in one line: "evil is sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue". The same food is sweet in the mouth at verse 12 and venom in the stomach at verse 14, one substance seen at two moments.
This site's exposition
his food sours into the venom of cobras
The sweetness of verses 12 and 13 turns bitter in the stomach. Wesley notes that the venom of serpents was held to kill within hours. Henry compares the scroll sweet in John's mouth and bitter in his belly, Revelation 10.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Ver. 14. His bread in his belly shall be turned into the gall of asps within him. 15. What bread is in the belly, the same is fulness of earthly gratification in the mind. So let the hypocrite now be filled to the full with the praises tendered him, let him revel in honours, 'his bread in his belly is turned into the gall of asps,' because the fulness of transitory enjoyment, in the final Retribution, will be turned to bitterness, in that what here passed for the praise of greatness is discovered to have been 'the gall of asps,' i.e. the prompting of evil spirits. For the wicked then perceive that they are infected with the venom of the old serpent, when, being delivered over to avenging flames, they are tormented along with that prompter of theirs. And so this 'bread' has one sort of taste in the mouth, and another in the belly, in that the joy of transitory pleasure is sweet, while it is tasted here by a chewing of teeth, as it were, but it turns bitter in the belly, because when the joy is past it is swallowed to his ruing. 16. Or indeed forasmuch as bread is not unsuitably taken for the sense of the Holy Scriptures, which refreshes the mind and furnishes it with the sinews of right practice, and the hypocrite generally makes it his object to be well instructed in the mysteries of Holy Writ, not that he may live by them, but that it may appear to the rest of the world how learned he is, his 'bread in his bowels is turned into the gall of asps,' in that whilst he boasts of the knowledge of the Sacred Law, he converts the draught of life into a cup of poison to himself, and dies in a state of reprobation from the same cause, whence he appeared to derive instruction unto life. […]
Since he had said (v.11) that the bones of the evil man must be filled with the vices of youth, so that he is punished after death he now treats more broadly of his punishments. First, he shows that the goods which he had in …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Turned - From sweet to bitter. Gall of asps - Exceeding bitter and pernicious. Gall is most bitter; the gall of serpents is full of poison; and the poison of asps is most dangerous and within a few hours kills without remedy.
4 Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth, 5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment? 6 Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds; 7 Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
) like John's book, in his mouth as sweet as honey, but, when he had eaten it, his belly was bitter, Rev. x. Such a thing is sin; it is turned into the gall of asps, than which nothing is more bitter, the poison of asps (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Yet his meat in his bowels is turned,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Yet his meat - His food. In his bowels is turned - That is, it is as if he had taken food which was exceedingly pleasant, and had retained it in his mouth as long as possible, that he might enjoy it, but when he swallowed it, it became bitter and offensive; compare Rev 10:9-10. Sin may be pleasant when it is committed, but its consequences will be bitter. It is the gall of asps - On the meaning of the word here rendered “asps” (פתן pethen), see the notes at Isa 11:
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
turned--Hebrew denotes a total change into a disagreeable contrary (Jer 2:21; compare Re 10:9, 10). gall--in which the poison of the asp was thought to lie. It rather is contained in a sack in the mouth.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
His food..within him on the day of his misfortune will turn into the venom of cobras.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לַ֭חְמוֹ | lachmo | food his | H3899 → | 298 times |
| בְּמֵעָ֣יו | bemeav | in inward parts his | H4578 → | |
| נֶהְפָּ֑ךְ | nehpakh | it is changed | H2015 → | 94 times |
| מְרוֹרַ֖ת | merorat | venom of | H4846 → | 4 times |
| פְּתָנִ֣ים | petanim | cobras | H6620 → | |
| בְּקִרְבּֽוֹ׃ | bekirbo | in inward part[s] his | H7130 → |
לַ֭חְמוֹfood his
lachmoH3899 →298 times
בְּמֵעָ֣יוin inward parts his
bemeavH4578 →
נֶהְפָּ֑ךְit is changed
nehpakhH2015 →94 times
מְרוֹרַ֖תvenom of
meroratH4846 →4 times
פְּתָנִ֣יםcobras
petanimH6620 →
בְּקִרְבּֽוֹ׃in inward part[s] his
bekirboH7130 →
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
Romans 3:13“Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The venom of vipers is on their lips.”
it leads to
- Psalms 5:9
For not a word they speak can be trusted; destruction lies within them. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.
- Psalms 140:3
They sharpen their tongues like snakes; the venom of vipers is on their lips. Selah
- Psalms 5:9
Through
Proverbs 1:31So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
it leads to
- Proverbs 14:14
The backslider in heart receives the fill of his own ways, but a good man is rewarded for his ways.
- Jeremiah 6:19
Hear, O earth! I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their own schemes, because they have paid no attention to My word and have rejected My instruction.
- Proverbs 22:8
He who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.
- Job 4:8
As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
- Galatians 6:7–8
Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.
- Proverbs 14:14
Through
Jeremiah 2:19Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear…
it leads to
- Isaiah 3:9
The expression on their faces testifies against them, and like Sodom they flaunt their sin; they do not conceal it. Woe to them, for they have brought disaster upon themselves.
- Isaiah 3:9
About Job
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XV; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, FRAGMENTS ON JOB 14.41 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.