Job 20:24
in Job 20Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He shall flee from the iron weapon, And the bow of brass shall strike him through.
KJV
He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through.
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This verse in Job 20
Commentary
8 notes on this verseHe shall flee from the iron weapon - Or, “Though he should flee from the iron armor, the brazen bow should strike him through.” So that yf he fle the yron weapens, he shal be shott with the stele bow - Coverdale. That is, he shall most certainly perish: all kinds of deaths await him.
This site's exposition
flees from an iron weapon
on Job 20:24-25
Escape from one danger delivers him to another. The Hebrew behind "liver" is the gall, which Clarke reads as continuing the poison figure of verses 14 and 16. "Terrors come over him" closes the couplet with the state Zophar has built toward across the whole speech.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Ver. 24. He shall flee from the iron weapons; and rush upon the bow of brass. 30. We ought to know, that avarice sometimes steals upon men from pride, and sometimes from apprehension.
So he then says, "He will flee before the weapons of iron," the present punishments by sustaining impatiently the punishments which wound him at close quarters, like an iron sword. "And he will fall on a bronze bow," in the punishments of the future life …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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
): He shall flee from the iron weapon. He will not humble himself under the judgments of God, nor seek means to make his peace with him. All his care is to escape the vengeance that pursues him, but in vain: if he escape the sword, yet the bow of steel shall strike him through.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
He shall flee from the iron weapon,....
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He shall flee from the iron weapon - The sword, or the spear. That is, he shall be exposed to attacks, and shall flee in cowardice and alarm. Bands of robbers shall come suddenly upon him, and he shall have no safety except in flight. Pref. Lee explains this as meaning, “While he flees from the iron weapon, the brass bow shall pierre him through.” Probably the expression is proverbial, like that in Latin, Incidit in Scyllam cupiens vitare Charybdin. The bow of steel shall strike him through - That is, the “arrow” from the bow of steel shall strike him down. Bows and arrows were commonly used in hunting and in war. To a considerable extent they are still employed in Persia, though the use has been somewhat superseded by the gun. “Bows” were made of various materials. The first were, undoubtedly, of wood. They were inlaid with horn, or ivory, or were made in part of metal. Sometimes, it would seem that the whole bow was made of metal, though it is supposed that the metal bow was not in general use. The “weight,” if nothing else, would be an objection to it. The word which is here rendered “steel” (נחוּשׁה nechûshâh), means properly “brass or copper” - but it is certain that brass or copper could never have been used to form the main part of the bow, as they are destitute of the elasticity which is necessary. Jerome renders it, et irruet in arcum aereum - “he rushes on the brazen bow.” So the Septuagint, τόξον χάλκειον toxon chalkeion. So the Chaldee, דכוכומא קשתא - “the bow of brass.” There is no certain proof that “steel” was then known - though “iron” is often mentioned. It is possible, however, that though the whole bow was not made of brass or copper, yet that such quantities of these metals were employed in constructing bows, that they might, without impropriety, be called bows of brass. The Oriental bow consists of three parts. […]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יִ֭בְרַח | yivrach | he will flee | H1272 → | 63 times |
| מִנֵּ֣שֶׁק | mineshek | from a weapon of | H5402 → | |
| בַּרְזֶ֑ל | barzel | iron | H1270 → | 76 times |
| תַּ֝חְלְפֵ֗הוּ | tachlefehu | it will cut through him | H2498 → | 28 times |
| קֶ֣שֶׁת | keshet | a bow of | H7198 → | 76 times |
| נְחוּשָֽׁה׃ | nechushah | bronze | H5154 → | 10 times |
יִ֭בְרַחhe will flee
yivrachH1272 →63 times
מִנֵּ֣שֶׁקfrom a weapon of
mineshekH5402 →
בַּרְזֶ֑לiron
barzelH1270 →76 times
תַּ֝חְלְפֵ֗הוּit will cut through him
tachlefehuH2498 →28 times
קֶ֣שֶׁתa bow of
keshetH7198 →76 times
נְחוּשָֽׁה׃bronze
nechushahH5154 →10 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
Amos 5:19It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a…
it leads to
- Isaiah 24:17–18
Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of the earth.
- Jeremiah 15:2–3
If they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘Those destined for death, to death; those destined for the sword, to the sword;…
- Isaiah 24:17–18
Through
Isaiah 24:18Whoever flees the sound of panic will fall into the pit, and whoever climbs from the pit will be caught in the snare. For the windows of heaven are open, and the foundations of…
it leads to
- Genesis 7:11
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.
- Psalms 18:7
Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled; they were shaken because He burned with anger.
- Genesis 7:11
Through
2 Samuel 22:35He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
it leads to
- Psalms 144:1
Blessed be the LORD, my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.
- Psalms 144:1
Through
1 Kings 20:30The rest of them fled into the city of Aphek, where the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the remaining men. Ben-hadad also fled to the city and hid in an inner room.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 22:25
Micaiah replied, “You will soon see, on that day when you go and hide in an inner room.”
- 2 Chronicles 18:24
Micaiah replied, “You will soon see, on that day when you go and hide in an inner room.”
- 1 Kings 22:25
Through
Proverbs 7:23until an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare—not knowing it will cost him his life.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 9:12
For surely no man knows his time: Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds trapped in a snare, so men are ensnared in an evil time that suddenly falls upon them.
- Ecclesiastes 9:12
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XV; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.