Job 20:28
in Job 20The possessions of his house will be removed, flowing away on the day of God’s wrath.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The increase of his house shall depart; His goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.
KJV
The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.
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This verse in Job 20
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThe increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath - A farther allusion to the punishment of the rebellious company of Korah, who not only perished themselves, but their houses also, and their goods. Num 16:32. These examples were all in point, on the ground assumed by Zophar; and such well-attested facts would not be passed over by him, had he known the record of them; and that he did know it, alludes to it, and quotes the very circumstances, is more than probable.
This site's exposition
Total darkness is reserved for his treasures
on Job 20:26-29
The speech closes with "A fire unfanned". The last line, "This is the wicked man’s portion from God", presents the catalogue as one doctrine, and Job is never named in it. Watson notes that this is Zophar's last speech, since he takes no turn in the friends' third round.
This site's exposition
The possessions of his house will be removed
Barnes notes that the Hebrew verb means to go into captivity, so the man's goods vanish from his house. Henry adds that goods flow away as fast as they flowed in when the day of God's wrath comes. Clarke again recalls Korah.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
[The wrath of God strikes] both the circumcised, who act impiously against Christ, and the heretic and indeed any who are ungodly. The retribution of each is according to what has been shown above. Do you understand who is the overseer mentioned here? God is called "overseer," and his bishops must endeavor in every way to put into practice his model, if they are good.
"Let a day of wrath come upon him. This is the portion for the ungodly man from the Lord, and the possession of his goods appointed him by the all-seeing God." Since he did not recognize the benevolence of God while he possessed his goods, …
The Medieval Church2 voices
Ver. 28. The shoot of his house shall be disclosed, and he shall be taken away in the day of God's wrath. 38. 'The shoot of his house is disclosed,' when every thing bad that sprung up in his consciousness is shewn to view. For now the 'shoot of the hypocrite's house' remains hidden from sight, in that though his practice appears good in the delineation, yet the intent lies hidden. Since it is one thing what he does, and another thing what he has in view. But when, at the coming of the Judge, each man's conscience shall be brought forward for its testimony, (whence it is written, Their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another, [Rom. 2, 15]) then the 'shoot of the hypocrite's house is herein disclosed,' because the evil design is laid bare in his heart. 'And he shall be taken away in the day of God's wrath,' in that when the indignation of the Judge is revealed, being given to avenging fires, he is parted from His sight. For he that, whilst he lived, would not take thought of the highest things, being forced down by the weight of his sins, shall fall from the face of the Judge into the depths of punishment. But now the Judge both sees and bears with the sinner in his sins, and because it is the day of forbearance and not as yet the day of fury, He waits for each one for his conversion. Now in this day of forbearance the hypocrite as it were remains unmoved, whilst he both commits many evil deeds, and is chastised by no scourges; but 'in the day of fury he shall be taken away,' in that being carried off to punishment in the season of vengeance he is cut off from the countenance of the eternal Judge.
He places next his punishment as to what remains in his sons when he says, "The seed of his house will be open," because his sons will be exposed to trials, and this seed, "will be carried off," from this life "on the day of …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Numerous and growing families, if wicked and vile, are soon reduced, dispersed, and extirpated, by the judgments of God. His goods shall flow away from his family as fast as ever they flowed into it, when the day of God's wrath comes, for which, all the while his estate was in the getting by fraud and oppression, he was treasuring up wrath.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 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
The increase of his house shall depart,.... Either his children or his substance.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The increase of his house shall depart - Septuagint, “Destruction shall bring his house to an end.” The word rendered “depart” (יגל yı̂gel from גלה gâlâh), means, properly, “shall go into captivity.” The sense is, that whatever he had laid up in his house would entirely disappear. His goods shall flow away - What he had gained would seem to flow away like water. In the day of his wrath - The wrath of God - for so the connection demands.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יִ֭גֶל | yigel | it will depart | H1540 → | 186 times |
| יְב֣וּל | yevul | [the] produce of | H2981 → | |
| בֵּית֑וֹ | beito | house his | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| נִ֝גָּר֗וֹת | nigarot | torrents | H5064 → | |
| בְּי֣וֹם | beyom | on [the] day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| אַפּֽוֹ׃ | ʾapo | anger his | H639 → | 276 times |
יִ֭גֶלit will depart
yigelH1540 →186 times
יְב֣וּל[the] produce of
yevulH2981 →
בֵּית֑וֹhouse his
beitoH1004 →2046 times
נִ֝גָּר֗וֹתtorrents
nigarotH5064 →
בְּי֣וֹםon [the] day of
beyomH3117 →2304 times
אַפּֽוֹ׃anger his
ʾapoH639 →276 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 11:4Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 7:19
They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will seem unclean. Their silver and gold cannot save them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Zephaniah 1:18
Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the Day of the LORD’s wrath. The whole earth will be consumed by the fire of His jealousy.” For indeed, He…
- Proverbs 10:2
Ill-gotten treasures profit nothing, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
- Genesis 7:1
Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.
- 1 Timothy 4:8
For physical exercise is of limited value, but godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for the present life and for the one to come.
- Ezekiel 7:19
Through
Zephaniah 1:18Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the Day of the LORD’s wrath. The whole earth will be consumed by the fire of His jealousy.” For indeed, He…
it leads to
- Zephaniah 3:8
Therefore wait for Me,” declares the LORD, “until the day I rise to testify. For My decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them My indignation—all My burning anger.…
- Proverbs 11:4
Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
- Zephaniah 1:2–3
“I will completely sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD.
- Zephaniah 3:8
About Job
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; 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 (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Olympiodorus of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON JOB 20:28-29; Origen of Alexandria, FRAGMENTS ON JOB 14.106, 110; R. A. Watson, The Book of Job, Expositor's Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.