Job 20:4
in Job 20Do you not know that from antiquity, since man was placed on the earth,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Knowest thou not this of old time, Since man was placed upon earth,
KJV
Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth,
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This verse in Job 20
Commentary
8 notes on this verseKnowest thou not this of old - This is a maxim as ancient as the world; it began with the first man: A wicked man shall triumph but a short time; God will destroy the proud doer. Since man was placed upon earth - Literally, since Adam was placed on the earth; that is, since the fall, wickedness and hypocrisy have existed; but they have never triumphed long. Thou hast lately been expressing confidence in reference to a general judgment; but such is thy character, that thou hast little reason to anticipate with any joy the decisions of that day.
This site's exposition
Do you not know that from antiquity
on Job 20:4-7
Zophar grounds his doctrine in age, "since man was placed on the earth". Though "his arrogance reaches the heavens", "he will perish forever, like his own dung", a figure Clarke reads as chosen to match the height claimed. Barnes notes the doctrine was traditional wisdom common to the Near East.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
In this passage Zophar speaks impudently and seriously insults Job. By scorning him, as the other two friends had already done, Zophar also defamed him for the following reason. After the beginning, after human beings came into existence, they felt "joy" and happiness in the …
The Medieval Church2 voices
Ver. 4, 5. I know this of old, since man was placed upon earth, that the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment.
It seemed most certain to him and proved by experience that although the evil enjoy some prosperity, still it is brief and is also quickly destroyed in this life either by a premature death or by some subsequent adversity. He expresses this saying, "I know …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Knowest thou not this of old,....
It was known of old, since man was placed upon the earth; that is, ever since man was made he has had this truth written in his heart, that the sin of sinners will be their ruin; and ever since there were instances of wickedness (which there were soon after man was placed on the earth) there were instances of the punishments of it, witness the exclusions of Adam and Cain.
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
Knowest thou not this of old - That is, dost thou not know that this has always happened from the beginning of the world, or that this is the invariable course of events. His purpose is to show that it was the settled arrangement of Providence that the wicked would be overtaken with signal calamity. It was “so” settled that Job ought not to be surprised that it had occurred in “his” case. Zophar goes on to show that though a wicked man might rise high in honor, and obtain great wealth, yet that the fall would certainly come, and he would sink to a depth of degradation corresponding to the former prosperity. Since man was placed upon earth - Since the creation; that is, it has always been so.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֲזֹ֣את | hazot | ¿ this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| יָ֭דַעְתָּ | yada'ta | do you know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| מִנִּי־ | mini- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| עַ֑ד | ʾad | antiquity | H5703 → | |
| מִנִּ֤י | mini | from when | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| שִׂ֖ים | sim | put | H7760 → | 584 times |
| אָדָ֣ם | ʾadam | humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
| עֲלֵי־ | ʾalei- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אָֽרֶץ׃ | ʾaretz | earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
הֲזֹ֣את¿ this
hazotH2063 →603 times
יָ֭דַעְתָּdo you know
yada'taH3045 →945 times
מִנִּי־from
mini-H4480 →1188 times
עַ֑דantiquity
ʾadH5703 →
מִנִּ֤יfrom when
miniH4480 →1188 times
שִׂ֖יםput
simH7760 →584 times
אָדָ֣םhumankind
ʾadamH120 →551 times
עֲלֵי־on
ʾalei-H5921 →5755 times
אָֽרֶץ׃earth
ʾaretzH776 →2504 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
Genesis 1:28God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature…
it leads to
- Genesis 9:1
And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
- Genesis 9:7
But as for you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out across the earth and multiply upon it.”
- Leviticus 26:9
I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will establish My covenant with you.
- Psalms 128:3–4
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine flourishing within your house, your sons like olive shoots sitting around your table.
- Genesis 22:17–18
I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
- Genesis 9:1
Through
Psalms 115:16The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth He has given to mankind.
it leads to
- Psalms 8:6
You made him ruler of the works of Your hands; You have placed everything under his feet:
- Psalms 89:11
The heavens are Yours, and also the earth. The earth and its fullness You founded.
- Genesis 1:28–30
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature…
- Psalms 8:6
About Job
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 XV; Hesychius of Jerusalem, HOMILIES ON JOB 24.20.5; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.