Job 20:5
in Job 20the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
That the triumphing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the godless but for a moment?
KJV
That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?
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This verse in Job 20
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
That the triumphing - The word “triumphing” here (רננה renânâh),” shouting, rejoicing” - such a shouting as people make after a victory, or such as occurred at the close of harvesting. Here it means that the occasion which the wicked had for rejoicing would be brief. It would be but for a moment, and he then would be overwhelmed with calamity or cut off by death.
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.
This site's exposition
the triumph of the wicked has been brief
Barnes explains the word for triumph as the shout raised after a victory or at harvest. Zophar holds that such joy has been brief, and Henry notes he means the godless hypocrite, the kind of man he took Job to be. The target is Job.
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
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 …
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.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Observe, (1.) He asserts the misery, not only of those who are openly wicked and profane, but of hypocrites, who secretly practice wickedness under a show and profession of religion, because such a wicked man he looked upon Job to be; and it is true that a form of godliness, if it be made use of for a cloak of maliciousness, does but make bad worse.
That the triumphing of the wicked is short,....
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֤י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| רִנְנַ֣ת | rinat | [the] cry of joy of | H7445 → | |
| רְ֭שָׁעִים | reshaim | wicked [people] | H7563 → | 263 times |
| מִקָּר֑וֹב | mikarov | [is] from near | H7138 → | 77 times |
| וְשִׂמְחַ֖ת | vesimchat | and [the] gladness of | H8057 → | |
| חָנֵ֣ף | chanef | [the] godless | H2611 → | 13 times |
| עֲדֵי־ | ʾadei- | [is] until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| רָֽגַע׃ | raga' | a moment | H7281 → | 22 times |
כִּ֤יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
רִנְנַ֣ת[the] cry of joy of
rinatH7445 →
רְ֭שָׁעִיםwicked [people]
reshaimH7563 →263 times
מִקָּר֑וֹב[is] from near
mikarovH7138 →77 times
וְשִׂמְחַ֖תand [the] gladness of
vesimchatH8057 →
חָנֵ֣ף[the] godless
chanefH2611 →13 times
עֲדֵי־[is] until
ʾadei-H5704 →1261 times
רָֽגַע׃a moment
raga'H7281 →22 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Job 27:8For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
it leads to
- Matthew 16:26
What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
- Job 8:13
Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so the hope of the godless will perish.
- Luke 12:20–21
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’
- Job 11:20
But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and escape will elude them; they will hope for their last breath.”
- Matthew 23:13
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.
- Matthew 16:26
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, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; 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.