Job 20:7
in Job 20he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who had seen him will ask, ‘Where is he?’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: They that have seen him shall say, Where is he?
KJV
Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?
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This verse in Job 20
Commentary
7 notes on this verseHe shall perish for ever - He is dust, and shall return to the dust from which he was taken. Zophar here hints his disbelief in that doctrine, the resurrection of the body, which Job had so solemnly asserted in the preceding chapter. Or he might have been like some in the present day, who believe that the wicked shall be annihilated, and the bodies of the righteous only be raised from the dead; but I know of no scripture by which such a doctrine is confirmed.
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
he will perish forever, like his own dung
Henry calls it a shameful destruction, the man as loathsome as dung. Clarke hears Zophar doubting the resurrection of the body that Job had affirmed in the chapter before. Those who had seen him ask where he has gone.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
It sometimes happens that from that favor which he enjoyed for a short time from his pretense he was lifted up to some high rank, and so as a consequence he shows that this also will not endure for him, saying, "If his pride should …
Ver. 6, 7. Though his pride mount up unto the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds: Yet he shall perish at last like the dunghill. 5. The pride of the hypocrite is said to 'mount up unto the heavens,' when his high-mindedness has the appearance of leading a heavenly life; and his 'head as it were reaches unto the clouds,' when the leading part, i.e. his intellect, is thought to equal the merits of the Saints that have gone before.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
But Zophar means his ruin in this world; and indeed sometimes notorious sinners are remarkably cut off by present judgments; they have reason enough to fear what Zophar here threatens even the triumphant sinner with. [1.] A shameful destruction: He shall perish like his own dung or dunghill, so loathsome is he to God and all good men, and so willing will the world be to part with him, Ps. cxix.
Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung,....
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כְּֽ֭גֶלֲלוֹ | kegelalo | like own dung his | H1561 → | |
| לָנֶ֣צַח | lanetzach | to perpetuity | H5331 → | 43 times |
| יֹאבֵ֑ד | yoved | he will perish | H6 → | 184 times |
| רֹ֝אָ֗יו | roav | [those who] saw him | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| יֹאמְר֥וּ | yomeru | they will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אַיּֽוֹ׃ | ʾaiyo | where [is]? he | H335 → | 39 times |
כְּֽ֭גֶלֲלוֹlike own dung his
kegelaloH1561 →
לָנֶ֣צַחto perpetuity
lanetzachH5331 →43 times
יֹאבֵ֑דhe will perish
yovedH6 →184 times
רֹ֝אָ֗יו[those who] saw him
roavH7200 →1300 times
יֹאמְר֥וּthey will say
yomeruH559 →5305 times
אַיּֽוֹ׃where [is]? he
ʾaiyoH335 →39 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
2 Kings 9:37And Jezebel’s body will lie like dung in the field on the plot of ground at Jezreel, so that no one can say: This is Jezebel.’”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 8:2
They will be exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the host of heaven which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up or buried,…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 16:4
“They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried, but will lie like dung on the ground. They will be finished off by sword and famine, and their corpses will…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 8:2
Through
Job 14:10But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last, and where is he?
it leads to
- Job 19:26
Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.
- Job 19:26
Through
1 Kings 14:10Because of all this, behold, I am bringing disaster on the house of Jeroboam: I will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both slave and free, in Israel; I will burn up the house…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 21:21
This is what the LORD says: ‘I will bring calamity on you and consume your descendants; I will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both slave and free.
- 2 Kings 14:26
For the LORD saw that the affliction of the Israelites, both slave and free, was very bitter. There was no one to help Israel,
- Deuteronomy 32:36
For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one remains, slave or free.
- 1 Kings 21:21
Through
Job 7:10He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more.
it leads to
- Job 8:18
If he is uprooted from his place, it will disown him, saying, ‘I never saw you.’
- Psalms 103:16
when the wind passes over, it vanishes, and its place remembers it no more.
- Job 8:18
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; 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 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.