Job 20:9
in Job 20The eye that saw him will see him no more, and his place will no longer behold him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The eye which saw him shall see him no more; Neither shall his place any more behold him.
KJV
The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.
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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)
The eye also which saw him - This is almost exactly the language which Job uses respecting himself. See Job 7:8, note; Job 7:10, note.
This site's exposition
fly away like a dream
on Job 20:8-11
The wicked man's end is pictured as a dream that leaves no trace: "he will be chased away like a vision in the night". His sons "will seek the favor of the poor", for "his own hands must return his wealth", restoring what he took from them.
This site's exposition
The eye that saw him will see him no more
Zophar borrows the words Job had used of himself in Job 7:8 and 7:10, as Barnes notes. The eye that saw the wicked man will see him no more, and even his place will lose sight of him. Gregory takes the place as the hearts of his flatterers.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
This means that their ruin comes suddenly, so that you may not believe that their calamity comes from a natural condition but that it is in accordance with a divine and extraordinary power. Moreover, this concerns not only their crimes but also their sacrifices. If they offer any, they turn out to be useless. "Let his inferiors," Zophar says, "destroy his children." This sentence also demonstrates clearly that the blow comes from God, because inferior people prevail on those who are stronger, and those who are outcast prevail on those who have power.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Second, he shows his fall to be irreparable on the part of other men when he then says, "The eye which saw him will not see:" for things which pass out of sight also pass easily out of mind, and so the dead who are …
Ver. 9. The eye also which saw him shall see him no more: neither shall his place any more behold him. 8. What is the 'place' of the hypocrite, saving the heart of his flatterers? For there he rests, where he finds partialities towards him. Therefore 'the eye that saw him shall see him no more,' because being removed by death, he is hidden from his foolish lovers, who were wont to behold him, admiring him. 'Neither shall his place any more behold him,' because the tongues of his flatterers do not follow him with their partialities to the Judgment.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
11 His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust. 12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue; 13 Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth: 14 Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
The eye also which saw him shall see him no more,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
His sons will placate the poor This reply was stated in reference to the people of Sodom, who were robbers and were cruel to the poor.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַ֣יִן | ʾayin | an eye | H5869 → | 887 times |
| שְׁ֭זָפַתּוּ | shezafatu | it caught sight of him | H7805 → | |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תוֹסִ֑יף | tosif | it will repeat | H3254 → | 212 times |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| ע֝֗וֹד | od | again | H5750 → | 490 times |
| תְּשׁוּרֶ֥נּוּ | teshurenu | it will see him | H7789 → | 15 times |
| מְקוֹמֽוֹ׃ | mekomo | place his | H4725 → | 401 times |
עַ֣יִןan eye
ʾayinH5869 →887 times
שְׁ֭זָפַתּוּit caught sight of him
shezafatuH7805 →
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
תוֹסִ֑יףit will repeat
tosifH3254 →212 times
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
ע֝֗וֹדagain
odH5750 →490 times
תְּשׁוּרֶ֥נּוּit will see him
teshurenuH7789 →15 times
מְקוֹמֽוֹ׃place his
mekomoH4725 →401 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
Psalms 37:36yet he passed away and was no more; though I searched, he could not be found.
it leads to
- Psalms 37:10
Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 37:10
Through
Psalms 37:10Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found.
it leads to
- Psalms 103:16
when the wind passes over, it vanishes, and its place remembers it no more.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 24:24
They are exalted for a moment, then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain.
- Psalms 37:35–36
I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,
- Psalms 107:42–43
The upright see and rejoice, and all iniquity shuts its mouth.
- 1 Peter 4:7
The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and sober, so that you can pray.
- Psalms 103:16
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.’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 8:18
Through
Job 7:8The eye that beholds me will no longer see me. You will look for me, but I will be no more.
it leads to
- Psalms 37:36
yet he passed away and was no more; though I searched, he could not be found.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 37:36
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XV; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 8:10; 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.