Job 21:20
in Job 21Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Let his own eyes see his destruction, And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
KJV
His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
⋯
This verse in Job 21
Commentary
9 notes on this verseHis eyes shall see his destruction - He shall perceive its approach, and have the double punishment of fearing and feeling; feeling a Thousand deaths in fearing One. He shall drink of the wrath - The cup of God’s wrath, the cup of trembling, etc., is frequently expressed or referred to in the sacred writings, Deu 32:33; Isa 51:17-22; Jer 25:15; Rev 14:8. It appears to be a metaphor taken from those cups of poison which certain criminals were obliged to drink.
This site's exposition
God lays up one’s punishment for his children
on Job 21:19-21
Job states the friends' fallback, "It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children". He answers it directly: "Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it". He presses the point from the other side, since a dead man has no stake in his sons.
This site's exposition
Let his eyes see his own destruction
The Berean renders it as Job's wish that the wicked man bear his own punishment, answering the saying of verse 19. Barnes reads the line as the friends' position, which Job sets out in order to meet it. Clarke hears the cup of God's wrath.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Since he spoke before him [Zophar] and said "from the time man was set upon the earth," things go on in this manner. Job addresses his reproaches to him, because he ignores what is clear and evident. He says to him, you asserted that things are not as I said, but quite the opposite. Therefore, no one must know the secret plans of God, who rules the entire creation. Now tell me, why are those who are not impious punished? One is in need, the other in wealth, but their wickedness is the same.
The Medieval Church2 voices
So he says, "His eyes will see their destruction," in the destruction of his sons or other kinds of adversity; and in this itself, "he will drink of the fury of the Almighty." For the punishment of the father is that his sons are punished …
Ver. 20. His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty. 59. This man, if whilst placed in this life he had been willing to open his eyes to his sin, would not hereafter 'drink of the wrath of the Almighty.' But he that here turns away his eyes from the sight of his guilt, cannot there avoid the sentence of condemnation. But often those that do not fear eternal punishments, at all events on account of temporal chastening are afraid to do what is bad.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The eyes that have been wilfully shut against the grace of God shall be opened to see his destruction. He shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty; that shall be the portion of his cup. The misery of damned sinners is here set forth in a few words, but very terrible ones.
His eyes shall see his destruction,....
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
His eyes shall see his destruction - That is, his own eyes shall see his destruction, or the calamities that shall come upon him. That is, “You maintain that, or this is the position which you defend.” Job designs to meet this, and to show that it is not always so. And he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty - Wrath is often represented as a cup which the wicked are compelled to drink. See the notes, Isa 51:17.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יִרְא֣וּ | yiru | let them see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| עֵינָ֣יו | einov | own eyes his | H5869 → | 887 times |
| כִּיד֑וֹ | kido | destruction his | H3589 → | |
| וּמֵחֲמַ֖ת | umechamat | and from [the] rage of | H2534 → | 125 times |
| שַׁדַּ֣י | shadai | [the] Almighty | H7706 → | 48 times |
| יִשְׁתֶּֽה׃ | yishteh | let him drink | H8354 → | 217 times |
יִרְא֣וּlet them see
yiruH7200 →1300 times
עֵינָ֣יוown eyes his
einovH5869 →887 times
כִּיד֑וֹdestruction his
kidoH3589 →
וּמֵחֲמַ֖תand from [the] rage of
umechamatH2534 →125 times
שַׁדַּ֣י[the] Almighty
shadaiH7706 →48 times
יִשְׁתֶּֽה׃let him drink
yishtehH8354 →217 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 75:8For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours from His cup, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to the…
it leads to
- Psalms 11:6
On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur; a scorching wind will be their portion.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 16:19
The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. And God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup of the wine of the fury of His…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 25:15
This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink…
- Revelation 14:9–10
And a third angel followed them, calling out in a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives its mark on his forehead or on his hand,
- Jeremiah 25:17
So I took the cup from the LORD’s hand and made all the nations drink from it, each one to whom the LORD had sent me,
- Psalms 11:6
Through
Luke 16:23In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.
it leads to
- 2 Peter 2:4
For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;
- 2 Peter 2:4
Through
Revelation 14:10he too will drink the wine of God’s anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented in fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and…
it leads to
- Isaiah 51:17
Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs—the cup that makes men…
- Isaiah 51:17
Through
Isaiah 51:17Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs—the cup that makes men…
it leads to
- Isaiah 52:1
Awake, awake, clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, holy city! For the uncircumcised and unclean will no longer enter you.
- Isaiah 52:1
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; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XV; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 21:19-22A; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.