Job 27:20
in Job 27Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest sweeps him away in the night.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Terrors overtake him like waters; A tempest stealeth him away in the night.
KJV
Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.
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This verse in Job 27
Commentary
11 notes on this verseWant shall take hold of him like water; a tempest shall overwhelm him in the night. Let us look now at the want of the rich man as burning, whose abundance was so great as feasting. For he says, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame.
This site's exposition
He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more
on Job 27:19-21
The man "lies down wealthy, but will do so no more". "Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest sweeps him away in the night", which moves the list from slow loss to sudden ruin. "The east wind carries him away", the scorching desert wind acting with its own violence.
This site's exposition
Terrors overtake him like a flood
Barnes compares Job 18:14 and says the tempest comes as unexpectedly as a thief at night. Clarke adds that the darkness hides the danger and the way of escape. The wealth of verse 19 goes with him.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Sometimes even in this life he suddenly loses them in the way in which rain suddenly comes on a man, and so he says, "It will overtake him like the water," of the rain, "unexpectedly," because it comes suddenly upon him. Although the rain can …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Death, to a godly man, is like a fair gale of wind to convey him to the heavenly country, but, to a wicked man, it is like an east wind, a storm, a tempest, that hurries him away in confusion and amazement, to destruction.
Job's Protestation of His Sincerity. 1 Moreover Job continued his parable, and said, 2 As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul; 3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:87%@v1-3
Terrors - From the sense of approaching death or judgment. Waters - As violently and irresistibly, as a river breaking its banks, or deluge of waters bears down all before it.
Terrors take hold on him as waters,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The fact is, it is probable that Job tacitly, by giving, in the twenty-eighth chapter, only a general answer, implies, that in spite of the wicked often dying, as he said, in prosperity, he does not mean to deny that the wicked are in the main dealt with according to right, and that God herein vindicates His moral government even here.
Terrors take hold on him as waters - They come upon him as an irresistible flood; and he is overwhelmed as by a tempest in the night, when darkness partly hides his danger, and deprives him of discerning the way to escape.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Terrors-take hold on him as waters - That is, as suddenly and violently as angry floods; compare the notes at Job 18:14. A tempest stealeth him away - He is suddenly cut off by the wrath of God. A tempest comes upon him as unexpectedly as a thief or robber comes at night. Death is often represented as coming upon man with the silence of a thief, or the sudden violence of a robber at midnight; see the note at Job 21:17; compare Mat 24:42-44.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תַּשִּׂיגֵ֣הוּ | tasigehu | it overtakes him | H5381 → | 50 times |
| כַ֭מַּיִם | khamayim | like <the> waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| בַּלָּה֑וֹת | balahot | sudden terror<s> | H1091 → | 10 times |
| לַ֝֗יְלָה | laylah | night | H3915 → | 233 times |
| גְּנָבַ֥תּוּ | genavatu | it steals away him | H1589 → | 40 times |
| סוּפָֽה׃ | sufah | a storm-wind | H5492 → | 16 times |
תַּשִּׂיגֵ֣הוּit overtakes him
tasigehuH5381 →50 times
כַ֭מַּיִםlike <the> waters
khamayimH4325 →581 times
בַּלָּה֑וֹתsudden terror<s>
balahotH1091 →10 times
לַ֝֗יְלָהnight
laylahH3915 →233 times
גְּנָבַ֥תּוּit steals away him
genavatuH1589 →40 times
סוּפָֽה׃a storm-wind
sufahH5492 →16 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
Job 15:21Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.
it leads to
- Leviticus 26:36
As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 18:11
Terrors frighten him on every side and harass his every step.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3
While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
- Leviticus 26:36
Through
2 Kings 19:35And that very night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 32:21–22
and the LORD sent an angel who annihilated every mighty man of valor and every leader and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he withdrew to his own land in…
- 2 Samuel 24:16
But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that…
- 2 Chronicles 32:21–22
Through
Exodus 12:29Now at midnight the LORD struck down every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon,…
it leads to
- Psalms 78:51
He struck all the firstborn of Egypt, the virility in the tents of Ham.
- Exodus 4:23
and I told you to let My son go so that he may worship Me. But since you have refused to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son!’”
- Psalms 78:51
Through
Job 20:23When he has filled his stomach, God will vent His fury upon him, raining it down on him as he eats.
it leads to
- Psalms 78:30–31
Yet before they had filled their desire, with the food still in their mouths,
- Psalms 78:30–31
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Job
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
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; 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 XVIII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.