Job
Chapter 20
Second Speech of Zophar
Zophar of Naamath spoke next:
My troubled thoughts compel me to respond, for I have been feeling impatient.
I hear a rebuke that shames me, and I am motivated to answer.
You know how it has always been, since man was placed on earth,
that the triumph of the wicked is brief, and the joy of the ungodly is only temporary.
Though his pride reaches to the heavens, and his head touches the clouds,
he vanishes like a shadow; those who have seen him ask, ‘Where is he?’
Like a dream he takes flight, like a vision of the night.
The eye that saw him no longer sees him; neither will his home shelter him again.
His children must make amends to his victims; his own hands must pay back his riches.
His youthful body, full of strength, will at last lie with him in the dust.
Evil was sweet in his mouth, and he hid it under his tongue,
He liked it and refused to let it go, keeping it in his mouth,
yet his food turns sour and becomes poison in his stomach.
He vomits the riches he swallowed; God forces his stomach to expel them.
Because he drank the poison of a viper, he will be killed by the fangs of an adder.
He will no longer see the streams of oil, nor rivers of honey and milk.
He gives back the fruit of his toil: he could not swallow it.
For he has oppressed the poor and seized houses instead of building them.
For his greed had no limit, and no one could escape his appetite;
he devoured them, one and all. This is why his prosperity will not endure.
In the midst of abundance, trouble overtakes him, and misery’s full force strikes him.
When his stomach is full, God releases his anger upon him and shoots him with His arrows.
While he flees from an iron weapon, the bronze bow hits him down.
A dart pierces his back, and an arrow lodges in his liver. He is in the grip of a terrible fear;
total darkness has been stored for him, a fire which he did not kindle devours him and consumes whatever was left in his tent.
The heavens will reveal his guilt; the earth will turn against him.
A flood will carry away his house, the waters of God’s anger.
Such is the destiny of the wicked— their fate that comes from God.
Commentaries
Second Speech of Zophar.
Like Eliphaz (15:17-35) and Bildad (18:5-21), Zophar quickly describes the fate of the wicked. To answer Job, Zophar draws from his personal reflection (2) and the tradition passed down by his ancestors (4) in a sapiential style. The wicked ignore God and His commandments and place themselves in God’s position. They are proud and arrogant (6), but they will perish forever like their dung (7). Addressing social injustice (15-19), he says greed drives them to oppress the poor and needy (17-22). However, the joy of wealth gained through ill-gotten means will not last, for God, like a mighty warrior, will attack the wicked with all the power of His cosmic arsenal (23-28). If Job faces God’s wrath, what else can he expect? This is the fate awaiting the wicked (29).