Глава 20

Zophar's response to Job's speech in the second conversation. 1–3. Introduction. 4–11. General position about the instability and short-term happiness of sinners. 12–29. Description of the death of the wicked. Job 20:1. And Zophar the Naamite answered and said: Job 20:2. my thoughts prompt me to answer, and I hasten to express them. Job 20:3. I have heard the reproach that is shameful for me, and the spirit of my understanding will answer for me. The impetus for Zophar’s speech is Job’s reproach for his lack of wisdom, which disgraces him and inflames him (Job 12.2 etc.; cf. Job 18.8). Job 20:4. Don’t you know that from the beginning, from the time that man was established on earth, Job 20:5. the joy of the wicked is short-lived, and the joy of the hypocrite is momentary? The law of moral retribution rejected by Job, according to which the sinner’s prosperity is short-lived, is as ancient as “man” himself, the human race (Hebrew “Adam” not in the sense of the proper name of the first man, but in the sense of the human race - Deut. 4.32). Job 20:6. Even if his greatness increased to heaven, and his head touched the clouds, Job 20:7. like his dung, he is lost forever; those who have seen him will say: Where is he? No matter how powerful and majestic the sinner may initially be (v. 6, cf. Is. 14.13–15), but in the end he dies in disgrace - he disappears like a dung (cf. 2 Kings 9.37; Jer. 8.2), causing bewilderment of those around him with such death (v. 7, cf. Is. 14.9–12). Job 20:8. He will fly away like a dream, and they will not find him; and, like a night vision, will disappear. Job 20:9. The eye that saw him will see him no more, and will no longer consider his place. The sinner's prosperity has neither duration nor reality: like dreams, it is an unrealizable dream (Ps 72.20, 89.6; Is 29.8), no trace remains of it (v. 9; cf. Job 7.8-10, 8.18; Ps 37.35-36). Job 20:10. His sons will curry favor with the poor, and his hands will restore what he stole. This kind of fate befalls not only the wicked man himself, but also his offspring. Since ill-gotten wealth will pass into the hands of others (cf. v. 18), the sinner’s children will be reduced to such poverty that they will begin to curry favor with the same beggars as themselves. Job 20:11. His bones are filled with the sins of his youth, and with him they will lie in the dust. The expression of the synodal text: “by the sins of youth” represents the translation of one Hebrew word “alumav”. In Ps 18.13 and Ps 89.8 “alum” really means “secret sins,” but in the book. Job, Job 33.25 – “youth.” In accordance with the last meaning of Art. 11 should read: “His bones are filled with the strength of his youth, and with him they will lie in the dust.” The personal forces on which the sinner hoped, with the help of which he created his well-being, turn into nothing and do not ensure his well-being. Job 20:12. If evil is sweet in his mouth, and he hides it under his tongue, Job 20:13. protects and does not throw him away, but keeps him in his mouth, Job 20:14. then this food of his in his womb will turn into the bile of asps within him. The law of retribution is as ancient as the human race (vv. 4–5) and at the same time completely natural. Sin and lawlessness themselves lead to retribution. Pleasant at the beginning, like tasty food, which is not immediately swallowed to continue the taste sensations, but is deliberately held in the mouth, they eventually turn, like it, into harmful bitterness - “the gall of the asp” (bitter and poisonous are synonymous concepts - Deut. 32.32). Job 20:15. The substance which he swallowed shall vomit: God shall pluck it out of his womb. Job 20:16. He sucks snake venom; the tongue of the viper will kill him. As containing poison, the food of the wicked (the riches he acquires) will not only not serve any good ("vomit"), but will also prove painful ("vomit"), and as a result, deadly (v. 16; cf. Ps 139.4; Proverbs 23.32; Jer 8.14; Jer 23.15). Job 20:17–21. Explanation of the figurative speech of the previous articles, in particular article 15: “vomit”, “vomit”. Job 20:17. He won’t see streams, rivers flowing with honey and milk! Job 20:18. He will return what he has acquired through labor, and will not swallow it; As he has, his retribution will come, but he will not rejoice. The wicked cannot enjoy his pleasant food - accumulated riches (v. 17; cf. Ex 3.8, 17). He will not use what he has acquired (“he will not swallow”), since it will return (“vomit”) to its original owners - it will go to the satisfaction of those offended by him: “as he has his property, his retribution will be.” Wealth will not serve as a source of joy (“will not rejoice”, cf. Job 31.25). Job 20:19. For he oppressed, sent away the poor; seized houses that he did not build; Job 20:20. he did not know satiety in his belly and in his greed he spared nothing. Job 20:21. Nothing was saved from his gluttony, but his happiness could not withstand. The reason for this is the illegal nature of the wicked's acquisitions. Created through the oppression of the poor, the seizure of other people's property, which knew no bounds of greed, prosperity cannot be lasting: “but his happiness will not endure” (v. 21; cf. Isa 5.8–9; Proverbs 10.2; Sir 5.10; Ezek 7.19). Job 20:22. In the fullness of abundance it will be cramped for him; every hand of the offended will rise against him. Insatiable greed and gluttony (vv. 20–21) not only will not strengthen the well-being of the wicked, but will also increase the number of disasters that will follow with his loss. The increase in benefits is accompanied by an increase in the number of those offended. And they will all raise their hands against their former oppressor and take revenge on him for injustice by, perhaps, violent confiscation of property. He who oppressed others will now experience the brunt of oppression himself. Thus, the food of the wicked will become a source of torment for him (“vomit”). Job 20:23–25. The misfortunes that befall the villain are not limited to deprivation of property (Article 18). His destiny is inevitable death from the hand of God. Job 20:23. When there is something to fill his womb, He will send upon him the fury of His wrath and bring upon him sickness in his flesh. The Synodal text contains a word that is superfluous to the original: “diseases”. But even with the omission of the latter, the meaning of the verse is conveyed differently by exegetes, depending on how the Hebrew is translated. the expression “bilhumo” (from “lehum”). Found in the Bible only once more (Zeph 1.17), it is derived from “lyaham” - “to eat” and is understood in the meaning of “food”, and then, like the related Arabic “lachum”, - flesh. In accordance with this, one end of this verse is translated as follows: “(God) will rain (disasters) on him as food for him (“bilhumo”).” The rain of divine punishments, expressing the “fury of divine wrath” (cf. Lamentations 1.13), will become food for the sinner (cf. Job 9.18; Jer 9.15). Insatiable in his greed (v. 20), he will be filled with disasters. Others, holding on to the translation: “will rain on his flesh,” see here an indication that the Lord will rain fire on the sinner, which will devour his body (Keil). Job 20:24. If he runs away from an iron weapon, a copper bow will pierce him; Job 20:25. will begin to take out the arrow, and it will come out of the body, it will come out, sparkling through its bile; the horrors of death will come upon him! The death of the sinner is inevitable. Trying to avoid one danger, he is exposed to another (cf. Isa 24.18; Jer 48.44; Am 5.19), and this latter strikes him to death, like an arrow piercing the insides of a person (v. 25; cf. Judges 3.22). Job 20:26. Everything dark is hidden within him; a fire that will not be fanned by anyone will consume him; evil will befall those who remain in his tent. Instead of the expression “within it”, in accordance with the Hebrew “litzpunav”, it should be put “for its treasures” (cf. Ps 16:14). The wicked become rich and store up treasures other than God, and therefore their fate is destruction (cf. James 5.3). They are devoured by a fire “not fanned by anyone,” - not requiring human effort for its appearance and maintenance, the fire of God (Job 1.16). He also destroys what survived and escaped in the tent of the wicked from the hands of the avengers (18, 22). Job 20:27. Heaven will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. Job 20:28. The wealth of his house will disappear; everything will be dissolved in the day of His wrath. The sinner portrayed by Zophar is such a moral monster that even visible, inanimate nature cannot stand him. Its two main spheres, called by Job as witnesses of his innocence (Job 16.18–19), are united to take revenge on the villain (29, cf. Job 18.21). You might be interested in: