Zophar Says the Wicked Will Not Last

20:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered: 20:2 “This is why my troubled thoughts bring me back – because of my feelings within me. 20:3 When I hear a reproof that dishonors me, then my understanding prompts me to answer. 20:4 “Surely you know that it has been from old, ever since humankind was placed on the earth, 20:5 that the elation of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment. 20:6 Even though his stature reaches to the heavens and his head touches the clouds, 20:7 he will perish forever, like his own excrement; those who used to see him will say, ‘Where is he?’ 20:8 Like a dream he flies away, never again to be found, and like a vision of the night he is put to flight. 20:9 People who had seen him will not see him again, and the place where he was will recognize him no longer. 20:10 His sons must recompense the poor; his own hands must return his wealth. 20:11 His bones were full of his youthful vigor, but that vigor will lie down with him in the dust. 20:12 “If evil is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his tongue, 20:13 if he retains it for himself and does not let it go, and holds it fast in his mouth, 20:14 his food is turned sour in his stomach; it becomes the venom of serpents within him. 20:15 The wealth that he consumed he vomits up, God will make him throw it out of his stomach. 20:16 He sucks the poison of serpents; the fangs of a viper kill him. 20:17 He will not look on the streams, the rivers, which are the torrents of honey and butter. 20:18 He gives back the ill-gotten gain without assimilating it; he will not enjoy the wealth from his commerce. 20:19 For he has oppressed the poor and abandoned them; he has seized a house which he did not build. 20:20 For he knows no satisfaction in his appetite; he does not let anything he desires escape. 20:21 “Nothing is left for him to devour; that is why his prosperity does not last. 20:22 In the fullness of his sufficiency, distress overtakes him. the full force of misery will come upon him. 20:23 “While he is filling his belly, God sends his burning anger against him, and rains down his blows upon him. 20:24 If he flees from an iron weapon, then an arrow from a bronze bow pierces him. 20:25 When he pulls it out and it comes out of his back, the gleaming point out of his liver, terrors come over him. 20:26 Total darkness waits to receive his treasures; a fire which has not been kindled will consume him and devour what is left in his tent. 20:27 The heavens reveal his iniquity; the earth rises up against him. 20:28 A flood will carry off his house, rushing waters on the day of God’s wrath. 20:29 Such is the lot God allots the wicked, and the heritage of his appointment from God.” Job’s Reply to Zophar

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®, copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

Zophar says the success of wicked people is brief. He teaches that God will overturn their pride, take away their gains, and bring them to disgrace. Some of what he says is generally true, but he wrongly uses it as if it proved Job’s suffering came from hidden wickedness.

Zophar begins by saying that Job’s words have stirred him up and made him want to answer. He then appeals to old wisdom: the wicked may rise high for a time, but their joy does not last.

He uses strong pictures to make his point. The wicked person may seem powerful, but he will quickly disappear and be forgotten. What he gained will be taken away. Zophar says evil is like sweet food that later turns poisonous in the stomach. Sin may feel pleasant for a moment, but it destroys the person who clings to it.

He also names specific sins: oppression of the poor, unjustly taking a house, and greedy appetite that never feels satisfied. In the end, Zophar says distress, terror, darkness, fire, and flood will overtake the wicked because God has appointed judgment for them.

The problem is not that the basic truth about God’s justice is false. The problem is that Zophar speaks too confidently and applies that truth too rigidly to Job. The book of Job shows that this kind of simple formula is not enough to explain every case of suffering.

• God does judge wickedness, oppression, and greed.
• Sin can look attractive for a time but ends in loss and shame.
• Outward success is not a safe sign of God’s approval.
• Zophar’s speech contains a real wisdom truth, but he applies it too harshly to Job.
• God’s justice is not limited by human assumptions about how quickly judgment must come.
• Counseling and correction must be truthful and humble, not accusing without warrant.

• Warning: Do not assume every sufferer is secretly wicked.
• Warning: Do not use true statements about God to wrongly condemn someone.
• Warning: Greed and oppression bring judgment under God’s moral rule.
• Warning: Sin may seem sweet at first but becomes bitter and destructive.
• Command: Speak about suffering with humility.
• Command: Reject unjust gain and the abuse of the poor.
• Promise: God does not ignore evil forever, even when judgment is delayed.

This passage belongs to the wisdom part of the Old Testament. It does not move forward the Abrahamic, Mosaic, or Davidic covenants directly. Instead, it teaches that God rules the moral order of the world and that wickedness does not have the final word. The book of Job also shows that covenant people must not turn God’s justice into a simple formula for reading every hardship. In the wider Bible, this prepares readers for a fuller understanding of suffering, justice, and righteous endurance.

Do not look at someone’s pain and immediately assume hidden sin. Be careful with your words when you speak to hurting people. Trust that God sees greed, abuse, and secret evil, even when judgment is delayed. Also remember that success can be temporary and misleading. The wise response is humility, integrity, and patient trust in God’s justice.

• Lite Commentary
• In-depth Commentary