201 And Zophar the Naamathite answereth and saith:— 2 Therefore my thoughts cause me to answer, And because of my sensations in me. 3 The chastisement of my shame I hear, And the spirit of mine understanding Doth cause me to answer: 4 This hast thou known from antiquity? Since the placing of man on earth? 5 That the singing of the wicked 'is' short, And the joy of the profane for a moment, 6 Though his excellency go up to the heavens, And his head against a cloud he strike— 7 As his own dung for ever he doth perish, His beholders say: 'Where 'is' he?' 8 As a dream he fleeth, and they find him not, And he is driven away as a vision of the night, 9 The eye hath not seen him, and addeth not. And not again doth his place behold him.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Job 20:1-9
Commentary on Job 20:1-9
(Read Job 20:1-9)
Zophar's discourse is upon the certain misery of the wicked. The triumph of the wicked and the joy of the hypocrite are fleeting. The pleasures and gains of sin bring disease and pain; they end in remorse, anguish, and ruin. Dissembled piety is double iniquity, and the ruin that attends it will be accordingly.