The Meaning of Job 20:1 Explained

Job 20:1

KJV: Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,

YLT: And Zophar the Naamathite answereth and saith: --

Darby: And Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,

ASV: Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Then answered  Zophar  the Naamathite,  and said, 

What does Job 20:1 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 20:1-29 - "the Triumphing Of The Wicked"
Zophar is the man who least of all understood Job. The rebuke which Job had just administered, Job 19:28-29, has vexed him, so that he speaks with impatience.
The theme of Zophar's speech is the brevity of the prosperity of the wicked. He claims that this is an acknowledged principle, Job 20:4; then proceeds to show it by many striking metaphors.
Hypocrite, Job 20:5, is "godless" in the r.v.; and in describing the prosperity and speedy destruction of such, Job 20:5-11, he manifestly applies his words to Job. He refuses to pay any heed to Job's protestations of innocence. His theology was: God is righteous; he blesses and prospers the good, and destroys the wicked. Job was being destroyed; therefore Job was wicked. Thus often do we in our ignorance misunderstand God and cruelly misjudge man.
Zophar descends to more particulars. He describes the pleasure which the ungodly has in sin, Job 20:12-13; how his sin becomes his punishment, Job 20:14-22; and how terrible destruction at last visits him, Job 20:23-28, as his portion from God, Job 20:29. Though in all this Zophar was wrong in applying it to Job's case, and equally wrong in supposing that this life is the place of judgment for the wicked, yet it is important to remember that he was right in seeing a very real connection between sin and punishment. However sweet sin may be to the taste, it is sure to become bitter as the gall of asps ere long. The "pleasures of sin" are but for a season. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 20

1  Zophar shows the state and portion of the wicked

What do the individual words in Job 20:1 mean?

and answered Zophar the Naamathite and said
וַ֭יַּעַן צֹפַ֥ר הַנַּֽעֲמָתִ֗י וַיֹּאמַֽר

וַ֭יַּעַן  and  answered 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: לְעַנּׄות 
Sense: to answer, respond, testify, speak, shout.
צֹפַ֥ר  Zophar 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: צֹופַר  
Sense: the 3rd friend of Job.
הַנַּֽעֲמָתִ֗י  the  Naamathite 
Parse: Article, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: נַעֲמָתִי  
Sense: an inhabitant of Naamah (site unknown); describes Zophar the friend of Job.
וַיֹּאמַֽר  and  said 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.

What are the major concepts related to Job 20:1?

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