The Meaning of Job 20:25 Explained

Job 20:25

KJV: It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him.

YLT: One hath drawn, And it cometh out from the body, And a glittering weapon from his gall proceedeth. On him are terrors.

Darby: He draweth it forth; it cometh out of his body, and the glittering point out of his gall: terrors are upon him.

ASV: He draweth it forth, and it cometh out of his body; Yea, the glittering point cometh out of his gall: Terrors are upon him.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

It is drawn,  and cometh out  of the body;  yea, the glittering sword  cometh out  of his gall:  terrors  [are] upon him. 

What does Job 20:25 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 20:25 mean?

It is drawn and comes out of the body and Yes the glittering [point] out of his gall comes] upon him Terrors [come]
שָׁלַף֮ וַיֵּצֵ֪א מִגֵּ֫וָ֥ה וּ֭בָרָק מִֽמְּרֹרָת֥וֹ יַהֲלֹ֗ךְ עָלָ֥יו אֵמִֽים

שָׁלַף֮  It  is  drawn 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׁלַף  
Sense: to draw out or off, take off.
וַיֵּצֵ֪א  and  comes  out 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יׄוצֵאת 
Sense: to go out, come out, exit, go forth.
מִגֵּ֫וָ֥ה  of  the  body 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, feminine singular
Root: גֵּוָה  
Sense: the back adv (CLBL).
וּ֭בָרָק  and  Yes  the  glittering  [point] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: בָּרָק  
Sense: lightning.
מִֽמְּרֹרָת֥וֹ  out  of  his  gall 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: מְרֹרָה  
Sense: bitter thing, gall, poison.
יַהֲלֹ֗ךְ  comes] 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
עָלָ֥יו  upon  him 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
אֵמִֽים  Terrors  [come] 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural
Root: אֵימָה 
Sense: terror, dread.