Discovery BoxJob 20:5-7 
Context20:5 that the elation of the wicked is brief, 1
the joy of the godless 2 lasts but a moment. 3
20:6 Even though his stature 4 reaches to the heavens
and his head touches the clouds,
20:7 he will perish forever, like his own excrement; 5
those who used to see him will say, ‘Where is he?’
Job 20:22-24
Context20:22 In the fullness of his sufficiency, 6
distress 7 overtakes him.
the full force of misery will come upon him. 8
20:23 “While he is 9 filling his belly,
God 10 sends his burning anger 11 against him,
and rains down his blows upon him. 12
20:24 If he flees from an iron weapon,
then an arrow 13 from a bronze bow pierces him.
1 tn The expression in the text is “quite near.” This indicates that it is easily attained, and that its end is near.
2 tn For the discussion of חָנֵף (khanef, “godless”) see Job 8:13.
3 tn The phrase is “until a moment,” meaning it is short-lived. But see J. Barr, “Hebrew ’ad, especially at Job 1:18 and Neh 7:3,” JSS 27 (1982): 177-88.
4 tn The word שִׂיא (si’) has been connected with the verb נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to lift up”), and so interpreted here as “pride.” The form is parallel to “head” in the next part, and so here it refers to his stature, the part that rises up and is crowned. But the verse does describe the pride of such a person, with his head in the heavens.
5 tn There have been attempts to change the word here to “like a whirlwind,” or something similar. But many argue that there is no reason to remove a coarse expression from Zophar.
6 tn The word שָׂפַק (safaq) occurs only here; it means “sufficiency; wealth; abundance (see D. W. Thomas, “The Text of Jesaia 2:6 and the Word sapaq,” ZAW 75 [1963]: 88-90).
7 tn Heb “there is straightness for him.” The root צָרַר (tsarar) means “to be narrowed in straits, to be in a bind.” The word here would have the idea of pressure, stress, trouble. One could say he is in a bind.
8 tn Heb “every hand of trouble comes to him.” The pointing of עָמֵל (’amel) indicates it would refer to one who brings trouble; LXX and Latin read an abstract noun עָמָל (’amal, “trouble”) here.
9 tn D. J. A. Clines observes that to do justice to the three jussives in the verse, one would have to translate “May it be, to fill his belly to the full, that God should send…and rain” (Job [WBC], 477). The jussive form of the verb at the beginning of the verse could also simply introduce a protasis of a conditional clause (see GKC 323 §109.h, i). This would mean, “if he [God] is about to fill his [the wicked’s] belly to the full, he will send….” The NIV reads “when he has filled his belly.” These fit better, because the context is talking about the wicked in his evil pursuit being cut down.
10 tn “God” is understood as the subject of the judgment.
11 tn Heb “the anger of his wrath.”
12 tn Heb “rain down upon him, on his flesh.” Dhorme changes עָלֵימוֹ (’alemo, “upon him”) to “his arrows”; he translates the line as “he rains his arrows upon his flesh.” The word בִּלְחוּמוֹ (bilkhumo,“his flesh”) has been given a wide variety of translations: “as his food,” “on his flesh,” “upon him, his anger,” or “missiles or weapons of war.”
13 tn Heb “a bronze bow pierces him.” The words “an arrow from” are implied and are supplied in the translation; cf. “pulls it out” in the following verse.
