He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper’s tongue shall slay him.
Parallel translations
- WEB He shall suck cobra venom. The viper’s tongue shall kill him.
- BSB He will suck the poison of cobras; the fangs of a viper will kill him.
- NKJV He will suck the poison of cobras; The viper’s tongue will slay him.
- NASB “He sucks the poison of cobras; The viper’s tongue kills him.
- NLT They will suck the poison of cobras. The viper will kill them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The wicked man sucks cobra venom and is slain by the viper's tongue. His sin proves fatal to him.
Overview
Continuing the poison imagery, Zophar says the wicked man's indulgence is like nursing on snake venom that kills him. The serpent imagery subtly recalls the deceiver behind sin from the garden. It dramatizes the deadliness of cherished evil and the truth that sin, like a serpent's bite, brings death apart from the redemption found in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Rom 3:13Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
- Acts 28:3–6And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
- Matt 3:7But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
- Deut 32:24They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.
- Isa 30:6The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 20:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.