Nothing is left after they finish gorging themselves. Therefore, their prosperity will not endure.
Parallel translations
- WEB There was nothing left that he didn’t devour, therefore his prosperity shall not endure.
- KJV There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods.
- BSB Nothing is left for him to consume; thus his prosperity will not endure.
- NKJV Nothing is left for him to eat; Therefore his well-being will not last.
- NASB “Nothing remains for him to devour, Therefore his prosperity does not endure.
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
Because he devoured everything and left nothing, his prosperity will not last. Greed consumes the very wealth it craves.
Overview
Zophar says the wicked man's all-consuming appetite, sparing nothing, ensures that his prosperity cannot endure. His insatiable taking guarantees his eventual loss. The verse reinforces the theme that ungodly gain carries the seed of its own collapse, a sobering reminder that what is hoarded selfishly will not stand before God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Job 18:19He shall have neither son nor grandson among his people, nor any remaining where he lived.
- Luke 16:24–25He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.’
- Jer 17:11As the partridge that sits on eggs which she has not laid, so is he who gets riches, and not by right; in the middle of his days they shall leave him, and at his end he shall be a fool.
- Job 15:29He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall their possessions be extended on the earth.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 20:21 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
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