He shall flee from the iron weapon. The bronze arrow shall strike him through.
Parallel translations
- KJV He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through.
- BSB Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce him.
- NKJV He will flee from the iron weapon; A bronze bow will pierce him through.
- NASB “He may flee from the iron weapon, But the bronze bow will pierce him.
- NLT When they try to escape an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce 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
Fleeing one weapon, the wicked man is struck by another; the bronze arrow pierces him. There is no escape from the judgment pursuing him.
Overview
Zophar pictures the wicked man dodging an iron weapon only to be impaled by a bronze-tipped arrow, showing the inescapability of his doom. Every avenue of escape closes against him. The verse dramatizes the certainty of God's judgment overtaking the unrepentant, however he may try to flee, underscoring the urgency of seeking mercy while it may be found.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Amos 5:19As if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; Or he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a snake bit him.
- Isa 24:18It will happen that he who flees from the noise of the fear will fall into the pit; and he who comes up out of the middle of the pit will be taken in the snare; for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.
- 2 Sam 22:35He teaches my hands to war, so that my arms bend a bow of brass.
- 1 Kgs 20:30But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men who were left. Ben Hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner room.
- Jer 48:43–44Terror, the pit, and the snare are on you, inhabitant of Moab,” says Yahweh.
- Prov 7:23Until an arrow strikes through his liver, as a bird hurries to the snare, and doesn’t know that it will cost his life.
- Amos 9:1–3I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, “Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will kill the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape.
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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 20:24 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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