Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.
Parallel translations
- WEB All darkness is laid up for his treasures. An unfanned fire shall devour him. It shall consume that which is left in his tent.
- KJV All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle.
- NKJV Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. An unfanned fire will consume him; It shall go ill with him who is left in his tent.
- NASB Complete darkness is held in reserve for his treasures, And unfanned fire will devour him; It will consume the survivor in his tent.
- NLT Their treasures will be thrown into deepest darkness. A wildfire will devour their goods, consuming all they have left.
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
Total darkness awaits his treasures; an unfanned fire devours him and consumes what is left in his tent. His wealth and household are destroyed.
Overview
Zophar foretells utter darkness for the wicked man's hoarded riches and a supernatural fire, kindled by no human hand, that devours him and all he has. The 'unfanned fire' suggests judgment sent directly from God. The imagery of consuming fire warns of the destruction reserved for the ungodly, while pointing forward to the refining and judging fire of God's holiness (Hebrews 12:29).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ps 21:9You will place them in a fiery furnace at the time of Your appearing. In His wrath the LORD will engulf them, and the fire will consume them.
- Ps 120:4Sharp arrows will come from the warrior, with burning coals of the broom tree!
- Isa 14:20–22You will not join them in burial, since you have destroyed your land and slaughtered your own people. The offspring of the wicked will never again be mentioned.
- Isa 30:33For Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.
- Jude 1:13They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
- Matt 3:12His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
- Job 18:18–19He is driven from light into darkness and is chased from the inhabited world.
- Ps 109:9–15May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.
- Matt 8:12But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
- Isa 8:22Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.
- Job 18:5–6Indeed, the lamp of the wicked is extinguished; the flame of his fire does not glow.
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 20:26 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.