That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?
Parallel translations
- WEB that the triumphing of the wicked is short, the joy of the godless but for a moment?
- BSB the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?
- NKJV That the triumphing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment?
- NASB That the rejoicing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the godless momentary?
- NLT the triumph of the wicked has been short lived and the joy of the godless has been only temporary?
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
Zophar's thesis: the triumph of the wicked is brief and the joy of the godless lasts only a moment. He insists evil's success is fleeting.
Overview
Zophar states his central claim that whatever success the wicked enjoy is short-lived and their happiness momentary. There is real biblical truth here, for Scripture affirms the fleeting nature of ungodly prosperity (Psalm 73:18-20). Yet Zophar wields it as a weapon against Job, wrongly assuming Job's suffering marks him as one of these doomed wicked.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Ps 37:35–36I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.
- Job 18:5–6Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.
- Job 8:12–13Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb.
- Matt 13:20–21But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
- Job 5:3I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
- Acts 12:22–23And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.
- Job 27:8For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?
- Ps 73:18–20Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.
- Matt 7:21Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
- Exod 15:9–10The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.
- Esth 5:11–12And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.
- Gal 6:4But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
- Jas 4:16But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
- Job 15:29–34He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.
- Judg 16:21–30But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
- Esth 7:10So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.
- Job 8:19Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others grow.
- Job 27:13–23This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.
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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 20:5 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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