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‘Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire has consumed their excess.’
Job 22:20 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB saying, ‘Surely those who rose up against us are cut off. The fire has consumed their remnant.’
  • KJV Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.
  • NKJV ‘Surely our adversaries are cut down, And the fire consumes their remnant.’
  • NASB ‘Truly our enemies are eliminated, And fire has consumed their abundance.’
  • NLT They will say, ‘See how our enemies have been destroyed. The last of them have been consumed in the fire.’

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

Eliphaz quotes the righteous celebrating that their adversaries are cut off and consumed by fire. He pictures the complete destruction of the wicked.

Overview

Eliphaz continues the song of triumph over the fallen wicked, whose remnant is consumed. The certainty of God's final judgment on persistent evil is a genuine biblical theme (2 Thess 1:8-9). Yet Eliphaz uses it to push Job toward repentance by frightening him with the fate of the ungodly, still operating on the false assumption of Job's guilt.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • 2 Pet 2:6–7if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly;
  • Job 20:26Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.
  • Job 1:16While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The fire of God fell from heaven. It burned and consumed the sheep and the servants, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
  • Gen 19:24Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.
  • Job 21:27–28Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me.
  • Luke 13:1–5At that time some of those present told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
  • Job 4:7Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed?
  • Job 15:5–6For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty.
  • Job 15:30He will not escape from the darkness; the flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.
  • Luke 17:29–30But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
  • Job 20:18–19He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he cannot enjoy the profits of his trading.
  • Job 8:3–4Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Job 22:20YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 22:20 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.