Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 20:1-13

"Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, Therefore do my thoughts give answer to me, Even by reason of my haste that is in me. I have heard the reproof which putteth me to shame; And the spirit of my understanding answereth me. Knowest thou [not] this of old time, Since man was placed upon earth, That the triumphing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the godless but for a moment? Though his height mount up to the heavens, And his head reach unto the clouds; Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: They that have seen him shall say, Where is he? He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: Yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night. The eye which saw him shall see him no more; Neither shall his place any more behold him. His children shall seek the favor of the poor, And his hands shall give back his wealth. His bones are full of his youth, But it shall lie down with him in the dust. Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, Though he hide it under his tongue, Though he spare it, and will not let it go, But keep it still within his mouth;" — Job 20:1-13 (ASV)

After Zophar heard Job’s opinion about the hope of a future life, he seems to have acquiesced, contradicting nothing in his third response. Yet there was still something in his heart that did not permit him to completely abandon his former opinion. He thought that although retributions and punishments for one's deeds are given in the future life, as he had learned from Job, it still seemed to him that the prosperity and adversity of this life were given by God as rewards for virtues and punishments for sins.

As if convinced in part yet still holding to his first opinion, Zophar says, “Therefore,” that is, because of the words you say about the future life, my various thoughts succeed one another. The commentator notes that these various thoughts should not be understood as belonging to the same opinion, as when someone carefully thinks out various arguments for the same conclusion. Rather, Zophar continues, and my mind is disturbed about these various things. He is led now to one opinion and now to the other by the force of the arguments that can be made for both sides, as though their power were unable to resolve the opposition. Because he thought he should not reject Job’s opinion about the hope of the future life, he says, I will hear the teachings by which you argue with me, believing what you have said about the future resurrection. But he still does not totally dismiss his first opinion, expressing this by saying, and the spirit of my understanding will answer for me. This is as if to say: My intellect still knows what it should answer in defense of its own opinion.

It seemed most certain to Zophar, and proven by experience, that although the evil enjoy some prosperity, it is brief and quickly destroyed in this life by either a premature death or some subsequent adversity. He expresses this by saying he knows this from the beginning when man was placed upon the earth—that is, from the beginning of the human race—and that the praise of the wicked is short-lived. For they are sometimes praised for a little while because of some signs and beginnings of goodness that appear in them. But those signs are immediately darkened by their evil works, and so the joy they have from the favor gained by pretense passes away in a short time. Thus, he says, and the joy of the hypocrites is like a speck, passing away in a moment, because afterward they are known by their fruits, as Matthew 7:16 says.

Sometimes, from the favor he enjoyed for a short time through his pretense, a wicked man is elevated to a high rank. As a consequence, Zophar shows that this also will not endure for him, saying, If his pride should ascend up to heaven—that is, if because of this high state he has attained, he ascends to such great pride that he thinks himself not as liable to fall as the earth, but as immovable as the heavens—and his head touches the clouds, so that he is advanced beyond the common state of man, he will be lost in the end like dung. This will happen either through a premature death, by which he is rendered a worthless and abominable human corpse, like dung, as Jeremiah says, The dead body of a man falls like dung upon the face of the earth (Jeremiah 9:22), or by his evil being disclosed to all, so that he will be considered vile by everyone, as Scripture says, Every woman who fornicates will be trodden under foot like dung on the road .

When his pride is cast down, wonder will arise in people’s hearts about such a sudden loss, and the reverence he once enjoyed will end. So Zophar says, and those who saw him will say: Where is he?—spoken either in wonder or in contempt.

To show that this downfall is irreparable, Zophar says, Like a dream flying away he will not be found. Just as a bird flying away easily disappears from sight, so too do dreams easily disappear from human knowledge. As little or no trace remains of them, and no testimony exists by which a lost dream could be brought back, the memory of it passes away irreparably. Likewise, Zophar makes it understood that the downfall of the wicked is irreparable, showing that the causes of this are many.

1. First, on the part of the sinner himself who perishes, the text says, he will pass away like a vision in the night. This is a sensory image that is not lasting; after one loses it, it cannot return. A vision during the day is of something permanent, which if someone has ceased to see it, he can run back to see it again. In the same way, as long as a sinner remains in this life, he can hope for recovery if adversity comes to him. But when he passes out of this life, there is no further hope for recovery.
2. Second, his fall is irreparable from the perspective of other people. Zophar says, The eye which saw him will not see him again: for things that pass out of sight also pass easily out of mind, and so the dead, who are removed from human sight, are easily forgotten. As a result, they have no honor in the memories of others, nor do their friends care to give them any further aid.
3. Third, he cannot be restored because he cannot return to his former state. Zophar says, nor will his place behold him any more. For a person cannot return after death to the same mode of living.

Not only will the wicked man himself be cast aside—passing away in his own person and taken from the eyes of men, never to be restored to his place—but his sons will also be punished for his sin. So the text continues, His children will be wasted by extreme poverty, by the just judgment of God. Thus, since he sinned to attain riches for his sons, he is frustrated even in this hope when his sons are impoverished.

Then, as if now agreeing with Job’s opinion, Zophar also speaks about the punishments of the future life, saying, and his hands will cause him pain, because he will suffer painful punishment for the sinful works he did. It is apparent that this retribution of pain must be understood as occurring after death, for the text adds, His bones will be full of the vices of his youth and they will sleep with him in the dust. This is as if to say: Even after death, when his flesh has turned to dust and only his bones remain in the grave, he will suffer punishment for his sins—not only those he committed in old age, but also those he committed in his youth, a time more prone to sin.

Zophar shows the reason he is punished for sins after death, saying, Since wickedness was sweet in his mouth, he hid it under his tongue. Here he uses the metaphor of a man eating sweet food who does not quickly swallow it but keeps it in his mouth for a long time to enjoy it longer. To develop this comparison, he says of the sinner, he will spare it—that is, the evil or sin which is sweet to him—and does not want to destroy it. He would destroy it, of course, by giving it up, and so the text continues, he does not leave it.

He shows why the sinner does not leave his sin, saying, and he will keep it hidden in his throat. That is, he will not show it to anyone, and because of this, no one will dissuade him from his hidden sin or apply any cure. This cure is what is applied to those who confess their sins. The reason a person’s sins are punished after death is that in life, he did not want to give them up.