Job 11:20 · Bible study
Job 11:20 Commentary: The Wicked's Vanishing Hope in Zophar's Speech
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Zophar's warning that the wicked's eyes fail and hope expires, set against his mistaken application to Job. Exegesis, context, and faithful use.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The wicked's long search for relief will end in failure; every escape route will vanish, and their only remaining hope will be their final breath, a hope that dies with them.
- Key words: Rasha'im (wicked), tikh.lei.nah (fail, be exhausted), manos (refuge, place of escape), avad (perish), tikvah (hope), mappach naphesh (gasp of life / soul-breath).
- Main debate: Whether the verse is a universal axiom rightly applied only to the impenitent (most commentators) or whether Zophar's misapplication means the verse itself is compromised (some modern readers). The consensus affirms the axiom while condemning Zophar's misuse.
- Theological theme: The contrast between the hope of the righteous (rooted in God) and the hope of the wicked (which rests on false foundations and perishes in death).
- Best use: A sobering warning that postponing repentance leads to a dead-end, paired with a caution against using such warnings to judge others' suffering.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and escape will elude them; they will hope for their last breath.”
WEB World English Bible 2000
But the eyes of the wicked will fail. They will have no way to flee. Their hope will be the giving up of the spirit.”
KJV King James Version 1769
But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, And they shall have no way to flee; And their hope shall be the giving up of the ghost.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And the eyes of the wicked are consumed, And refuge hath perished from them, And their hope is a breathing out of soul!
Darby Darby Bible 1890
But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and [all] refuge shall vanish from them, and their hope [shall be] the breathing out of life.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
But the eyes of the wicked shall decay, and the way to escape shall fail them, and their hope the abomination of the soul.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Mas los ojos de los malos se consumirán, y no tendrán refugio; y su esperanza será agonía del alma.
Porém os olhos dos maus se enfraquecerão, e o refúgio deles perecerá; a esperança deles será a morte.
Mais les yeux des méchants seront consumés;
Aber die Augen der Gottlosen werden verschmachten, und sie werden nicht entrinnen können; denn Hoffnung wird ihrer Seele fehlen.
Maar de ogen der goddelozen zullen bezwijken, en de toevlucht zal van hen vergaan; en hun verwachting zal zijn de uitblazing der ziel.
Ma gli occhi degli empi verranno meno; non vi sarà più rifugio per loro, e non avranno altra speranza che di esalar l’anima”.
Ale oczy niepobożnych ustaną i ucieczka ich zginie, a nadzieja ich będzie jako wyjście duszy z człowieka.
глаза беззаконных истают, и убежище пропадет у них, и надежда их исчезнет.
但惡人 的眼目 必要失明。他們 無路可逃；他們的指望 就是氣 絕。
But the eyes of the evil-doers will be wasting away; their way of flight is gone, and their only hope is the taking of their last breath.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Job 11:20
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that Job 11:20 states a general truth about the wicked: their desperate search for relief ends in failure, every escape route vanishes, and their final hope is nothing but a dying breath. Adam Clarke notes that the Hebrew phrase mappach naphesh ("exhalation of soul") pictures hope leaving the body like a last gasp. Matthew Henry and Wesley treat the verse as a real threat, the wicked perish without refuge. Barnes calls it a "settled maxim" that God's justice catches the impenitent.
Yet every major commentator also observes that Zophar misapplies this truth to Job. Clarke says Zophar's premises are good but his application is "totally erroneous" because he assumes Job's suffering proves secret sin. The Cambridge Bible notes that Zophar 'throws out his warning more generally, and Job may accept it if it fits him.' The consensus is clear: the statement stands as a biblical axiom about the destiny of the wicked, but the book of Job itself exposes the danger of using such axioms to judge an innocent sufferer.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Straightforward warning (traditional): The verse fits Zophar's argument and echoes covenant curses (Deut 28:65); most historical commentators accept it as an inspired truth about the wicked.
- Contextual corrective (modern-critical): The book of Job as a whole undermines Zophar's retribution theology; the verse may be a true statement in itself but is invalidated by its false premise that Job is wicked.
What is clear: The literal meaning is clear: the wicked have no refuge, their hope dies with them, and their end is despair.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| The meaning of 'hope' in this context | The hope of the wicked is not genuine saving faith but a confidence in escape from consequences; it dies with them. | Some (Clarke, Wesley) say it means they die without any real hope; others (Barnes) say their hope may continue until death but then collapses into despair. |
| Zophar's application to Job | Zophar intends the warning for Job if he refuses to repent; he assumes Job is guilty. | Whether Zophar's assumption makes the verse itself irrelevant (some modern readers argue the book's structure undercuts Zophar's theology) or whether the verse still stands as an inspired general truth (historical commentators). |
| Retribution theology, immediate or eschatological? | The verse describes temporal consequences (failing eyes, lost refuge) that manifest in this life. | Older commentators (Clarke, Barnes) see hints of eternal judgment beyond the grave; others (Cambridge) read it as limited to this-life punishment because Zophar's horizon did not extend to a future state. |
| The meaning of 'giving up the ghost' / 'breathing out the soul' | It refers to physical death, the final breath. | Whether it means the wicked's hope literally becomes death itself (they long for death) or merely that hope expires like the breath (they die in despair). |
Historical & Cultural Context
Zophar the Naamathite speaks third in the cycle of Job's friends. He is the youngest and, as Lange's commentary notes, "the least considerate", hot, dogmatic, and impatient. His speech (Job 11) comes after Job has insisted on his innocence (Job 10) and accused God of being unjust. Zophar cannot tolerate this. He builds his case in three moves: first, a wish that God would speak and expose Job's hidden guilt (vv.2-6); second, a description of God's infinite knowledge to humble Job (vv.7-12); third, a call to repentance with a promise of restoration (vv.13-19). Verse 20 is the final threat: if Job does not repent, he will end up like the wicked.
This is classic retribution theology, the belief that God distributes rewards and punishments in this life directly and visibly. Barnes observes that Zophar 'seems however to think that rewards and punishments were distributed in this life, and does not refer, at least very evidently, to a future state.' For Zophar, suffering is always evidence of guilt. That assumption drives everything he says. He cannot conceive of a righteous person suffering unjustly.
The literary context matters: Job 11 contrasts two paths. Verses 13-19 paint an idyllic picture for the repentant: security, hope, safety, favor with others. Verse 20 slams the door on the alternative, no escape, no hope. But the book of Job as a whole demolishes the simplistic equation of suffering with sin. This verse is a true statement; Zophar's use of it is false.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Job 11:20. The Masoretic Text is stable across manuscripts. The translation differences between versions ("giving up the ghost" vs. "breathing out of life") reflect interpretive choices about the phrase mappach naphesh, not manuscript disagreement.
Reception History
Christian interpreters have consistently read Job 11:20 as a description of the hopeless end awaiting the unrepentant. Reformation-era commentators (Calvin, Luther's circle) emphasized the contrast between the wicked's fading hope and the believer's sure confidence in God. Matthew Henry (1710) used it to encourage repentance, warning that delaying only deepens ruin. Adam Clarke (1826) and Barnes (1832) both highlighted Zophar's error while affirming the general truth, a pattern that shows the church has long wrestled with how to hold biblical promises and warnings together.
In the broader reception of Job, this verse has been read as an epitaph for the theology of the friends: true in the abstract, false in the specific. Preachers across traditions have used it to call for self-examination while cautioning against the kind of spiritual certainty that judges others' suffering.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The eyes that fail. The wicked gaze constantly for rescue, but their eyes grow weary and find nothing. Physical and spiritual exhaustion meet.
- The refuge that perishes. Every escape route vanishes. The Hebrew manos means a place to flee. For the unrepentant, there is nowhere to run from God's justice.
- The hope that expires. Their final expectation is not salvation but drowning in death. The word mappach ("gasp") echoes the final breath. Their hope dies with them.
Five-point outline
- The wrong assumption. Zophar mistakes Job as a wicked man. The preacher must distinguish a general truth from its misapplication.
- What the wicked lose: sight of any good (Deut 28:65).
- What the wicked cannot find: a place to hide (Job 8:13-14).
- What the wicked are left with: a hope that collapses into death (Job 27:8).
- The biblical correction. Job shows us not all suffering is punishment. The wicked's end is real; that does not mean every sufferer is wicked.
Illustration hooks
- A person waiting for a medical test result: each day hope shrinks as no good news comes. The wicked's experience is like that, prolonged watching with no relief.
- A fugitive watching every road blockaded. Every possible escape closes one by one until there is no way out. That is the picture of manos abad.
- Someone clinging to a false hope: a relationship, a reputation, a financial strategy, and watching it give way, until only despair remains.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Does this verse mean I am wicked if my hope fails in hard times?
- How do I know whether my suffering is punishment or something else?
- What hope is there for someone who is truly wicked? Can they still repent?
Leading a Discussion
Zophar delivers this warning as if it applies directly to Job. The book of Job forces us to ask: when is a biblical warning being used rightly, and when is it being weaponized? This session helps your group hold two truths together, the real fate of the wicked, and the danger of misapplying that truth to someone God has not condemned.
Discussion questions
- Read Job 11:13-20. How does verse 20 function as the final word of Zophar's argument? What would his audience think if they heard it?
- Look at the Hebrew word ka·lah ("fail"). It carries the sense of being consumed or exhausted. In what ways can hope itself "consume" a person when it is misplaced?
- Barnes says Zophar assumes without proof that Job is a wicked man. When have you seen someone apply a general biblical truth to a specific situation without having all the facts?
- The cross-references include Deuteronomy 28:65 (failing eyes and pining soul as covenant curses). How does that help us understand why Zophar spoke this way?
- Job 27:8 asks, "What is the hope of the godless when God takes away his life?" How does this verse expand or challenge what Zophar says here?
- If Zophar's premise (all suffering is punishment) is wrong, what does that mean for how we read other wisdom passages that link suffering and sin?
- How can a Christian today affirm the reality of judgment for the wicked without falling into Zophar's error of judging individual sufferers?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Leviticus 26:16 | I also will do this to you: I will appoint terror over you, even consumption and fever, that shall consume the eyes, and make the soul to pine away. You will sow your seed in vain, for your enemies will eat it. |
| Deuteronomy 28:65 | Among these nations you will find no ease, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; but Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and pining of soul. |
| Job 8:13 | So are the paths of all who forget God. The hope of the godless man will perish, |
| Job 8:14 | whose confidence will break apart, whose trust is a spider’s web. |
| Job 17:5 | He who denounces his friends for plunder, even the eyes of his children will fail. |
| Job 18:14 | He will be rooted out of the security of his tent. He will be brought to the king of terrors. |
| Job 27:8 | For what is the hope of the godless, when he is cut off, when God takes away his life? |
| Job 27:22 | For it hurls at him, and does not spare, as he flees away from his hand. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke notes that some read this verse as meaning hope ends with a person’s final breath. He also says that others understand it as showing God watches over the wicked constantly. Both views come from the text itself.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes notes that the wicked’s hope ends when life leaves the body. Their false hope disappears just as breath leaves a person. Christians who hold the view that Christ died and rose again point to Scripture, while others emphasize other verses. Both seek to be faithful to Scripture. Christ is the same yesterday and will always be.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Zophar says the wicked will die instead of living. He believes God’s suffering of Job does not mean Job is guilty.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note stresses that the wicked person’s final state is not merely external ruin but deep inner torment. Their confidence crumbles, every shelter vanishes, and what they called hope turns into nothing but anguish of the mind.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill stresses that the wicked person's hope is a dying hope, as empty as a last breath. His eyes fail from waiting for relief that never comes, his refuge vanishes, and he is left with nothing but despair or even a wish for death. Zophar uses this grim picture to warn Job.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
Zophar says those who refuse to turn to God will lose all hope and die. Their final hope leaves them just as breath leaves a body.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch explain that Zophar's phrase "their hope is the breathing forth of the soul" does not mean the wicked hope for death. It means every one of their expectations remains unfulfilled, and giving up the ghost is simply where all their disappointed hopes end.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange highlights Zophar as the youngest and most intolerant friend, a private dogmatist with no revelation to fall back on. In this verse, he issues an ultimatum: either repent and recover prosperity, or face the wicked's hopeless end, where hope itself expires like a final breath.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes that true hope comes only when the wicked stop sinning and prepare their heart to turn to God. They will then have lasting security because their hope remains firm.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley stresses that the hope of these people is not just dashed but becomes the very source of their despair. They grieve because they long for a relief they will never receive, and their spirits finally give out as vain and desperate as the last flicker of life in a dying man.