Job 20 15

Job 20:15 kjv

He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.

Job 20:15 nkjv

He swallows down riches And vomits them up again; God casts them out of his belly.

Job 20:15 niv

He will spit out the riches he swallowed; God will make his stomach vomit them up.

Job 20:15 esv

He swallows down riches and vomits them up again; God casts them out of his belly.

Job 20:15 nlt

They will vomit the wealth they swallowed.
God won't let them keep it down.

Job 20 verses

Job 20 15 Meaning

Job 20:15 vividly portrays the inevitable and repulsive loss of ill-gotten wealth by the wicked. Despite their greedy acquisition and internalizing of riches, these ill-gained possessions will bring them no lasting benefit. Instead, they will be forcibly disgorged, signifying a humiliating divine reversal and expulsion of what they covet most, demonstrating God's unwavering justice.

Job 20 15 Context

Job 20:15 is spoken by Zophar the Naamathite, the third of Job’s three friends, during his second and final discourse (Job 20:1-29). Zophar, like his companions, rigidly adheres to the traditional retribution theology of his time: he believes God infallibly rewards the righteous with prosperity and punishes the wicked with adversity in this life. In this speech, Zophar emphatically argues that any prosperity experienced by the wicked is short-lived and illusory. He is responding to Job's continuous assertion of innocence and Job's apparent lament that the wicked sometimes prosper. Zophar uses strong, graphic imagery to convey his belief that even if the wicked voraciously acquire wealth through their unrighteousness, God will ensure its forced expulsion from them, signaling a humiliating end to their transient success and a demonstration of divine justice.

Job 20 15 Word analysis

• He has swallowed down: (בָּלַע, balaʿ) A Hebrew verb meaning "to swallow," "to gulp down," "to engulf," or "to devour." It powerfully conveys the rapacious, voracious, and eager manner in which the wicked acquire and internalize their gains, suggesting a deep, greedy consumption that they wish to make fully their own.
• riches: (חַיִל, ḥayil) While often translated as "strength," "might," or "army," in this context, it clearly denotes "wealth," "substance," "possessions," or "property." The choice of word subtly implies wealth that might have been acquired through force, power, or even violence, consistent with Zophar's view of the wicked.
• and he shall vomit them up again; (וַיְקִאֶנוּ, vayqīʾennū) This Hebrew verb means "to vomit" or "to disgorge." This highly visceral imagery presents a stark and repulsive contrast to the act of swallowing. It denotes a forced, violent, and humiliating expulsion, signifying that the ill-gotten gains are ultimately indigestible, repulsive to a divine order, and will not provide true nourishment, satisfaction, or security to the one who consumed them.
• God shall cast them out: (אֵל יֹרִשֶׁנּוּ, ʾēl yōrišennū) ʾēl is a divine name for God, emphasizing His power, supremacy, and unwavering commitment to justice. Yōrišennū comes from the Hebrew root יָרַשׁ (yarash), which means "to possess," but in the Hiphil stem, as here, it signifies "to cause to possess," or more pertinently, "to dispossess," "to drive out," or "to expel forcefully." This phrase definitively attributes the forced expulsion to a direct, powerful act of God's sovereign judgment.
• of his belly: (מִבִּטְנוֹ, mibbṭnō) From the Hebrew בֶּטֶן (beten), meaning "belly," "stomach," "womb," or figuratively, the "inward parts" or "innermost being." In this context, it signifies the place where the wicked have internalized, hoarded, and believe they have securely held their ill-gotten wealth. The expulsion from the "belly" therefore means a deep, fundamental purging and stripping away of that which they treasured and believed was deeply assimilated into their very being.

Words-group analysis:

• "He has swallowed down riches": This paints a vivid picture of avaricious greed and unrighteous acquisition. It emphasizes the profound desire of the wicked to consume and absorb wealth, making it an integral part of their being through unjust means.
• "and he shall vomit them up again": This dramatically reverses the previous image. It portrays the utter futility and eventual rejection of ill-gotten gains. What was greedily ingested will be nauseatingly and forcefully expelled, demonstrating that such wealth brings no lasting benefit or peace, but only reversal and repulsion.
• "God shall cast them out of his belly": This clarifies that the ultimate force behind this reversal is divine justice. It signifies God's direct intervention to ensure that wealth acquired through wickedness is not permitted to remain, attacking the very core ("belly") where the wicked believed their ill-gotten gains were securely possessed. It is an act of sovereign purging.

Job 20 15 Bonus section

The imagery of "swallowing" and "vomiting" found in Job 20:15 is part of a broader symbolic language in the Old Testament, where the land or an entity might "vomit out" its inhabitants or undesirable elements due to defilement and sin (e.g., Lev 18:28, 20:22). This suggests a moral order woven into creation itself, implying that what is repugnant to God's holiness and justice cannot be permanently retained within the divine system. Zophar uses this potent imagery not just to describe loss, but as a depiction of a forced and disgusting rejection, demonstrating that the acquisition of wealth through injustice is not only unprofitable but ultimately causes spiritual nausea and active repulsion from God's hand. This also foreshadows the complete undoing of the wicked man, not just his wealth.

Job 20 15 Commentary

Job 20:15 encapsulates Zophar’s rigid theological conviction that divine retribution unfailingly manifests in this life, especially concerning ill-gotten gains. The graphic, almost revolting, metaphor of "swallowing" and "vomiting" serves to highlight the intrinsic repulsiveness of unjustly acquired wealth from God’s perspective. What a wicked individual devours with unbridled avarice will eventually be violently and humiliatingly ejected, signifying that such gain provides no true satisfaction or security. The specific emphasis that "God shall cast them out of his belly" attributes this forceful expulsion directly to a divine act of justice, targeting the very seat of the wicked's possessions and desires. Though the Book of Job challenges the simplistic application of Zophar’s theology to Job himself, the verse powerfully affirms a universal principle: ill-gotten gains, rooted in injustice, can never genuinely prosper or satisfy, for God Himself stands against them, ensuring their ultimate disgorgement and stripping away from the one who seized them.