Job 20:18

That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down: according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(18) That which he laboured for shall he restore . . .—The latter part of this verse is probably right; but it may be, “According to the substance that he hath gotten he shall not rejoice.”

Benson Commentary

Job 20:18. That which he laboured for shall he restore — Expressed in Hebrew by only two words, משׁיב יגע, meshib jagang, literally, restituens laborem, restoring labor: that is, the goods which were gotten with labour, that of others, or his own. It may refer either to the goods of others, of which he had obtained possession, not without pains and difficulty; or to his own goods, honestly gotten by the sweat of his brow. And this may be intended as an aggravation of his misery, that he is compelled, not only to restore other men’s goods, which were in his hands, but to part with his own also, to make reparation for damages. And shall not swallow it down — So as to hold it: he shall not possess it long, nor to any important purpose. According to his substance shall the restitution be — That is, he shall be forced to part with all his property to make compensation for his wrongs. And he shall not rejoice therein — He shall not enjoy what he had gotten, because it shall be taken from him. Houbigant’s translation of this verse is, He shall restore what he gained by his labour, and shall not consume it. His merchandise was abundant, but he shall not enjoy it.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

20:10-22 The miserable condition of the wicked man in this world is fully set forth. The lusts of the flesh are here called the sins of his youth. His hiding it and keeping it under his tongue, denotes concealment of his beloved lust, and delight therein. But He who knows what is in the heart, knows what is under the tongue, and will discover it. The love of the world, and of the wealth of it, also is wickedness, and man sets his heart upon these. Also violence and injustice, these sins bring God's judgments upon nations and families. Observe the punishment of the wicked man for these things. Sin is turned into gall, than which nothing is more bitter; it will prove to him poison; so will all unlawful gains be. In his fulness he shall be in straits, through the anxieties of his own mind. To be led by the sanctifying grace of God to restore what was unjustly gotten, as Zaccheus was, is a great mercy. But to be forced to restore by the horrors of a despairing conscience, as Judas was, has no benefit and comfort attending it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

That which he laboured for shall he restore - This means that he shall give back the profit of his labor. He shall not be permitted to enjoy it or to consume it.

And shall not swallow it down - Shall not enjoy it; shall not eat it. He shall be obliged to give it to others.

According to his substance shall the restitution be - literally, according to Gesenius, "As a possession to be restored in which one rejoices not." The sense is, that all that he has is like property which a man has, which he feels not to be his own, but which belongs to another and which is soon to be given "up." In such property a man does not find that pleasure which he does in that which he feels to be his own. He cannot dispose of it, and he cannot look on it and feel that it is his. So Zophar says it is with the wicked man. He can look on his property only as that which he will soon be compelled to part with, and not having any security for retaining it, he cannot rejoice in it as if it were his own. Dr. Lee, however, renders this, "As his wealth is, so shall his restitution be; and he shall not rejoice." But the interpretation proposed above, seems to me to accord best with the sense of the Hebrew.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

18. Image from food which is taken away from one before he can swallow it.

restitution—(So Pr 6:31). The parallelism favors the English Version rather than the translation of Gesenius, "As a possession to be restored in which he rejoices not."

he shall not rejoice—His enjoyment of his ill-gotten gains shall then be at an end (Job 20:5).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

That which he laboured for, Heb. labour, i.e. the goods which were gotten with labour; either,

1. By the labour of others; or rather,

2. By his own labour; which may relate as well to the goods of others, which he got not without pains and difficulty; or to his own goods honestly gotten by the sweat of his brows. And this is an aggravation of his misery, that he was forced to restore not only other men’s goods which were in his hands, but his own also, to make reparation for their damages.

Shall not swallow it down, to wit, so as to hold it; for otherwise he did swallow it, but withal did speedily vomit it up again, Job 20:15, which was as if he had not swallowed it. He shall not possess it long, nor to any considerable purpose.

According to his substance shall the restitution be, i.e. he shall be forced to part with all his estate to make compensation for his wrongs done to others.

He shall not rejoice therein, i.e. he shall not enjoy what he hath gotten, because it shall be taken from him.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

That which he laboured for shall he restore,.... This explains what was before figuratively expressed by vomiting, Job 20:15; and is to be interpreted either of that which another laboured for; so the Targum paraphrases it,

"another's labour;''

and Mr. Broughton renders it, "he shall restore what man's pain get": and then the sense is, that that which another got by his labour, coming by some means or another into the hand of this rapacious, covetous, wicked man, he shall be obliged to restore to him again; or the hire of the labourer being detained in his hands, he shall be forced to give it to him, as the Egyptians, by lending the Israelites their jewels of gold and silver, restored to them the wages due to them for all their labour among them for many years; or else this is to be understood of what the wicked man himself had laboured for, who with much toil and labour, as well as trick and artifice, had got the wealth of others into his hands; but should be obliged to make restoration of it again, and along with that also what he had laboured for, and had got even in an honest and lawful way, the marathon of unrighteousness corrupting and marring his whole substance:

and shall not swallow it down; or "not have time to devour it", as Mr. Broughton; he shall be obliged so soon to restore it, that it shall be as if he had never had it; he shall have no enjoyment of it, at least no comfort, pleasure, and satisfaction in it:

according to his substance shall the restitution be; the law of Moses required, in some cases, fourfold, in others fivefold, and sometimes sevenfold was exacted; and if a man had not sufficient to pay, all his substance was to go towards payment, and by this means what he lawfully got went along with that which was obtained in an illicit way, as before, see Exodus 22:1;

and he shall not rejoice therein; not in the restitution he is forced to make, it being greatly against his will; nor in his ill-gotten substance, at least but for a little while, as in Job 20:5; he shall neither enjoy it nor have delight and pleasure in it, nor glory of it, as men are apt to do; Mr. Broughton reads this in connection with the preceding clause thus,

"and never rejoice in the wealth for which he must make recompense.''

Geneva Study Bible

That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down: according to his substance shall the restitution be, {i} and he shall not rejoice therein.

(i) That is these raveners and spoilers of the poor will enjoy their theft but for a time for after God will take it from them, and cause them to make restitution so that it is only an exchange.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

18. That which he laboured for] i. e. that which he has acquired—the fruit of his labour; this he shall restore and shall not swallow down, or enjoy.

according to his substance] This half verse reads: according to the wealth which he has gotten he shall not rejoice, lit. according to the wealth of his exchange (cf. ch. Job 15:31). The meaning is, however great the substance be which by his evil he has acquired he shall not have the joy of it he promised himself.

The following verses read most naturally,

19.  Because he hath oppressed and forsaken the poor,

The house which he hath violently taken away he shall not build up;

20.  Because he hath known no rest in his belly,

He shall not deliver himself with that wherein he delighteth;

21.  There was nothing left that he devoured not,

Therefore his good shall not abide.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 18. - That which he laboured for he shall restore. Even that which he gets by his own honest labour he shall have to part with and give up. He shall not swallow it down; i.e. "shall not absorb it, and make it his own." According to his substance shall the restitution be. So Schultens, Professor Lee, and Dr. Stanley Leathes, who understand Zophar as asserting that, in order to compensate those whom he has robbed, the wicked man will have to make over to them all the wealth that is honestly his Others translate, "According to the substance that he hath gotten, he shall not rejoice" (see the Revised Version, and the commentaries of Ewald, Delitzsch, and Dillmann). Job 20:18

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

17 He shall not delight himself in streams,

Like to rivers and brooks of honey and cream.

18 Giving back that for which he laboured, he shall not swallow it;

He shall not rejoice according to the riches he hath gotten.

19 Because he cast down, let the destitute lie helpless;

He shall not, in case he hath seized a house, finish building it.

20 Because he knew no rest in his craving,

He shall not be able to rescue himself with what he most loveth.

As poets sing of the aurea aetas of the paradise-like primeval age: Flumina jam lactis, jam flumina nectaris ibant,

(Note: Ovid, Metam. i. 112, comp. Virgil, Ecl. iv. 30:

Et durae quercus sudabant roscida mella;

and Horace, Epod. xvi. 47

Mella cava manant ex ilice, montibus altis

Levis crepante lympha desilit pede.)

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