The Meaning of Job 20:26 Explained

Job 20:26

KJV: All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle.

YLT: All darkness is hid for his treasures, Consume him doth a fire not blown, Broken is the remnant in his tent.

Darby: All darkness is laid up for his treasures: a fire not blown shall devour him; it shall feed upon what is left in his tent.

ASV: All darkness is laid up for his treasures: A fire not blown by man'shall devour him; It shall consume that which is left in his tent.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

All darkness  [shall be] hid  in his secret places:  a fire  not blown  shall consume  him; it shall go ill  with him that is left  in his tabernacle. 

What does Job 20:26 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 20:1-29 - "the Triumphing Of The Wicked"
Zophar is the man who least of all understood Job. The rebuke which Job had just administered, Job 19:28-29, has vexed him, so that he speaks with impatience.
The theme of Zophar's speech is the brevity of the prosperity of the wicked. He claims that this is an acknowledged principle, Job 20:4; then proceeds to show it by many striking metaphors.
Hypocrite, Job 20:5, is "godless" in the r.v.; and in describing the prosperity and speedy destruction of such, Job 20:5-11, he manifestly applies his words to Job. He refuses to pay any heed to Job's protestations of innocence. His theology was: God is righteous; he blesses and prospers the good, and destroys the wicked. Job was being destroyed; therefore Job was wicked. Thus often do we in our ignorance misunderstand God and cruelly misjudge man.
Zophar descends to more particulars. He describes the pleasure which the ungodly has in sin, Job 20:12-13; how his sin becomes his punishment, Job 20:14-22; and how terrible destruction at last visits him, Job 20:23-28, as his portion from God, Job 20:29. Though in all this Zophar was wrong in applying it to Job's case, and equally wrong in supposing that this life is the place of judgment for the wicked, yet it is important to remember that he was right in seeing a very real connection between sin and punishment. However sweet sin may be to the taste, it is sure to become bitter as the gall of asps ere long. The "pleasures of sin" are but for a season. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 20

1  Zophar shows the state and portion of the wicked

What do the individual words in Job 20:26 mean?

Total darkness [is] reserved for his treasures will consume him An fire not unfanned it shall go ill with him who is left in his tent
כָּל־ חֹשֶׁךְ֮ טָמ֪וּן לִצְפּ֫וּנָ֥יו תְּ֭אָכְלֵהוּ אֵ֣שׁ לֹֽא־ נֻפָּ֑ח יֵ֖רַע שָׂרִ֣יד בְּאָהֳלֽוֹ

כָּל־  Total 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
חֹשֶׁךְ֮  darkness 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: חֹשֶׁךְ  
Sense: darkness, obscurity.
טָמ֪וּן  [is]  reserved 
Parse: Verb, Qal, QalPassParticiple, masculine singular
Root: טָמַן  
Sense: to hide, conceal, bury.
לִצְפּ֫וּנָ֥יו  for  his  treasures 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, QalPassParticiple, masculine plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: צָפַן 
Sense: to hide, treasure, treasure or store up.
תְּ֭אָכְלֵהוּ  will  consume  him 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person feminine singular, third person masculine singular
Root: אָכַל  
Sense: to eat, devour, burn up, feed.
אֵ֣שׁ  An  fire 
Parse: Noun, common singular
Root: אֵשׁ  
Sense: fire.
נֻפָּ֑ח  unfanned 
Parse: Verb, Pual, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: נָפַח  
Sense: to breathe, blow, sniff at, seethe, give up or lose (life).
יֵ֖רַע  it  shall  go  ill 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect Jussive, third person masculine singular
Root: יָרַע  
Sense: (Qal) to tremble, quiver.
שָׂרִ֣יד  with  him  who  is  left 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: שָׂרִיד  
Sense: survivor, remnant, that which is left.
בְּאָהֳלֽוֹ  in  his  tent 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: אֹהֶל  
Sense: tent.