Job 20:16

Zophar is remarkably graphic, and correct, in describing the plight of the wicked man. This section shows that man's wickedness comes back upon himself. Evil may be sweet in his mouth, and he all but hides it under his tongue. He is willing to speak wickedness instead of judging it and giving it up (vv.12-13). He keeps it in his mouth, soon swallows it, and his stomach turns sour (v.14). What he swallows becomes as cobra venom.

Punishment falls on his children as well as on himself. How could it be otherwise? However sweet evil was to him, and however tightly he held on to it, it was poison inside him. God makes him vomit up the riches he devoured so greedily and without scruple. And he himself is killed too, as if by a venomous bite.

The reason for this dreadful end to the life of the wicked is not hard to find. He has only himself to blame, and he is reaping what he sowed. The poison comes from inside him. In a few strokes the speaker draws a dreadful picture of the sinful man. He gorges himself on sinful pleasures, hidden and treasured under his tongue. So he is like the venomous snake, preparing the deadly poison that will bring death to himself. The riches he gained by evil will torture his last days. All of this is solemnly true. God is not arbitrary when He punishes the wicked. They store up wrath for themselves on the day of wrath, when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. … How wicked and empty is the talk about God being "too merciful to send men to hell." Men show no mercy to themselves. They have only themselves to blame for their doom. And all this stands out even more sharply because infinite love has provided a free remedy, which so many refuse.

The word is pethen. It has been identified with the naja haje, a snake that can spit its deadly poison some distance. This is why the Dutch settlers at the Cape called it the spitting snake. Its 'cruel venom' is a picture of the wine of the wicked (Deut. 32:33; cf. Rom. 3:13), and of the inward misery of those who are secretly wicked (Job 20:14, 16).

There is an intensity in Zophar that gives his words their own distinct character. He attacks evil with force, and he leaves no doubt that he means Job. He describes the certain doom of the wicked in language so violent that he soon runs out of things to say. … Everything he says is true. His one unforgivable mistake is that he tries to apply it to a righteous man.

But this is not the universal rule, or even the usual one. Many evil men go on for years in outward prosperity, and then pass on to give their account in another world with little visible change. … God varies His dealings with men, so that in every possible way they are left without excuse. He has tried swift judgment, long patience, chastening and prosperity, in case by any means men may be brought to repentance.