Job 21:20

Job 21:20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

Ver. 20. His eyes shall see his destruction] His slaughter, saith the Greek; his breaking to pieces, saith the Chaldee; this he shall see with his eyes, the destruction of his person, and ruin of his family. The sight of evil is a grief to see as well as the feeling of it is a pain; and that is complete destruction which is not only felt but seen. Zedekiah first saw all his children slain, and then had his eyes put out. Maurichus had the like woeful sight, and then was stewed in his own broth by the traitor Phocas.

And he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty] Heb. The scalding hot wrath, worse than that cup of boiling lead turned down the throat of a certain drunken man, by the command of the Turkish bashaw. Jerusalem drank wrath to drunkenness, and had none to guide her; as a drunken man had need to have, Isa 51:17. The nations were to drink it to madness, Jer 25:10. Babylon’s brats shall drink of the wine of God’s wrath, Rev 14:10 (poison in wine works more furiously than in water); their irreparable ruin is set forth to the eye, as it were, when, Rev 18:21, an angel, a mighty angel, taketh a stone, a great stone, even a millstone, which he casteth and with impetuous force thrusteth into the bottom of the sea, whence it cannot be buoyed up. Now what is a mighty angel to the Almighty God, who hath his name, Shaddai, from destroying, as some are of opinion?

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When God recompenseth his wickedness, he shall know that his prosperity was but vanity.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Another questionable assertion of the friends, that the sinner sees his own and his children's destruction in his lifetime.

drink-- (Psa 11:6; Isa 51:17; Lam 4:21).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 20. His eyes shall see his destruction] He shall perceive its approach, and have the double punishment of fearing and feeling; feeling a THOUSAND deaths in fearing ONE.

He shall drink of the wrath] The cup of God's wrath, the cup of trembling, c., is frequently expressed or referred to in the sacred writings, De 32:33 Isa 51:17-22; Jer 25:15; Re 14:8. It appears to be a metaphor taken from those cups of poison which certain criminals were obliged to drink. A cup of the juice of hemlock was the wrath or punishment assigned by the Athenian magistrates to the philosopher Socrates.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(20) His eyes shall see his destruction.—This may be understood as the continuation of Job’s suggested amendment of the Divine government. “His own eyes should see his destruction, and he should drink of the wrath, &c. For what concern or interest hath he in his house after him when the number of his months is cut off, &c. “

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For what pleasure hath he in his house after him,.... As, on the one hand, the prosperity of his children after his decease gives him no pleasure and delight, so, on the other hand, the calamities and distresses of his family for his sins and theirs give him no pain or uneasiness; he knows nothing that befalls them, and it is no part of his concern; and let what will befall them, he cares not for it; he feels it not, he is not sensible of it; and therefore to object that signifies nothing; see Job 14:21; or, "what business has he with his house after death?" the affairs (d) of his family do not at all concern him, one way or another; he is not affected with them; he can neither consider their happiness as a blessing nor their calamities as a punishment to him:

when the number of his months is cut off in the midst? the years, the months, and the days of the lives of men, are numbered and determined by the Lord, Job 14:5; which, when finished, the thread of life is cut off in the midst, from the rest of the months, which a man or his friends might have expected he would have lived; or rather, "when his number of the months is fully up" (e); when the calculation of them is complete, and the full number of them is perfected; the sense is, what cares a wicked man for what befalls his family after his death, when he has lived out the full term of life in great outward happiness and prosperity; has lived to be full of days, of months, and years, to a full age, even to an age that may be truly called old age?

(d) So Schultens. (e) "integro numero calculis ducti sunt", Cocceius; "cumulatam sortem habuerint", Schultens.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

His eyes shall see his destruction - That is, his own eyes shall see his destruction, or the calamities that shall come upon him. That is, “You maintain that, or this is the position which you defend.” Job designs to meet this, and to show that it is not always so.

And he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty - Wrath is often represented as a cup which the wicked are compelled to drink. See the notes, Isa 51:17.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

His eyes shall see his destruction, i.e. he shall be destroyed;

as to see death, is to die, Psa 89:48; Heb 11:5; and to see affliction, or any kind of evil, is to feel it Psa 90:15; Lam 3:1; and to see good, is to enjoy it, Job 7:7; 9:25; Psa 34:12. Or this phrase may be emphatical, he shall foresee his ruin hastening towards him, and not be able to prevent or avoid it; he shall sensibly feel himself sinking and perishing; which aggravates his misery.

He shall drink; not sip or taste, but drink; which word commonly notes the abundance of the thing spoken of.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

20. His eyes shall see — Better, His eyes should see… and he should drink, etc. Job is still answering the insufficient theory of substitution. It is right that the parent, not the child should see destruction.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

His eyes shall see his destruction (or, let his own eyes see his destruction), and he shall drink (or, let him drink) of the wrath of the Almighty. It will impress him far more with a sense of his wickedness, and of his guilt in God"s sight, if he receives punishment in his own person, than if he merely suffers vicariously through his children.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See - He shall be destroyed; as to see death, is to die.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Let his eyes see his ruin Heb. כידו, his ruin, but I cannot find a comparison in the Bible. However, according to the context of the verse, it appears to mean ruin, and so, many did not find a comparison to it. (כידו An expression of אֵידוֹ, his ruin. The “aleph” is substituted by a “chaff.”)

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.