New English Translation
Job 20:17
17He will not look on the streams, the rivers, which are the torrents of honey and butter.
Job 20:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.
- New International Version (NIV)He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.
- English Standard Version (ESV)He will not look upon the rivers, the streams flowing with honey and curds.
- New King James Version (NKJV)He will not see the streams, The rivers flowing with honey and cream.
Context of Job 20:17
15The wealth that he consumed he vomits up, God will make him throw it out of his stomach. 16He sucks the poison of serpents; the fangs of a viper kill him. He will not look on the streams, the rivers, which are the torrents of honey and butter. 18He gives back the ill-gotten gain without assimilating it; he will not enjoy the wealth from his commerce. 19For he has oppressed the poor and abandoned them; he has seized a house which he did not build.
Read all of Job 20Job 20:17 word by word
אַל־יֵ֥רֶא בִפְלַגּ֑וֹת נַהֲרֵ֥י נַ֝חֲלֵ֗י דְּבַ֣שׁ וְחֶמְאָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 20:17
- Numbers 14:23they will by no means see the land that I swore to their fathers, nor will any of them who despised me see it.
- 2 Kings 7:2An officer who was the king’s right-hand man responded to the prophet, “Look, even if the Lord made it rain by opening holes in the sky, could this happen so soon?” Elisha said, “Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food!”
- Jeremiah 17:6They will be like a shrub in the desert. They will not experience good things even when they happen. It will be as though they were growing in the desert, in a salt land where no one can live.
- Luke 16:24So he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish in this fire.’
- Psalms 36:8They are filled with food from your house, and you allow them to drink from the river of your delicacies.
- Isaiah 41:17The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched from thirst. I, the Lord, will respond to their prayers; I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.
- Revelation 22:1Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life – water as clear as crystal – pouring out from the throne of God and of the Lamb,
- Deuteronomy 32:13He enabled him to travel over the high terrain of the land, and he ate of the produce of the fields. He provided honey for him from the cliffs, and olive oil from the hardest of rocks,
- 2 Samuel 17:29honey, curds, flocks, and cheese. For they said, “The people are no doubt hungry, tired, and thirsty there in the desert.”
- Psalms 81:16“I would feed Israel the best wheat, and would satisfy your appetite with honey from the rocky cliffs.”
- Isaiah 7:15He will eat sour milk and honey, which will help him know how to reject evil and choose what is right.
Commentaries on Job 20:17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17He shall not see the rivers - Mr. Good has the following judicious note on this passage: "Honey and butter are the common results of a rich, well-watered pasturage, offering a perpetual banquet of grass to kine, and of nectar to bees; and thus loading the possessor with the most luscious luxuries of pastoral life, peculiarly so before the discovery of the means of obtaining sugar. The expression appears to have been proverbial; and is certainly used here…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17He shall not see the rivers - That is, he shall not be permitted to enjoy plenty and prosperity. Rivers or rills of honey and butter are emblems of prosperity; compare Exodus 3:17; Job 29:6. A land flowing with milk, honey, and butter, is, in the Scripture, the highest image of prosperity and happiness. The word rendered “rivers” (פלגה pelaggâh ), means rather “rivulets small streams - or brooks,” such as were made by “dividing” a large stream (from פלג…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 10-22Verses 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…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17The streams of olive oil and rivers flowing with honey and cream represent great blessings (Exodus 5:19; Deuteronomy 27:3; Joel 3:18).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. floods--literally, "stream of floods," plentiful streams flowing with milk, &c. (Job 29:6; Ex 3:17). Honey and butter are more fluid in the East than with us and are poured out from jars. These "rivers" or water brooks are in the sultry East emblems of prosperity.Read the comment
Topics related to Job 20:17
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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