New International Version
Job 20:17
17He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.
Job 20:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)They will never again enjoy streams of olive oil or rivers of milk and honey.
Context of Job 20:17
15He will spit out the riches he swallowed; God will make his stomach vomit them up. 16He will suck the poison of serpents; the fangs of an adder will kill him. He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream. 18What he toiled for he must give back uneaten; he will not enjoy the profit from his trading. 19For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute; he has seized houses 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 14:23not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.
- 2 Kings 7:2The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” “You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it!”
- Jeremiah 17:6That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.
- Luke 16:24So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
- Psalms 36:8They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights.
- Isaiah 41:17“The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the Lord will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
- Revelation 22:1Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
- Deuteronomy 32:13He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him with the fruit of the fields. He nourished him with honey from the rock, and with oil from the flinty crag,
- 2 Samuel 17:29honey and curds, sheep, and cheese from cows’ milk for David and his people to eat. For they said, “The people have become exhausted and hungry and thirsty in the wilderness.”
- Psalms 81:16But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
- Isaiah 7:15He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the 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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