Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 20:18
That which he labored for shall he restore, and shall not swallow [it] down: according to [his] substance [shall] the restitution [be], and he shall not rejoice [therein].
18. That which he laboured for ] i. e. that which he has acquired the fruit of his labour; this he shall restore and shall not swallow down, or enjoy.
according to his substance ] This half verse reads: according to the wealth which he has gotten he shall not rejoice, lit. according to the wealth of his exchange (cf. ch. Job 15:31). The meaning is, however great the substance be which by his evil he has acquired he shall not have the joy of it he promised himself.
The following verses read most naturally,
19. Because he hath oppressed and forsaken the poor,
The house which he hath violently taken away he shall not build up;
20. Because he hath known no rest in his belly,
He shall not deliver himself with that wherein he delighteth;
21. There was nothing left that he devoured not,
Therefore his good shall not abide.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
That which he laboured for shall he restore – This means that he shall give back the profit of his labor. He shall not be permitted to enjoy it or to consume it.
And shall not swallow it down – Shall not enjoy it; shall not eat it. He shall be obliged to give it to others.
According to his substance shall the restitution be – literally, according to Gesenius, As a possession to be restored in which one rejoices not. The sense is, that all that he has is like property which a man has, which he feels not to be his own, but which belongs to another and which is soon to be given up. In such property a man does not find that pleasure which he does in that which he feels to be his own. He cannot dispose of it, and he cannot look on it and feel that it is his. So Zophar says it is with the wicked man. He can look on his property only as that which he will soon be compelled to part with, and not having any security for retaining it, he cannot rejoice in it as if it were his own. Dr. Lee, however, renders this, As his wealth is, so shall his restitution be; and he shall not rejoice. But the interpretation proposed above, seems to me to accord best with the sense of the Hebrew.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 18. That which he laboureth for shall he restore] I prefer here the reading of the Arabic, which is also supported by the Syriac, and is much nearer to the Hebrew text than the common version. He shall return to labour, but he shall not eat; he shall toil, and not be permitted to enjoy the fruit of his labour. The whole of this verse Mr. Good thus translates: –
“To labour shall he return, but he shall not eat.
A dearth his recompense: yea, nothing shall he taste.”
It may be inquired how Mr. Good arrives at this meaning. It is by considering the word yaalos, which we translate he shall rejoice, as the Arabic [Arabic] alasa, “he ate, drank, tasted;” and the word kehil, which we make a compound word, keeheyl, “according to substance,” to be the pure Arabic word [Arabic] kahala, “it was fruitless,” applied to a year of dearth: hence kahlan, “a barren year.” Conceiving these two to be pure Arabic words, for which he seems to have sufficient authority, he renders temuratho, his recompense, as in Job 15:31, and not restitution, as here.
The general meaning is, He shall labour and toil, but shall not reap, for God shall send on his land blasting and mildew. Houbigant translates the verse thus: Reddet labore partum; neque id absumet; copiosae fuerunt mercaturae ejus, sed illis non fruetur. “He shall restore what he gained by labour, nor shall he consume it; his merchandises were abundant, but he shall not enjoy them.” O, how doctors disagree! Old Coverdale gives a good sense, which is no unfrequent thing with this venerable translator: –
But laboure shal he, and yet have nothinge to eate; great travayle shal he make for riches, but he shal not enjoye them.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
That which he laboured for, Heb. labour, i.e. the goods which were gotten with labour; either,
1. By the labour of others; or rather,
2. By his own labour; which may relate as well to the goods of others, which he got not without pains and difficulty; or to his own goods honestly gotten by the sweat of his brows. And this is an aggravation of his misery, that he was forced to restore not only other mens goods which were in his hands, but his own also, to make reparation for their damages.
Shall not swallow it down, to wit, so as to hold it; for otherwise he did swallow it, but withal did speedily vomit it up again, Job 20:15, which was as if he had not swallowed it. He shall not possess it long, nor to any considerable purpose.
According to his substance shall the restitution be, i.e. he shall be forced to part with all his estate to make compensation for his wrongs done to others.
He shall not rejoice therein, i.e. he shall not enjoy what he hath gotten, because it shall be taken from him.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. Image from food which istaken away from one before he can swallow it.
restitution(So Pr6:31). The parallelism favors the English Version ratherthan the translation of GESENIUS,”As a possession to be restored in which he rejoices not.”
he shall not rejoiceHisenjoyment of his ill-gotten gains shall then be at an end (Job20:5).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
That which he laboured for shall he restore,…. This explains what was before figuratively expressed by vomiting,
Job 20:15; and is to be interpreted either of that which another laboured for; so the Targum paraphrases it,
“another’s labour;”
and Mr. Broughton renders it, “he shall restore what man’s pain get”: and then the sense is, that that which another got by his labour, coming by some means or another into the hand of this rapacious, covetous, wicked man, he shall be obliged to restore to him again; or the hire of the labourer being detained in his hands, he shall be forced to give it to him, as the Egyptians, by lending the Israelites their jewels of gold and silver, restored to them the wages due to them for all their labour among them for many years; or else this is to be understood of what the wicked man himself had laboured for, who with much toil and labour, as well as trick and artifice, had got the wealth of others into his hands; but should be obliged to make restoration of it again, and along with that also what he had laboured for, and had got even in an honest and lawful way, the marathon of unrighteousness corrupting and marring his whole substance:
and shall not swallow [it] down; or “not have time to devour it”, as Mr. Broughton; he shall be obliged so soon to restore it, that it shall be as if he had never had it; he shall have no enjoyment of it, at least no comfort, pleasure, and satisfaction in it:
according to [his] substance [shall] the restitution [be]; the law of Moses required, in some cases, fourfold, in others fivefold, and sometimes sevenfold was exacted; and if a man had not sufficient to pay, all his substance was to go towards payment, and by this means what he lawfully got went along with that which was obtained in an illicit way, as before, see Ex 22:1;
and he shall not rejoice [therein]; not in the restitution he is forced to make, it being greatly against his will; nor in his ill-gotten substance, at least but for a little while, as in Job 20:5; he shall neither enjoy it nor have delight and pleasure in it, nor glory of it, as men are apt to do; Mr. Broughton reads this in connection with the preceding clause thus,
“and never rejoice in the wealth for which he must make recompense.”
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(18) That which he laboured for shall he restore . . .The latter part of this verse is probably right; but it may be, According to the substance that he hath gotten he shall not rejoice.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18. Laboured for The fruit of labour; but not necessarily his labour.
According to his substance, etc. Delitzsch and Zockler render this difficult passage: “According to the riches he hath gotten (literally, “of his exchange,”) shall he not rejoice?” Hirtzel, Welte, etc., agree with the Authorized Version. Thus Renan: “His restitutions shall equal his riches;” which is but a feeble enlargement of the first clause of the verse. The word will be better rendered recompense, as in Job 15:31, According to his riches shall his recompense be, and he shall not rejoice. “Zophar enters now more particularly into the cause of the fate of the ungodly; and placing guilt and punishment together, seeks to bring into view the divine jus talionis,” [law of retribution.] Hengstenberg.
Job 20:18. That which he laboured for, shall he restore He shall restore what he gained by his labour, and shall not consume it. His merchandize was abundant, but he shall not enjoy it. Houbigant.
Job 20:18 That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow [it] down: according to [his] substance [shall] the restitution [be], and he shall not rejoice [therein].
Ver. 18. That which he laboured for shall he restore ] (Great pains he hath taken to small purpose) in hope to make himself happy, the result whereof is, Reddet laborem, he shall restore his labour, either by regret and remorse of conscience, or by law, or by force, he shall be made to restore his ill gotten goods, which he had laboured for, even to lassitude; for wicked men are sore worksmen, and oppressors are great pains takers, , in getting wealth unweariable (Nazian.).
And shall not swallow it down
According to his substance shall the restitution be
He shall not rejoice therein shall he restore: Job 20:10, Job 20:15
swallow: Job 20:5, Pro 1:12, Jer 51:34, Jer 51:44, Lam 2:16, Hos 8:7, Hos 8:8, Amo 8:4, Mat 23:14, Mat 23:24
his substance: Heb. the substance of his exchange
and he shall: Job 31:25, Job 31:29, Isa 24:7-11, Jer 11:15, Jer 11:16, Jer 22:13, Jer 22:17, Eze 7:12, Hos 9:1, Jam 4:8, Jam 4:9
Reciprocal: Exo 22:5 – shall he make restitution Job 18:15 – because Job 20:28 – increase Job 22:20 – our substance Psa 109:11 – extortioner Pro 6:31 – if Pro 28:22 – and
Job 20:18. That which he laboured for shall he restore Expressed in Hebrew by only two words, , meshib jagang, literally, restituens laborem, restoring labor: that is, the goods which were gotten with labour, that of others, or his own. It may refer either to the goods of others, of which he had obtained possession, not without pains and difficulty; or to his own goods, honestly gotten by the sweat of his brow. And this may be intended as an aggravation of his misery, that he is compelled, not only to restore other mens goods, which were in his hands, but to part with his own also, to make reparation for damages. And shall not swallow it down So as to hold it: he shall not possess it long, nor to any important purpose. According to his substance shall the restitution be That is, he shall be forced to part with all his property to make compensation for his wrongs. And he shall not rejoice therein He shall not enjoy what he had gotten, because it shall be taken from him. Houbigants translation of this verse is, He shall restore what he gained by his labour, and shall not consume it. His merchandise was abundant, but he shall not enjoy it.
20:18 That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow [it] down: according to [his] substance [shall] the restitution [be], {i} and he shall not rejoice [therein].
(i) That is these raveners and spoilers of the poor will enjoy their theft but for a time for after God will take it from them, and cause them to make restitution so that it is only an exchange.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes