12 “Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue,
13 though he spare it, and will not let it go, but keep it still within his mouth;
14 yet his food in his bowels is turned. It is cobra venom within him.
15 He has swallowed down riches, and he will vomit them up again. God will cast them out of his belly.
16 He will suck cobra venom. The viper’s tongue will kill him.
17 He will not look at the rivers, the flowing streams of honey and butter.
18 He will restore that for which he labored, and will not swallow it down. He will not rejoice according to the substance that he has gotten.
KJVKing James Version
12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;
13 Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth:
14 Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.
15 He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.
16 He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper’s tongue shall slay him.
17 He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.
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.
Show all 3 translations
JPSJPS Tanakh (1917)
12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;
13 Though he spare it, and will not let it go, but keep it still within his mouth;
14 Yet his food in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.
15 He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again; God shall cast them out of his belly.
16 He shall suck the poison of asps; the viper's tongue shall slay him.
17 He shall not look upon the rivers, the flowing streams of honey and curd.
18 That which he laboured for shall he give back, and shall not swallow it down; according to the substance that he hath gotten, he shall not rejoice.
Proverbs 23:8(v15)The morsel which you have eaten you shall vomit up, and lose your good words.
Matthew 27:3-4(v15)Then Judas, who betrayed him, when he saw that Jesus was condemned, felt remorse, and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief…
Job 15:16(v12)how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks iniquity like water!
Job 20:10(v18)His children will seek the favor of the poor. His hands will give back his wealth.
Psalms 10:7(v12)His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression. Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.
Show all 62 cross-references
Deuteronomy 32:13-14(v17)He made him ride on the high places of the earth. He ate the increase of the field. He caused him to suck honey out of the rock, oil out of…
Job 20:15(v18)He has swallowed down riches, and he will vomit them up again. God will cast them out of his belly.
Proverbs 1:12(v18)Let’s swallow them up alive like Sheol, and whole, like those who go down into the pit.
Ecclesiastes 11:9(v12)Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the…
Jeremiah 22:13(v18)“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his rooms by injustice; who uses his neighbor’s service without wages, and doesn’t…
Jeremiah 51:44(v18)I will execute judgment on Bel in Babylon, and I will bring out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up. The nations will not flow any…
Romans 3:13(vv14, 16)“Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have used deceit.” “The poison of vipers is under their lips.”
Genesis 3:6(v12)When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one…
Job 20:5(v18)that the triumphing of the wicked is short, the joy of the godless but for a moment?
Job 29:6(v17)when my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured out streams of oil for me,
Job 31:25(v18)If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much;
Job 31:29(v18)“If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him
Psalms 109:17-18(v12)Yes, he loved cursing, and it came to him. He didn’t delight in blessing, and it was far from him. He clothed himself also with cursing as…
Proverbs 9:17-18(v12)“Stolen water is sweet. Food eaten in secret is pleasant.” But he doesn’t know that the departed spirits are there, that her guests are in…
Proverbs 20:17(v12)Fraudulent food is sweet to a man, but afterwards his mouth is filled with gravel.
Isaiah 24:7-11(v18)The new wine mourns. The vine languishes. All the merry-hearted sigh. The mirth of tambourines ceases. The sound of those who rejoice ends.…
Jeremiah 11:15-16(v18)What has my beloved to do in my house, since she has behaved lewdly with many, and the holy flesh has passed from you? When you do evil,…
Jeremiah 22:17(v18)But your eyes and your heart are only for your covetousness, for shedding innocent blood, for oppression, and for doing violence.”
Jeremiah 51:34(v18)“Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me. He has crushed me. He has made me an empty vessel. He has, like a monster, swallowed…
Hosea 8:7-8(v18)For they sow the wind, and they will reap the whirlwind. He has no standing grain. The stalk will yield no head. If it does yield,…
Matthew 23:13(v18)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will…
Matthew 23:24(v18)You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!
Luke 16:24(v17)He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue!…
Acts 28:3-6(v16)But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand.…
Deuteronomy 32:24(vv14, 16)They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, with the…
Numbers 11:18-20(v13)“Say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, and you will eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of Yahweh,…
Numbers 14:23(v17)surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of those who despised me see it.
2 Samuel 11:2-5(v14)At evening, David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. From the roof, he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was…
2 Samuel 12:10-11(v14)Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken Uriah the Hittite’s wife to be your…
2 Samuel 17:29(v17)honey, butter, sheep, and cheese of the herd, for David, and for the people who were with him, to eat; for they said, “The people are…
2 Kings 7:2(v17)Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, “Behold, if Yahweh made windows in heaven, could this…
Job 20:16(v14)He will suck cobra venom. The viper’s tongue will kill him.
Psalms 32:3-4(v14)When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me. My strength was…
Psalms 36:8-9(v17)They shall be abundantly satisfied with the abundance of your house. You will make them drink of the river of your pleasures. For with you…
Psalms 38:1-8(v14)Yahweh, don’t rebuke me in your wrath, neither chasten me in your hot displeasure. For your arrows have pierced me, your hand presses hard…
Psalms 51:8-9(v14)Let me hear joy and gladness, that the bones which you have broken may rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all of my…
Psalms 81:16(v17)But he would have also fed them with the finest of the wheat. I will satisfy you with honey out of the rock.”
Proverbs 1:31(v14)Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own schemes.
Proverbs 23:20-21(v14)Don’t be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat: for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and…
Proverbs 23:29-35(v14)Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who stay long at…
Isaiah 7:15(v17)He shall eat butter and honey when he knows to refuse the evil and choose the good.
Isaiah 7:22(v17)It shall happen, that because of the abundance of milk which they shall give he shall eat butter; for everyone will eat butter and honey…
Isaiah 30:6(v16)The burden of the animals of the South. Through the land of trouble and anguish, of the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying…
Isaiah 41:17(v17)The poor and needy seek water, and there is none. Their tongue fails for thirst. I, Yahweh, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will…
Jeremiah 2:19(v14)“Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backsliding will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing,…
Jeremiah 17:6-8(v17)For he will be like a bush in the desert, and will not see when good comes, but will inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, an…
Lamentations 2:16(v18)All your enemies have opened their mouth wide against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth. They say, “We have swallowed her up. Certainly…
Ezekiel 7:12(v18)The time has come! The day draws near. Don’t let the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is on all its multitude.
Hosea 9:1(v18)Don’t rejoice, Israel, to jubilation like the nations; for you were unfaithful to your God. You love the wages of a prostitute at every…
Amos 8:4(v18)Hear this, you who desire to swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail,
Malachi 2:2(v14)If you will not listen, and if you will not take it to heart, to give glory to my name,” says Yahweh of Armies, “then I will send the curse…
Matthew 3:7(v16)But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to…
Matthew 5:29-30(v13)If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your…
Mark 9:43-49(v13)If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having your two hands to go…
Romans 8:13(v13)For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
James 4:8-9(v18)Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament, mourn, and…
Revelation 22:1(v17)He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,
62 distinct cross-references across this passage (64 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv12, 16, 17, 18As poison that is sweet in the mouth, bringeth…
As poison that is sweet in the mouth, bringeth destruction when it cometh into the body: so all vice at the first is pleasant, but afterward God turneth it to destruction.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv12–18Job 20:12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth,…
Job 20:12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, [though] he hide it under his tongue;
Ver. 12. Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth] As poison swallowed in some pleasing meat or drink. Agrippina, in poisoning her husband, Claudius the emperor, tempered it in meat he most delighted in. Poison given in wine works more furiously, as did that wassail {The liquor in which healths were drunk; esp. the spiced ale used in Twelfth-night and Christmas-eve celebrations.} the monk drank to King John of England. That wickedness with a witness here meant is oppression, and is said to be held in the mouth, and hid under the tongue, as some think, because it is oft covered with godly speeches, whereby he seeketh to circumvent and deceive his neighbour. Others by these expressions will have understood continuance in sin and complacency therein, rolling it under his tongue, as a child doth a piece of sugar, which he is loth to part with, and retaining it a long time in his mouth, that he may taste it with more pleasure. Philoxenus wished his neck were as long as a crane’s, that he might the longer keep the taste of his sweetmeats and dainty morsels. Such is the wicked man’s wish, and his practice is answerable; for under his tongue is mischief and vanity, Psa 10:7. He licks his lips with the remembrance of his former sins, and so recommitteth them in his desires, at least, while he recalleth former acts with delight. Thus the rebellious Israelites called to mind the flesh-pots of Egypt, and were moved; and thus afterwards they multiplied their whoredoms by calling to remembrance the days of their youth, wherein they had gone a whoring in the land of Egypt, Eze 23:21.
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.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv12–18In his mouth, i.e. to his taste, though it…
In his mouth, i.e. to his taste, though it greatly please him for the present.
Though he hide it under his tongue; as an epicure doth a sweet morsel, which he is loth to swallow, and therefore keeps and rolls it about his mouth that he may longer enjoy the pleasure of it: though he be highly pleased with his lusts, and cleave to them in hearty love, and resolve to hold them fast, and improve them to the greatest delight and advantage.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv12–18Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth,.... Which may…
Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth,.... Which may respect some particular sin, and by the context it seems to be the sin of covetousness, or of getting riches in an unlawful way, which is very sweet and pleasing to wicked men, while they are in such pursuits that succeed; and so Mr. Broughton renders it by "wrong"; though it may be applied to sin in general, which is "wickedness", or an evil (q), being contrary to the pure and holy nature, will, and law of God; and it is evil in its effects on men, it having deprived them of the image and glory of God, and exposed them to his wrath, to the curses of his law, and to eternal deaths. Now this is "sweet" to an unregenerate man, who minds and savours the things of the flesh, whose taste is not changed, but is as it was from his birth, and who calls sweet bitter, and bitter sweet; such a man has the same delight in sin as a man has in his food, drinks up iniquity like water, and commits sin with greediness; for it is natural to him, he is conceived, born, and brought up in it; besides, some sins are what are more particularly called constitution sins, which some are peculiarly addicted to, and in which they take a peculiar delight and pleasure; these are like the right hand or right eye, and they cannot be persuaded, at any rate, to part with them:
though he hide it under his tongue; not for the sake of concealing it, nor by denying, dissembling, or excusing it, but for the sake of enjoying more pleasure in it; as a gluttonous man, when he has got a sweet morsel in his mouth, do not let it go down his throat immediately, but rolls it under his tongue, that he may have all the pleasure of it he can; so a wicked man devises sin in his heart, keeps it on his mind, revolves it in his thoughts, and his meditation on it is sweet; and he is so far from hiding it from others, that he openly declares it, freely tells of it, and takes pleasure in so doing: "fools make a mock at sin"; it is their diversion and recreation.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv12, 14, 15, 17, 18Mouth - To his taste; though it greatly please…
Mouth - To his taste; though it greatly please him for the present. Hide - As an epicure doth a sweet morsel, which he keeps and rolls about his mouth, that he may longer enjoy the pleasure of it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv12, 15, 16, 17, 18Verse 12. Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth]…
Verse 12. Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth] This seems to refer to the secret sins mentioned above.
Hide it under his tongue] This and the four following verses contain an allegory; and the reference is to a man who, instead of taking wholesome food, takes what is poisonous, and is so delighted with it because it is sweet, that he rolls it under his tongue, and will scarcely let it down into his stomach, he is so delighted with the taste; "he spares it, and forsakes it not, but keeps it still within his mouth," Job 20:13. "But when he swallows it, it is turned to the gall of asps within him," Job 20:14, which shall corrode and torture his bowels.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv12, 15, 17, 18Job 20:12-14. Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth…
Job 20:12-14. Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth — Though it greatly please him while he is committing it; though he hide it under his tongue — As an epicure doth a sweet morsel, which he keeps and rolls about his mouth, that he may longer enjoy the pleasure of it. Though he be highly pleased with the gratification of his lusts, and cleave to his sinful pleasures in hearty love, resolving to hold them fast, and improve them to the greatest delight and advantage; though he spare it — Will not part with his sin, but gratifies and obeys his sinful inclinations, instead of subduing and mortifying them; but keeps it still within his mouth — That he may enjoy all the sweetness of it. Yet his meat in his bowels is turned — From sweet to bitter; it is the gall of asps within him — Exceeding bitter and pernicious. Gall is most bitter; the gall of serpents is full of poison; and the poison of asps is most dangerous, and, within a few hours, kills without remedy.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv12–18Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth - Though…
Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth - Though he has pleasure in committing it, as he has in pleasant food. The sense of this and the following verses is, that though a man may have pleasure in indulgence in sin, and may find happiness of a certain kind in it, yet that the consequences will be bitter - as if the food which he ate should become like gall, and he should cast it up with loathing. There are many sins which, from the laws of our nature, are attended with a kind of pleasure. Such, for illustration, are the sins of gluttony and of intemperance in drinking; the sins of ambition and vanity; the sins of amusement and of fashionable life. To such we give the name of “pleasures.” We do not speak of them as “happiness.” That is a word which would not express their nature. It denotes rather substantial, solid, permanent joy - such joy as the “pleasures of sin for a season” do not furnish. It is this temporary “pleasure” which the lovers of vanity, fashion and dress, seek, and which, it cannot be denied, they often find. As long ago as the time of Zophar, it was admitted that such pleasure might be found in some forms of sinful indulgence and yet even in his time that was seen, which all subsequent observation has proved true, that such indulgence must lead to bitter results.
Though he hide it under his tongue - It is from this passage, probably, that we have derived the phrase, “to roll sin as a sweet morsel under the tongue,” which is often quoted as if it were a part of Scripture. The “meaning” here is, that a man would find pleasure in sin, and would seek to prolong it, as one does the pleasure of eating that which is grateful to the palate by holding it long in the mouth, or by placing it under the tongue.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv12, 16, 17, 18Evil of any king, and particularly (Haydock) injustice, which…
Evil of any king, and particularly (Haydock) injustice, which at first seems sweet, but will prove in the end a mortal poison. (Calmet) --- The unjust will be forced to restore his ill-gotten goods, or suffer eternally for the neglect, ver. 14, 18. (Haydock) --- Habitual sins are also overcome with most difficulty, ver. 11. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18be--"taste sweet." Sin's fascination is like poison sweet to…
be--"taste sweet." Sin's fascination is like poison sweet to the taste, but at last deadly to the vital organs (Pro 20:17; Job 9:17-18).
hide . . . tongue--seek to prolong the enjoyment by keeping the sweet morsel long in the mouth (so Job 20:13).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv13–18Second strophe — The epicure in wickedness awakes in…
Second strophe — The epicure in wickedness awakes in agony to find the secret tidbits of sin changed into most deadly poison, and his sweetest delights proved to be germs of a signal destruction, Job_20:12-16.
13. Forsake it not — Will not let it go. Like a bonbon which one dissolves in his mouth. (Renan.) So sweet is the poisonous mouthful that he is “sparing of it,” and retains it long “in the midst of his palate.” The reader will recall the gormand (Philoxenus) who wished he had a neck as long as that of a crane, that he might prolong the taste of his food. Through five variations Zophar rings the one thought, the deliciousness of sin. The terrible sequel is thus made the more striking.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv12–1812. Sin is spoken of under the figure of…
12. Sin is spoken of under the figure of a dainty which tickles the palate, and which one retains and turns in his mouth with delight.
12–22. His sin changes into his punishment.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv12, 17, 18(12) Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth.—He draws…
(12) Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth.—He draws a picture of the wicked man after the pattern of a gourmand or glutton, which, if it were intended to apply to Job, was a fresh instance of heartless cruelty, as well as of an entire want of discernment of character, and of unfitness for the office of judge he was so ready to assume. It is possible that the reproach here aimed at Job was that of inordinate love of riches, which Zophar extracts from the bare fact of his having been a wealthy man.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18Vers. 12, 13. Though wickedness be sweet in his…
Vers. 12, 13. Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth; i.e. though the wicked man delight in his wickedness, and gloat over it, and keep the thought of it in his mind, as a gourmand keeps, so long as he can, a delicious taste in his mouth; though he, as it were, hide it under his tongue, in order not to let it escape him; though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth, yet, notwithstanding all this, disgust and nausea arrive in course of time (see the next two verses). It is, perhaps, the most surprising among the phenomena of wickedness that men can gloat over it, voluntarily recur to it, make a boast of it, recount signal instances of it to their friends, and seem to find a satisfaction in the recollection. One would have expected that shame and self-disapproval and fear of retribution would have led them to dismiss their wicked acts from their thoughts as soon as possible. But certainly the fact is otherwise.
Vers. 12-17. The sweet taste of sin and its bitter after-taste.
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I THE SWEET TASTE OF SIN. How can we account for the fact that if sin is essentially an evil thing it should ever be attractive to us? Surely its natural hatefulness should make it repulsive. If it is hideous in the sight of God, by what witchery can it be made to appear fascinating to our eyes?
1. It appeals to our lower desires. It makes its first appeal to nature. There was no evil at first in Adam and Eve, and yet sin was made attractive to them. Christ could not have been tempted unless sin had been made to wear a fair mask in his presence. The bodily appetites and the self-seeking desires are natural and innocent in themselves. But they should be kept under by our higher nature. If, however, the tempter appeals to them directly, he appeals to the prospect of natural pleasure.
2. It is aided by our selfish nature. We are all fallen creatures. If the fall has not taken the form of sensuality, it has certainly been accomplished in selfishness. Now sin appeals to our selfish nature, and promises personal gratification at the expense of righteousness.
3. It is intensified by corrupted desires. Sin perverts the natural appetites and corrupts the most innocent desires. The wicked thing which is first sought because of some promised result comes to be loved on its own account. As the miser loves his money, so the sinner loves his sin first for what it can purchase, then on its own account. He is like a hypnotized person, to whom gall tastes like sugar, because he is deluded into believing evil to be his good.
II THE BITTER AFTER-TASTE OF SIN. Zophar rightly enlarges upon this subject. We do not need any amplification of the delights of sin. The very presentation of them to the imagination is degrading. The soul is soiled by contemplating them. We are quite ready to admit their strength. But it is not so easy to imagine vividly and to keep well in view the dreadful after-results. They are remote, unattractive, uncongenial. Therefore we need to be forced to see the results of sin in detail. Zophar narrates them with graphic ragout. Let us, then, consider the disagreeable details of the bitter after-taste.
1. It is pain within. The morsel is sweet in the mouth, and it is hidden under the tongue to keep it safe and to prolong the delicious enjoyment of it; yet when it is swallowed it becomes like the gall of asps. The recollection of past sin is a pain of conscience. Its very delights are turned to bitterness in the after-thought. Just in proportion to their tempting fascination before the deed is their repulsiveness after it has been committed. The foolish victim of temptation looks back on his orgies with disgust. He loathes himself, he grovels in humiliation. How could he have been such a fool as to sink to this shame and degradation?
2. It results in the loss of future delights. The sinner is made to give up his fiches. He is denied "the brooks, the rivers, the torrents of honey and butter," which he was greedily looking forward to. The justice of God will not permit him to revel for ever in wickedness. By his indulgence in sinful pleasures he has destroyed the faculty of innocent joy. His debauch has turned the garden of innocent delights into a desert. For such a man there is no hope but in complete regeneration. Yet that is possible. Even he can be converted, and made a new creature in Christ Jesus. W.F.A.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn v12Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth.
Job_20:12-14
Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth.
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The woe of the wicked
I. The disposition of a wicked man in regard to sin.
1. His complacency in it. It is sweet to his mouth. A metaphor taken from natural food, which is pleasing and delightful to the taste, which is seated in the mouth or palate. So is sin to the carnal heart. It is very sweet and refreshing to it. Especially in the first embracing or entertaining of it. The ground hereof is this. It is suitable and connatural to him. We may judge of the delight which a wicked person has in sin, by the measure of a gracious persons delight in goodness. Satan enlarges and advances things to them, and makes them seem greater than they are.
2. His concealment of it. He hides it under his tongue. This wicked persons do, either by speaking for sin, or by speaking against it. They speak for it by denying it, or diminishing it, or defending it.
3. His indulgence or favourableness towards it. He spares it, and does not forsake it. He spares it, as to matter of search and inquiry; as to matter of resistance and opposition; as to matter of expulsion, and ejection, and mortification. He does not forsake it. He never forsakes his sin, till his sin forsake him, and he can keep it no longer. A man cannot be said to forsake any sin in particular, who does not forsake the way of sin in general.
II. The effect of sin to a wicked man. Yet his meat, etc. In the general, His meat within his bowels is turned. In the particular, It is as the gall of asps within him. This figure represents the bitterness and the perniciousness of sin. Use and improvement.
1. Beware of being taken with any sinful way or course whatsoever, from the seeming sweetness that is in it.
2. Do not please thyself in the covering and concealing of sin.
3. Or in self-security and presumption.
4. Use Christian prudence to see the plague afar off, to hide yourselves from it. (T. Horton, D.D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv12, 15, 17General Information:
General Information:
Zophar continues speaking to Job.
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Although wickedness is sweet in his mouth
Here "wickedness is sweet" represents a person enjoying doing wicked things. AT: "Although doing wicked things is pleasurable like tasting sweet food in the mouth" (See: Metaphor)
although he hides ... does not let it go
This represents wanting to continue to enjoy the wickedness as one wants to continue enjoying tasty food by keeping it in the mouth. (See: Metaphor)
the food in his intestines turns bitter
When food turns bitter in the stomach, it causes pain and a bitter taste. This is a metaphor for a person experiencing the painful consequences of doing wicked things. AT: "those wicked things become like food that has turned bitter in the stomach" or "the consequences of those wicked things are painful like food that becomes sour in the stomach" (See: Metaphor)
it becomes the poison of asps inside him
This image is even worse than sour food in the stomach. This is a metaphor for a person experiencing the terrible consequences of doing wicked things. AT: "the consequences of doing those wicked things are painful like the poison of asps inside him" (See: Metaphor)
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv14, 1720:14-16 poisonous venom . . . cobras . .…
20:14-16 poisonous venom . . . cobras . . . viper: In the end, the wicked are no longer deadly to others (Matt 3:7; Rom 3:13) but only to themselves (Prov 23:29-35).
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv12, 16, 17, 18 As poison that is sweet in the mouth, bringeth…
As poison that is sweet in the mouth, bringeth destruction when it cometh into the body: so all vice at the first is pleasant, but afterward God turneth it to destruction.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv12–18 Job 20:12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth,…
Job 20:12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, [though] he hide it under his tongue;
Ver. 12. Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth] As poison swallowed in some pleasing meat or drink. Agrippina, in poisoning her husband, Claudius the emperor, tempered it in meat he most delighted in. Poison given in wine works more furiously, as did that wassail {The liquor in which healths were drunk; esp. the spiced ale used in Twelfth-night and Christmas-eve celebrations.} the monk drank to King John of England. That wickedness with a witness here meant is oppression, and is said to be held in the mouth, and hid under the tongue, as some think, because it is oft covered with godly speeches, whereby he seeketh to circumvent and deceive his neighbour. Others by these expressions will have understood continuance in sin and complacency therein, rolling it under his tongue, as a child doth a piece of sugar, which he is loth to part with, and retaining it a long time in his mouth, that he may taste it with more pleasure. Philoxenus wished his neck were as long as a crane’s, that he might the longer keep the taste of his sweetmeats and dainty morsels. Such is the wicked man’s wish, and his practice is answerable; for under his tongue is mischief and vanity, Psa 10:7. He licks his lips with the remembrance of his former sins, and so recommitteth them in his desires, at least, while he recalleth former acts with delight. Thus the rebellious Israelites called to mind the flesh-pots of Egypt, and were moved; and thus afterwards they multiplied their whoredoms by calling to remembrance the days of their youth, wherein they had gone a whoring in the land of Egypt, Eze 23:21.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv12–18 In his mouth, i.e. to his taste, though it…
In his mouth, i.e. to his taste, though it greatly please him for the present.
Though he hide it under his tongue; as an epicure doth a sweet morsel, which he is loth to swallow, and therefore keeps and rolls it about his mouth that he may longer enjoy the pleasure of it: though he be highly pleased with his lusts, and cleave to them in hearty love, and resolve to hold them fast, and improve them to the greatest delight and advantage.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv12–18 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth,.... Which may…
Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth,.... Which may respect some particular sin, and by the context it seems to be the sin of covetousness, or of getting riches in an unlawful way, which is very sweet and pleasing to wicked men, while they are in such pursuits that succeed; and so Mr. Broughton renders it by "wrong"; though it may be applied to sin in general, which is "wickedness", or an evil (q), being contrary to the pure and holy nature, will, and law of God; and it is evil in its effects on men, it having deprived them of the image and glory of God, and exposed them to his wrath, to the curses of his law, and to eternal deaths. Now this is "sweet" to an unregenerate man, who minds and savours the things of the flesh, whose taste is not changed, but is as it was from his birth, and who calls sweet bitter, and bitter sweet; such a man has the same delight in sin as a man has in his food, drinks up iniquity like water, and commits sin with greediness; for it is natural to him, he is conceived, born, and brought up in it; besides, some sins are what are more particularly called constitution sins, which some are peculiarly addicted to, and in which they take a peculiar delight and pleasure; these are like the right hand or right eye, and they cannot be persuaded, at any rate, to part with them:
though he hide it under his tongue; not for the sake of concealing it, nor by denying, dissembling, or excusing it, but for the sake of enjoying more pleasure in it; as a gluttonous man, when he has got a sweet morsel in his mouth, do not let it go down his throat immediately, but rolls it under his tongue, that he may have all the pleasure of it he can; so a wicked man devises sin in his heart, keeps it on his mind, revolves it in his thoughts, and his meditation on it is sweet; and he is so far from hiding it from others, that he openly declares it, freely tells of it, and takes pleasure in so doing: "fools make a mock at sin"; it is their diversion and recreation.
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(q) "malum", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, &c.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv12, 14, 15, 17, 18 Mouth - To his taste; though it greatly please…
Mouth - To his taste; though it greatly please him for the present. Hide - As an epicure doth a sweet morsel, which he keeps and rolls about his mouth, that he may longer enjoy the pleasure of it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv12, 15, 16, 17, 18 Verse 12. Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth]…
Verse 12. Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth] This seems to refer to the secret sins mentioned above.
Hide it under his tongue] This and the four following verses contain an allegory; and the reference is to a man who, instead of taking wholesome food, takes what is poisonous, and is so delighted with it because it is sweet, that he rolls it under his tongue, and will scarcely let it down into his stomach, he is so delighted with the taste; "he spares it, and forsakes it not, but keeps it still within his mouth," Job 20:13. "But when he swallows it, it is turned to the gall of asps within him," Job 20:14, which shall corrode and torture his bowels.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv12, 15, 17, 18 Job 20:12-14. Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth…
Job 20:12-14. Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth — Though it greatly please him while he is committing it; though he hide it under his tongue — As an epicure doth a sweet morsel, which he keeps and rolls about his mouth, that he may longer enjoy the pleasure of it. Though he be highly pleased with the gratification of his lusts, and cleave to his sinful pleasures in hearty love, resolving to hold them fast, and improve them to the greatest delight and advantage; though he spare it — Will not part with his sin, but gratifies and obeys his sinful inclinations, instead of subduing and mortifying them; but keeps it still within his mouth — That he may enjoy all the sweetness of it. Yet his meat in his bowels is turned — From sweet to bitter; it is the gall of asps within him — Exceeding bitter and pernicious. Gall is most bitter; the gall of serpents is full of poison; and the poison of asps is most dangerous, and, within a few hours, kills without remedy.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv12–18 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth - Though…
Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth - Though he has pleasure in committing it, as he has in pleasant food. The sense of this and the following verses is, that though a man may have pleasure in indulgence in sin, and may find happiness of a certain kind in it, yet that the consequences will be bitter - as if the food which he ate should become like gall, and he should cast it up with loathing. There are many sins which, from the laws of our nature, are attended with a kind of pleasure. Such, for illustration, are the sins of gluttony and of intemperance in drinking; the sins of ambition and vanity; the sins of amusement and of fashionable life. To such we give the name of “pleasures.” We do not speak of them as “happiness.” That is a word which would not express their nature. It denotes rather substantial, solid, permanent joy - such joy as the “pleasures of sin for a season” do not furnish. It is this temporary “pleasure” which the lovers of vanity, fashion and dress, seek, and which, it cannot be denied, they often find. As long ago as the time of Zophar, it was admitted that such pleasure might be found in some forms of sinful indulgence and yet even in his time that was seen, which all subsequent observation has proved true, that such indulgence must lead to bitter results.
Though he hide it under his tongue - It is from this passage, probably, that we have derived the phrase, “to roll sin as a sweet morsel under the tongue,” which is often quoted as if it were a part of Scripture. The “meaning” here is, that a man would find pleasure in sin, and would seek to prolong it, as one does the pleasure of eating that which is grateful to the palate by holding it long in the mouth, or by placing it under the tongue.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv12, 16, 17, 18 Evil of any king, and particularly (Haydock) injustice, which…
Evil of any king, and particularly (Haydock) injustice, which at first seems sweet, but will prove in the end a mortal poison. (Calmet) --- The unjust will be forced to restore his ill-gotten goods, or suffer eternally for the neglect, ver. 14, 18. (Haydock) --- Habitual sins are also overcome with most difficulty, ver. 11. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 be--"taste sweet." Sin's fascination is like poison sweet to…
be--"taste sweet." Sin's fascination is like poison sweet to the taste, but at last deadly to the vital organs (Pro 20:17; Job 9:17-18).
hide . . . tongue--seek to prolong the enjoyment by keeping the sweet morsel long in the mouth (so Job 20:13).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv13–18 Second strophe — The epicure in wickedness awakes in…
Second strophe — The epicure in wickedness awakes in agony to find the secret tidbits of sin changed into most deadly poison, and his sweetest delights proved to be germs of a signal destruction, Job_20:12-16.
13. Forsake it not — Will not let it go. Like a bonbon which one dissolves in his mouth. (Renan.) So sweet is the poisonous mouthful that he is “sparing of it,” and retains it long “in the midst of his palate.” The reader will recall the gormand (Philoxenus) who wished he had a neck as long as that of a crane, that he might prolong the taste of his food. Through five variations Zophar rings the one thought, the deliciousness of sin. The terrible sequel is thus made the more striking.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv12–18 12. Sin is spoken of under the figure of…
12. Sin is spoken of under the figure of a dainty which tickles the palate, and which one retains and turns in his mouth with delight.
12–22. His sin changes into his punishment.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv12, 17, 18 (12) Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth.—He draws…
(12) Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth.—He draws a picture of the wicked man after the pattern of a gourmand or glutton, which, if it were intended to apply to Job, was a fresh instance of heartless cruelty, as well as of an entire want of discernment of character, and of unfitness for the office of judge he was so ready to assume. It is possible that the reproach here aimed at Job was that of inordinate love of riches, which Zophar extracts from the bare fact of his having been a wealthy man.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 Vers. 12, 13. Though wickedness be sweet in his…
Vers. 12, 13. Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth; i.e. though the wicked man delight in his wickedness, and gloat over it, and keep the thought of it in his mind, as a gourmand keeps, so long as he can, a delicious taste in his mouth; though he, as it were, hide it under his tongue, in order not to let it escape him; though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth, yet, notwithstanding all this, disgust and nausea arrive in course of time (see the next two verses). It is, perhaps, the most surprising among the phenomena of wickedness that men can gloat over it, voluntarily recur to it, make a boast of it, recount signal instances of it to their friends, and seem to find a satisfaction in the recollection. One would have expected that shame and self-disapproval and fear of retribution would have led them to dismiss their wicked acts from their thoughts as soon as possible. But certainly the fact is otherwise.
Vers. 12-17. The sweet taste of sin and its bitter after-taste.
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I THE SWEET TASTE OF SIN. How can we account for the fact that if sin is essentially an evil thing it should ever be attractive to us? Surely its natural hatefulness should make it repulsive. If it is hideous in the sight of God, by what witchery can it be made to appear fascinating to our eyes?
1. It appeals to our lower desires. It makes its first appeal to nature. There was no evil at first in Adam and Eve, and yet sin was made attractive to them. Christ could not have been tempted unless sin had been made to wear a fair mask in his presence. The bodily appetites and the self-seeking desires are natural and innocent in themselves. But they should be kept under by our higher nature. If, however, the tempter appeals to them directly, he appeals to the prospect of natural pleasure.
2. It is aided by our selfish nature. We are all fallen creatures. If the fall has not taken the form of sensuality, it has certainly been accomplished in selfishness. Now sin appeals to our selfish nature, and promises personal gratification at the expense of righteousness.
3. It is intensified by corrupted desires. Sin perverts the natural appetites and corrupts the most innocent desires. The wicked thing which is first sought because of some promised result comes to be loved on its own account. As the miser loves his money, so the sinner loves his sin first for what it can purchase, then on its own account. He is like a hypnotized person, to whom gall tastes like sugar, because he is deluded into believing evil to be his good.
II THE BITTER AFTER-TASTE OF SIN. Zophar rightly enlarges upon this subject. We do not need any amplification of the delights of sin. The very presentation of them to the imagination is degrading. The soul is soiled by contemplating them. We are quite ready to admit their strength. But it is not so easy to imagine vividly and to keep well in view the dreadful after-results. They are remote, unattractive, uncongenial. Therefore we need to be forced to see the results of sin in detail. Zophar narrates them with graphic ragout. Let us, then, consider the disagreeable details of the bitter after-taste.
1. It is pain within. The morsel is sweet in the mouth, and it is hidden under the tongue to keep it safe and to prolong the delicious enjoyment of it; yet when it is swallowed it becomes like the gall of asps. The recollection of past sin is a pain of conscience. Its very delights are turned to bitterness in the after-thought. Just in proportion to their tempting fascination before the deed is their repulsiveness after it has been committed. The foolish victim of temptation looks back on his orgies with disgust. He loathes himself, he grovels in humiliation. How could he have been such a fool as to sink to this shame and degradation?
2. It results in the loss of future delights. The sinner is made to give up his fiches. He is denied "the brooks, the rivers, the torrents of honey and butter," which he was greedily looking forward to. The justice of God will not permit him to revel for ever in wickedness. By his indulgence in sinful pleasures he has destroyed the faculty of innocent joy. His debauch has turned the garden of innocent delights into a desert. For such a man there is no hope but in complete regeneration. Yet that is possible. Even he can be converted, and made a new creature in Christ Jesus. W.F.A.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth.
Job_20:12-14
Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth.
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The woe of the wicked
I. The disposition of a wicked man in regard to sin.
1. His complacency in it. It is sweet to his mouth. A metaphor taken from natural food, which is pleasing and delightful to the taste, which is seated in the mouth or palate. So is sin to the carnal heart. It is very sweet and refreshing to it. Especially in the first embracing or entertaining of it. The ground hereof is this. It is suitable and connatural to him. We may judge of the delight which a wicked person has in sin, by the measure of a gracious persons delight in goodness. Satan enlarges and advances things to them, and makes them seem greater than they are.
2. His concealment of it. He hides it under his tongue. This wicked persons do, either by speaking for sin, or by speaking against it. They speak for it by denying it, or diminishing it, or defending it.
3. His indulgence or favourableness towards it. He spares it, and does not forsake it. He spares it, as to matter of search and inquiry; as to matter of resistance and opposition; as to matter of expulsion, and ejection, and mortification. He does not forsake it. He never forsakes his sin, till his sin forsake him, and he can keep it no longer. A man cannot be said to forsake any sin in particular, who does not forsake the way of sin in general.
II. The effect of sin to a wicked man. Yet his meat, etc. In the general, His meat within his bowels is turned. In the particular, It is as the gall of asps within him. This figure represents the bitterness and the perniciousness of sin. Use and improvement.
1. Beware of being taken with any sinful way or course whatsoever, from the seeming sweetness that is in it.
2. Do not please thyself in the covering and concealing of sin.
3. Or in self-security and presumption.
4. Use Christian prudence to see the plague afar off, to hide yourselves from it. (T. Horton, D.D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv12, 15, 17 General Information:
General Information:
Zophar continues speaking to Job.
Read full note →
Although wickedness is sweet in his mouth
Here "wickedness is sweet" represents a person enjoying doing wicked things. AT: "Although doing wicked things is pleasurable like tasting sweet food in the mouth" (See: Metaphor)
although he hides ... does not let it go
This represents wanting to continue to enjoy the wickedness as one wants to continue enjoying tasty food by keeping it in the mouth. (See: Metaphor)
the food in his intestines turns bitter
When food turns bitter in the stomach, it causes pain and a bitter taste. This is a metaphor for a person experiencing the painful consequences of doing wicked things. AT: "those wicked things become like food that has turned bitter in the stomach" or "the consequences of those wicked things are painful like food that becomes sour in the stomach" (See: Metaphor)
it becomes the poison of asps inside him
This image is even worse than sour food in the stomach. This is a metaphor for a person experiencing the terrible consequences of doing wicked things. AT: "the consequences of doing those wicked things are painful like the poison of asps inside him" (See: Metaphor)
asps
poisonous snakes
translationWords
evil
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14, 17 20:14-16 poisonous venom . . . cobras . .…
20:14-16 poisonous venom . . . cobras . . . viper: In the end, the wicked are no longer deadly to others (Matt 3:7; Rom 3:13) but only to themselves (Prov 23:29-35).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.