Terrors overtake him like waters. A storm steals him away in the night.
Parallel Translations
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Terrors overtake him like waters. A storm steals him away in the night.
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Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.
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Terrors overtake him like waters; a tempest stealeth him away in the night.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Job 27:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Job 15:21 A sound of terrors is in his ears. In prosperity the destroyer will come on him.
- Job 18:11 Terrors will make him afraid on every side, and will chase him at his heels.
- Exodus 12:29 At midnight, Yahweh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock.
- 2 Kings 19:35 That night, Yahweh’s angel went out, and struck one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
- Job 20:23 When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fierceness of his wrath on him. It will rain on him while he is eating.
- Job 21:18 How often is it that they are as stubble before the wind, as chaff that the storm carries away?
- Job 20:8 He will fly away as a dream, and will not be found. Yes, he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
- Job 22:16 who were snatched away before their time, whose foundation was poured out as a stream,
- Job 34:20 In a moment they die, even at midnight. The people are shaken and pass away. The mighty are taken away without a hand.
- Psalms 18:4 The cords of death surrounded me. The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
- Psalms 42:7 Deep calls to deep at the noise of your waterfalls. All your waves and your billows have swept over me.
- Psalms 69:14-15 Deliver me out of the mire, and don’t let me sink. Let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters. Don’t let the flood waters overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up. Don’t let the pit shut its mouth on me.
- Daniel 5:30 In that night Belshazzar the Chaldean King was slain.
- Jonah 2:3 For you threw me into the depths, in the heart of the seas. The flood was all around me. All your waves and your billows passed over me.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 27:20 Terrors take hold on him as waters,…
Job 27:20 Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.
Ver. 20. Terrors take hold on him as waters] Abundantly, suddenly, irresistibly; he is even swallowed up by them and overwhelmed; as he that is plunged into a deep pit full of water, or that hath the proud surges going over his soul, Psa 124:5. The misery of it is, that these waters are fiery, and hell is a lake; but a burning lake, and such also as hath eternity to the bottom.
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A tempest stealeth him away in the night] i.e. Furtim, et repente et horribiliter. Night is itself full of terror; but much more when a tempest is up, and thieves are abroad, &c. Oh! it must needs be a terrible time indeed, when death shall come with a writ of Habeas corpus, and the devil with another of Habeas animam upon a man at once. Petrus Suetorius speaketh of one that preaching a funeral sermon on a certain canon at Paris, and giving him large commendations, heard at the same time a voice in the church, Mortuus sum, iudicatus sum, damnatus sum, I am dead, judged, and damned (Pet. Suetor. de Vit. Carth). Oh! let us but think with ourselves, though it pass all thought, what a screech the poor soul giveth when hurled into hell; there to suffer such tortures and torments as it shall never be able to avoid or abide!
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 Terrors take hold on him, from the sense of…
Terrors take hold on him, from the sense of his approaching death or judgment.
As waters; either,
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1. In abundance, one terror after another. Or,
2. Violently and irresistibly, as a river breaking its banks, or a deluge of waters bears down and overwhelms all that is before it.
A tempest stealeth him away in the night; God’s wrath and judgment cometh upon him forcibly like a tempest, and withal secretly and unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.
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 The east wind carrieth him away,.... Which is very…
The east wind carrieth him away,.... Which is very strong and powerful, and carries all before it; afflictions are sometimes compared to it, Isa 27:8; and here either death, accompanied with the wrath of God, which carries the wicked man, sore against his will, out of the world, from his house, his family, his friends, his possessions, and estates, and carries him to hell to be a companion with devils, and share with them in all the miseries of that dreadful state and place. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it, "a burning wind", such as are frequent in the eastern countries, which carry a man off at once, so that he has only time at most to say, I burn, and immediately drops down dead, as Thevenot, and other travellers, relate; which is thus described;
"it is a wind called "Samiel", or poison wind, a very hot one, that reigns in summer from Mosul to Surrat, but only by land, not upon the water; they who have breathed that wind fall instantly dead upon the place, though sometimes they have time to say that they burn within. No sooner does a man die by this wind but he becomes as black as a coal; and if one take him by his leg, arm, or any other place, his flesh comes from the same, and is plucked off by the hand that would lift him up (n):''
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and again, it is observed, that in Persia, if a man, in June or July, breathes in certain hot south winds that come from the sea, he falls down dead, and at most has no more time than to say he burns (o). Wicked men are like chaff and stubble, and they can no more resist death than either of these can resist the east wind; and they are as easily burnt up and consumed with the burning wind of God's wrath as they are by devouring flames; and though wicked men and hypocrites may think all will be well with them if they have but time to say, Lord have mercy on us; they may be carried off with such a burning wind, or scorching disease, as to be able only to say, that they burn, and not in their bodies only, but in their souls also, feeling the wrath of God in their consciences: or this may have respect to the devouring flames of hell they are surrounded with upon dying, or immediately after death, see Isa 33:14;
and he departeth; out of the world, not willingly, but, whether he will or not, he must depart; or rather he will be bid to depart, and he will depart from the bar of God, from his presence, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
an as a storm hurleth him out of his place: this is done either at death, when as a storm hurls a tree, or any other thing, out of its place, so is the sinner forced out of his place in a tempestuous manner, through the power and wrath of God, so that his place knows him no more; and he is hurried into hell and everlasting destruction, just as the sinning angels were hurled out of heaven, and cast down into hell, and there will be no place found in heaven for them any more; or rather this will be his case at judgment, which immediately follows, where the wicked shall not stand, or be able to justify themselves, and make their case good; but with the storm of divine wrath and vengeance shall be hurled from thence, and go, being driven, into everlasting punishment.
(n) Thevenot's Travels into the Levant, par. 2. B. 1. ch. 12. p. 54. (o) Thevenot's Travels into the Levant, par. 2. B. 3. ch. 5. p. 135.
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 Terrors - From the sense of approaching death or…
Terrors - From the sense of approaching death or judgment. Waters - As violently and irresistibly, as a river breaking its banks, or deluge of waters bears down all before it. A tempest - God's wrath cometh upon him like a tempest, and withal unexpectedly like a thief in the night.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 20. Terrors take hold on him as waters]…
Verse 20. Terrors take hold on him as waters] They come upon him as an irresistible flood; and he is overwhelmed as by a tempest in the night, when darkness partly hides his danger, and deprives him of discerning the way to escape.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Job 27:20. Terrors take hold on him — From…
Job 27:20. Terrors take hold on him — From the sense of approaching death or judgment. As waters — As violently and irresistibly as a river breaking its banks, or a deluge of waters bears down all before it. A tempest stealeth, &c. — God’s wrath cometh upon him like a tempest, and withal unexpectedly like a thief in the night.
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 Terrors-take hold on him as waters - That is,…
Terrors-take hold on him as waters - That is, as suddenly and violently as angry floods; compare the notes at Job 18:14.
A tempest stealeth him away - He is suddenly cut off by the wrath of God. A tempest comes upon him as unexpectedly as a thief or robber comes at night. Death is often represented as coming upon man with the silence of a thief, or the sudden violence of a robber at midnight; see the note at Job 21:17; compare Mat 24:42-44.
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 Night. Darkness often denotes disgrace and misery.
Night. Darkness often denotes disgrace and misery.
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 (Job 18:11; Job 22:11, Job 22:21). Like a sudden…
(Job 18:11; Job 22:11, Job 22:21). Like a sudden violent flood (Isa 8:7-8; Jer 47:2): conversely (Psa 32:6).
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 20. As waters — Suddenly, violently, continuously. “One terror…
20. As waters — Suddenly, violently, continuously. “One terror after another, without intermission, as waters mix together in a flood.” — Rabbi Levi. “That man, then,” says Plato, “who discovers in his own life much iniquity, and, like children, constantly starts in his sleep, is full of terrors, and lives on with scarce a hope of the future.” See, further, his “Republic,” b. 1, ch. 5.
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 20. The figure of overwhelming waters is a natural…
20. The figure of overwhelming waters is a natural one in the East and common in Scripture, Psa_18:16, Nah_1:8. Comp. the language of Eliphaz to Job, ch. Job_22:11.
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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Terrors take hold on him as waters. (comp. Job_18:11)…
Terrors take hold on him as waters. (comp. Job_18:11) Terrors sweep over the wicked man like a flood of waters vague terrors with respect to the past, the present, and the future. He fears the vengeance of these whom he has oppressed and injured, the loss of his prosperity at any moment by a reverse of fortune, and a final retribution at the hand of God commensurate with his ill desert. He is at all times uneasy; sometimes he experiences a sudden rush upon him of such gloomy thoughts, which overwhelms him, and sweeps him away like a mighty stream. A tempest stealeth him away in the night. While he is off his guard, as it were, in the night, a sudden storm bursts on him, and removes him from his place.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Terrors overtake him
Terrors overtake him
Here "overtake him" represents suddenly happening to him. Possible meanings are that "terrors" is a metonym for 1) things that cause people to be afraid. AT: "Terrifying things suddenly happen to him" or 2) fear. AT: "He suddenly becomes terrified"
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like waters
The word "waters" refers to a flood. Floods can happen very suddenly when people do not expect them, and they are dangerous and frightening. AT: "like a flood" or "like waters that rise up suddenly" (See: Simile)
a storm takes him away
"a violent wind blows him away"
it sweeps him out of his place
Job speaks of the wind blowing the wicked man out of his house as if the wind were a person sweeping dust out of a house with a broom. AT: "the wind sweeps him out of his place like a woman who sweeps dirt out of a house" or "the wind easily blows him out of his place" (See: Personification)
his place
"his home"
translationWords
terror
water
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.