Job 20 · Verse 26

Job 20:26

All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle.

Job 20:26, King James Version

Job 20:26 in other translations

BSB	Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.
WEB	All darkness is laid up for his treasures. An unfanned fire will devour him. It will consume that which is left in his tent.
ASV	All darkness is laid up for his treasures: A fire not blown by man shall devour him; It shall consume that which is left in his tent.
YLT	All darkness is hid for his treasures, Consume him doth a fire not blown, Broken is the remnant in his tent.
DARBY	All darkness is laid up for his treasures: a fire not blown shall devour him; it shall feed upon what is left in his tent.
BBE	All his wealth is stored up for the dark: a fire not made by man sends destruction on him, and on everything in his tent.
Webster	All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle.

What does Job 20:26 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

26. All darkness--that is, every calamity that befalls the wicked shall be hid (in store for him) in His (God's) secret places, or treasures (Jude 13; De 32:34). not blown--not kindled by man's hands, but by God's (Is 30:33; the Septuagint in the Alexandrian Manuscript reads "unquenchable fire," Mt 3:12). Tact is shown by the friends in not expressly mentioning, but alluding under color of general cases, to Job's calamities; here (Job 1:16) Umbreit explains it, wickedness, is a "self-igniting fire"; in it lie the principles of destruction. ill ... tabernacle--Every trace of the sinner must be obliterated (Job 18:15).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 26 A fire not blown shall consume him - As Zophar is here showing that the wicked cannot escape from the Divine judgments; so he points out the different instruments which God employs for their destruction. The wrath of God - any secret or supernatural curse. The iron weapon - the spear or such like. The bow, and its swift-flying arrow. Darkness - deep horror and perplexity. A fire not blown - a supernatural fire; lightning: such as fell on Korah, and his company, to whose destruction there is probably here an allusion: hence the words, It shall go ill with him who is left in his tabernacle. "And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. Get ye up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Depart from the tents of these wicked men. There came out a fire from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense;" Num 16:20, etc.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 20:23-29

Zophar, having described the vexations which attend wicked practices, shows their ruin from God's wrath. There is no fence against this, but in Christ, who is the only Covert from the storm and tempest, Is 32:2. Zophar concludes, "This is the portion of a wicked man from God;" it is allotted him. Never was any doctrine better explained, or worse applied, than this by Zophar, who intended to prove Job a hypocrite…

Read the full comment on Job 20:23-29 →

Job 20:26 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

כָּל\־kol-allH3605

חֹשֶׁךְ֮cho.sheKhdarknessH2822

טָמ֪וּןta.Mun[is] hiddenH2934

לִצְפּ֫וּנָ֥יוlitz.Pu.Navfor treasured [things] hisH6845

תְּ֭אָכְלֵהוּTe.'a.khe.le.huit will consume himH398

אֵ֣שׁ'eshfireH784

לֹֽא\־lo'-[which] notH3808

נֻפָּ֑חnu.Pachit has been fannedH5301

יֵ֖רַעYe.ra'it will be evilH7489

שָׂרִ֣ידsa.Rida survivorH8300

בְּאָהֳלֽוֹ\׃be.'o.ho.Loin tent hisH168

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Job 20:26

Psalms 21:9
Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.
Psalms 120:4
Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
Isaiah 30:33
For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.
Matthew 3:12
Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
Isaiah 8:22
And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.
Job 18:5-6
Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine. The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him.
Job 18:18-19
He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world. He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings.
Isaiah 14:20-22
Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the Lord.
Jude 1:13
Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
Matthew 8:12
But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Psalms 109:9-15
Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour. Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children. …

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

darkness.
18:5,6; Isa 8:22; Mt 8:12; Jude 1:13
a fire.
Ps 21:9; 120:4; Isa 30:33; Mt 3:12
it shall go.
18:19; Ps 109:9-15; Isa 14:20-22

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Job 20:25
It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him.
Job 20:26
All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle.
Job 20:27
The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.

Read all of Job 20

Job 20:26 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Todas tinieblas están guardadas para sus secretos: fuego no soplado lo devorará; su sucesor será quebrantado en su tienda.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Toutes les ténèbres sont réservées pour ses trésors; un feu qu’on ne souffle pas le dévorera, et se repaîtra de ce qui reste dans sa tente.
German Elberfelder 1871	Eitel Finsternis ist aufgespart für seine Schätze; ein Feuer, das nicht angeblasen ist, wird ihn fressen, wird verzehren, was in seinem Zelte übriggeblieben.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Omnes tenebræ absconditæ sunt in occultis ejus; devorabit eum ignis qui non succenditur: affligetur relictus in tabernaculo suo.