Job 33 · Verse 20

Job 33:20

So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat.
Job 33:20, King James Version

Job 33:20 in other translations

BSBso that he detests his bread, and his soul loathes his favorite food.
WEBso that his life abhors bread, and his soul dainty food.
ASVSo that his life abhorreth bread, And his soul dainty food.
YLTAnd his life hath nauseated bread, And his soul desirable food.
DARBYAnd his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty food;
BBEHe has no desire for food, and his soul is turned away from delicate meat;
WebsterSo that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty food.

What does Job 33:20 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
20. life--that is, the appetite, which ordinarily sustains "life" (Job 38:39; Psa 107:18; Ec 12:5). The taking away of desire for food by sickness symbolizes the removal by affliction of lust, for things which foster the spiritual fever of pride. soul--desire.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 20 His life abhorreth bread - These expressions strongly and naturally point out that general nausea, or loathing which sick persons feel in almost every species of disorder.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 33:19-28

Job complained of his diseases, and judged by them that God was angry with him; his friends did so too: but Elihu shows that God often afflicts the body for good to the soul. This thought will be of great use for our getting good from sickness, in and by which God speaks to men. Pain is the fruit of sin; yet, by the grace of God, the pain of the body is often made a means of good to the soul. When afflictions have…

Read the full comment on Job 33:19-28 →

Job 33:20 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.

וְזִֽהֲמַ֣תּוּve.zi.ha.Ma.tuand it loathes itH2092
חַיָּת֣וֹchai.ya.Tolife hisH2416
לָ֑חֶםLa.chembreadH3899
וְ֝נַפְשׁ֗וֹve.naf.Shoand self hisH5315
מַאֲכַ֥לma.'a.Khalfood ofH3978
תַּאֲוָֽה\׃ta.'a.VahdesireH8378

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

Cross references for Job 33:20

  • Psalms 107:17-18

    Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.

  • Job 3:24

    For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.

  • Jeremiah 3:19

    But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.

  • Amos 5:11

    Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.

  • Genesis 3:6

    And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
his life.
Ps 107:17,18
dainty meat. Heb. meat of desire.
Ge 3:6; Jer 3:19; Am 5:11; *marg:

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

Context

  • Job 33:19

    He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain:

  • Job 33:20

    So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat.

  • Job 33:21

    His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out.

Read all of Job 33

Job 33:20 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Que le hace que su vida aborrezca el pan, y su alma la comida suave.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et sa vie prend en dégoût le pain, et son âme l’aliment qu’il aimait;
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und sein Leben verabscheut das Brot, und seine Seele die Lieblingsspeise;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Abominabilis ei fit in vita sua panis, et animæ illius cibus ante desiderabilis.