Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Job 11:20 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 20. 20But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Job 11:20 closes the thought unit with the words “But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be….” Zophar turns or qualifies the speech with “But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be…” inside Zophar Offers Restoration if Job Removes Sin.
Read It With
- Job 11:13–11:20
Read Job 11:20 with 11:13–11:20. Read alone, “But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be…” could lose its speaker, the question or claim it develops, and the unit's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Zophar urges Job to prepare his heart and put wrongdoing away, promising security, brightness, rest, influence, and hope while threatening the wicked.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Zophar continues from Job 11:7–11:12: Zophar praises God's unsearchable height and depth, then moves from divine knowledge to a contemptuous judgment about foolish people. Job 11:13–11:20 now develops the next distinct movement: Zophar urges Job to prepare his heart and put wrongdoing away, promising security, brightness, rest, influence, and hope while threatening the wicked. Within that relationship, Job 11:20 closes the thought unit through “But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be….”
Read Job 11:13–20 together
Why these verses belong together: Job 11:13–11:20 follows the pinned KJV paragraphing and holds together one sustained speech movement: “Zophar Offers Restoration if Job Removes Sin.” The next unit begins with a new stanza, question sequence, scene, speaker response, or rhetorical turn.
Verse 13. 13 If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him;
Verse 14. 14 If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.
Verse 15. 15 For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear:
Verse 16. 16 Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away:
Verse 17. 17 And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.
Verse 18. 18 And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.
Verse 19. 19 Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee.
Verse 20. 20 But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.
What Remains True
Zophar urges Job to prepare his heart and put wrongdoing away, promising security, brightness, rest, influence, and hope while threatening the wicked. Faithfulness is not a transaction guaranteeing health, wealth, status, safety, or rapid repair, and delayed relief is not proof of spiritual failure. Job 11:20 carries that bounded truth through “But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be….”
How It Can Shape Life
- Use Job 11:13–11:20 to support faithful presence without promising health, wealth, family, status, or a timetable; offer practical help while refusing to measure faith by visible recovery. Preserve this unit-specific boundary in the action: Repentance is not a technique that guarantees health, safety, status, or relief; Zophar's conditional promise cannot be imposed on sufferers. The verse-specific evidence to retain is “But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be….”
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Job 11:13–11:20 — Zophar Offers Restoration if Job Removes SinSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Job 11:13–11:20, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Job
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Job.xml, OSIS 11:13–11:20
Open the fixed Hebrew Job file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Job
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006; current official PDF
Supports: Verse-level controls for Job's difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, textual issues, speech boundaries, and alternatives in Job 11:13–11:20.
Exact location: Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 11:13–11:20
Open the official NET Job PDF ↗