Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Job 20:29 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 29. 29This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Job 20:29 closes the thought unit with the words “This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.” Zophar states “This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God” as one poetic claim in Zophar Calls Disaster the Wicked's Appointed Portion.
Read It With
- Job 20:23–20:29
Read Job 20:29 with 20:23–20:29. Read alone, “This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God” could lose its speaker, the question or claim it develops, and the unit's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Zophar pictures divine fury, inescapable weapons, exposed heavens, flooded property, and a divinely allotted inheritance of wrath.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Zophar continues from Job 20:10–20:22: Zophar imagines children repaying the poor, concealed sweetness becoming venom, swallowed riches restored, and fullness collapsing into distress. Job 20:23–20:29 now develops the next distinct movement: Zophar pictures divine fury, inescapable weapons, exposed heavens, flooded property, and a divinely allotted inheritance of wrath. Within that relationship, Job 20:29 closes the thought unit through “This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.”
Read Job 20:23–29 together
Why these verses belong together: Job 20:23–20:29 follows the pinned KJV paragraphing and holds together one sustained speech movement: “Zophar Calls Disaster the Wicked's Appointed Portion.” The next unit begins with a new stanza, question sequence, scene, speaker response, or rhetorical turn.
Verse 23. 23 When he is about to fill his belly, God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while he is eating.
Verse 24. 24 He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through.
Verse 25. 25 It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him.
Verse 26. 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.
Verse 27. 27 The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.
Verse 28. 28 The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.
Verse 29. 29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.
What Remains True
Zophar pictures divine fury, inescapable weapons, exposed heavens, flooded property, and a divinely allotted inheritance of wrath. Suffering or outward outcome is not evidence enough to diagnose guilt, hidden sin, divine rejection, or another person's moral standing. Job 20:29 carries that bounded truth through “This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.”
How It Can Shape Life
- When hardship invites a moral theory, use Job 20:23–20:29 to separate observed facts from accusation, test claims against the prose frame and final verdict, and refuse to infer hidden guilt from suffering. Preserve this unit-specific boundary in the action: This is Zophar's climactic retribution claim, not the narrator's diagnosis of Job or permission to celebrate another person's ruin. The verse-specific evidence to retain is “This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.”
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Job 20:23–20:29 — Zophar Calls Disaster the Wicked's Appointed PortionSources 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 20:23–20:29, 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 20:23–20:29
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 20:23–20:29.
Exact location: Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 20:23–20:29
Open the official NET Job PDF ↗