Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Job 20:9 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 9. 9The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Job 20:9 closes the thought unit with the words “The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold….” Zophar states “The eye also which saw him shall see him no more” as one poetic claim in Zophar Answers with the Wicked's Brief Triumph.
Read It With
- Job 20:1–20:9
Read Job 20:9 with 20:1–20:9. Read alone, “The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold…” could lose its speaker, the question or claim it develops, and the unit's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Zophar reacts to correction and declares that wicked joy rises briefly before the person vanishes like refuse or a dream.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Zophar answers Job's isolation and vindicator hope with another fixed portrait of the wicked's brief triumph instead of addressing Job's plea. Within that relationship, Job 20:9 closes the thought unit through “The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold….”
Read Job 20:1–9 together
Why these verses belong together: Job 20:1–20:9 follows the pinned KJV paragraphing and holds together one sustained speech movement: “Zophar Answers with the Wicked's Brief Triumph.” The next unit begins with a new stanza, question sequence, scene, speaker response, or rhetorical turn.
Verse 1. 1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
Verse 2. 2 Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste.
Verse 3. 3 I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer.
Verse 4. 4 Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth,
Verse 5. 5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?
Verse 6. 6 Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds;
Verse 7. 7 Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?
Verse 8. 8 He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
Verse 9. 9 The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.
What Remains True
Zophar reacts to correction and declares that wicked joy rises briefly before the person vanishes like refuse or a dream. Faithfulness is not a transaction guaranteeing health, wealth, status, safety, or rapid repair, and delayed relief is not proof of spiritual failure. Job 20:9 carries that bounded truth through “The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold….”
How It Can Shape Life
- Use Job 20:1–20:9 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: The speech's generalization is aimed at Job but does not establish that Job's former prosperity or present loss came from wickedness. The verse-specific evidence to retain is “The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold….”
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Job 20:1–20:9 — Zophar Answers with the Wicked's Brief TriumphSources 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 20:1–20:9, 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 20:1–20:9
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 20:1–20:9.
Exact location: Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 20:1–20:9
Open the official NET Job PDF ↗