He will not look upon the rivers, the streams flowing with honey and curds.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The verse vividly paints a picture of lost abundance by contrasting "rivers" with smaller "brooks," suggesting that even the trickles of prosperity, let alone vast streams of honey and cream, will be denied. This emphasizes not just a lack of great wealth, but the absence of life's sweetest, simplest comforts.
He will not look upon the rivers, the streams flowing with honey and curds.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Zophar is accusing Job of wicked hypocrisy, arguing that his suffering is a direct consequence of his hidden sin. He paints a grim picture of the wicked man's ultimate downfall, contrasting the abundant prosperity Job once described for himself with the utter destitution that awaits him. This verse uses vivid imagery common in the ancient Near East, likening immense wealth and blessing to rivers and streams flowing with luxurious foods like honey and butter.
Have you ever heard of a place 'flowing with milk and honey'? This ancient phrase describes the ultimate prosperity. But what did it really mean to the people of Job's time?
In Job 20:17, Zophar uses vivid imagery of 'rivers, the floods, the brooks flowing with honey and curds.' This wasn't meant literally, like streams of dairy products! Instead, it was a common, poetic way of describing extreme abundance and prosperity.
Think of it like this:
Zophar's words paint a picture of what the wicked won't have. What does this 'loss' truly represent in the context of God's justice?
Zophar is telling the wicked man that he won't experience the fullness of life that God intends for His people. This isn't just about missing out on wealth; it's about a fundamental deprivation.
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Here's what this loss signifies:
Understand the original words
debhash · Hebrew Noun
In biblical imagery, abundance, prosperity, and the blessings of the Promised Land are often described as flowing with honey and curds, signifying divine favor, sustenance, and the goodness of God’s provision.
This verse draws on deeply ingrained cultural and religious symbols of prosperity, particularly the promise of Canaan as a land flowing with milk and honey. Zophar uses this powerful imagery to describe the ultimate deprivation that awaits the wicked, highlighting the loss of all good things, both earthly and spiritual.
c. 2000-1500 BC
Patriarchal Period in Canaan
The land of Canaan, known for its fertility, becomes a symbol of God's blessing and provision. Expressions like 'flowing with milk and honey' describe idealized abundance.
c. 1446 BC
Exodus from Egypt
God promises the Israelites a land 'flowing with milk and honey,' establishing this phrase as a profound metaphor for prosperity and divine favor.
c. 10th Century BC
Davidic Kingdom at its Peak
Under kings like David and Solomon, the united kingdom of Israel experiences significant prosperity and stability, often described with imagery of abundance.
c. 10th Century BC
Job's Life of Prosperity
The book of Job depicts Job as a man of immense wealth and blessing, who later reflects on his past abundance using similar metaphors of flowing rivers and plenty.
c. 9th Century BC— this verse
Zophar's Speeches to Job
Zophar, one of Job's friends, argues that wicked people ultimately experience utter destitution and loss, contrasting their fate with the blessings of the righteous.
c. 8th Century BC
Prophetic Warnings of Judgment
Prophets like Isaiah use the imagery of abundance and fertility to warn against judgment, emphasizing that prosperity is tied to obedience.
This passage uses the 'land flowing with milk and honey' imagery to describe the abundance God promised to Israel, paralleling Zophar's description of extreme prosperity that the wicked man will be denied.
Job 29:6Job himself uses similar vivid metaphors of abundance ('washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured out to me rivers of oil') to describe his past prosperity, creating a poignant contrast with Zophar's declaration that he will see no such things.
Proverbs 10:3This proverb directly contrasts the Lord's blessing on the righteous ('the LORD does not let the righteous go hungry') with the wicked's lack ('but he thwarts the craving of the wicked'), echoing the theme of divine favor and denial of provision.
Isaiah 48:18The prophet laments that if Israel had listened to God, their peace would have been like a river and their righteousness like the waves of the sea, highlighting how obedience brings abundant blessings, the absence of which is implied for the wicked.
Luke 16:24The rich man in the parable, experiencing deprivation and thirst in the afterlife, directly pleads for a drop of water, illustrating the ultimate denial of even basic comfort, a severe form of the loss Zophar describes.
clarkeJob 20:17: "He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter."
Job 20:17He shall not see the rivers - Mr. Good has the following judicious note on this passage: "Honey and butter are the common results of a rich, well-watered pasturage, offering a perpetual banquet of grass to kine, and of nectar to bees; and thus loading the possessor with the most luscious luxuries of pastoral life, peculiarly so before the discovery of the means of obtaining sugar. The expression appea…
bensonJob 20:17: "He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter."
Job 20:17 . He shall not see the rivers, the floods, &c. — “He shall not see them with any pleasure. The most delightful things of this world, and the greatest affluence and plenty of them, shall afford him no enjoyment.” — Dodd. Or, rather, he speaks metaphorically, and means, he shall not enjoy that abundant satisfaction and comfort, which he promised himself from his great riches, or which good men, through…
The verse vividly paints a picture of lost abundance by contrasting "rivers" with smaller "brooks," suggesting that even the trickles of prosperity, let alone vast streams of honey and cream, will be denied. This emphasizes not just a lack of great wealth, but the absence of life's sweetest, simplest comforts.
Zophar is accusing Job of wicked hypocrisy, arguing that his suffering is a direct consequence of his hidden sin. He paints a grim picture of the wicked man's ultimate downfall, contrasting the abundant prosperity Job once described for himself with the utter destitution that awaits him. This verse uses vivid imagery common in the ancient Near East, likening immense wealth and blessing to rivers and streams flowing with luxurious foods like honey and butter.
Zophar is accusing Job of wicked hypocrisy, arguing that his suffering is a direct consequence of his hidden sin. He paints a grim picture of the wicked man's ultimate downfall, contrasting the abundant prosperity Job once described for himself with the utter destitution that awaits him. This verse uses vivid imagery common in the ancient Near East, likening immense wealth and blessing to rivers and streams flowing with luxurious foods like honey and butter.
"He will not look upon the rivers, the streams flowing with honey and curds." — The verse vividly paints a picture of lost abundance by contrasting "rivers" with smaller "brooks," suggesting that even the trickles of prosperity, let alone vast streams of honey and cream, will be…
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Last reviewed October 2026