Bible Strands
Job 11:20
But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and escape will elude them; they will hope for their last breath.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Zophar addresses Job in his second speech, stating that the wicked will experience physical collapse and find no refuge, while the righteous will lie down without fear.
The words — תִּ֫כְלֶ֥נָה (tikh.Lei.nah) translates literally as "they will fail," describing the exhaustion of the wicked, while מָנוֹס (ma.nos) means "a place of escape," which the text declares will be lost to them.
The thread — The motif of failing eyes and vanished refuge appears in Deuteronomy 28:65, Job 17:5, and Job 31:16.
Why it lands — The verse demands a reader to accept that moral corruption guarantees inescapable despair, requiring a sober assessment of consequences rather than self-justification.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 28:65 Among those nations you will find no repose, not even a resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul.
- Job 17:5 If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail.
- Job 31:16 If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,
- Leviticus 26:16 then this is what I will do to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting disease, and fever that will destroy your sight and drain your life. You will sow your seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.
- Job 8:13 Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so the hope of the godless will perish.
- Job 18:14 He is torn from the shelter of his tent and is marched off to the king of terrors.
- Job 27:8 For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
- Job 27:22 It hurls itself against him without mercy as he flees headlong from its power.
- Job 34:22 There is no darkness or deep shadow where the workers of iniquity can hide.
- Psalms 69:3 I am weary from my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.