Bible Strands
Job 20:17
He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Zophar addresses Job, describing the sudden collapse of the wicked man who previously thrived. The passage marks the turning point where past prosperity gives way to irreversible ruin.
The words — אַל־ ('al-) = may not, and יֵ֥רֶא (Ye.re') = he look or enjoy. Together they literally negate the act of seeing or taking pleasure in the coming bounty.
The thread — Deuteronomy 32:13 pairs honey with oil from a rock, Job 29:6 links cream with streams of oil, and Luke 16:24 shows a man begging for water, tracing a biblical motif of unattainable relief.
Why it lands — The text states the wicked man will not enjoy the streams, rivers, and honey and cream. It asks the reader to acknowledge that ill-gotten prosperity cannot be sustained and will vanish without trace.
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
He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 32:13 He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and oil from the flinty crag,
- Job 29:6 when my steps were bathed in cream and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
- Luke 16:24 So he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am in agony in this fire.’
- Numbers 14:23 not one will ever see the land that I swore to give their fathers. None of those who have treated Me with contempt will see it.
- 2 Samuel 17:29 honey, curds, sheep, and cheese from the herd for David and his people to eat. For they said, “The people have become hungry, exhausted, and thirsty in the wilderness.”
- 2 Kings 7:2 But the officer on whose arm the king leaned answered the man of God, “Look, even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?” “You will see it with your own eyes,” replied Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it.”
- Psalms 36:8 They feast on the abundance of Your house, and You give them drink from Your river of delights.
- Psalms 81:16 But I would feed you the finest wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
- Isaiah 7:15 By the time He knows enough to reject evil and choose good, He will be eating curds and honey.
- Isaiah 7:22 and from the abundance of milk they give, he will eat curds; for all who remain in the land will eat curds and honey.