Bible Strands
Job 20:7
he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who had seen him will ask, ‘Where is he?’
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Zophar addresses Job in a discourse on the sudden collapse of the arrogant, framing the moment as a warning about the fate of the proud.
The words — גֶלַל (ge.lal) literally means “dung” or “excrement,” and נֶצַח (ne.tzach) denotes “perpetuity” or “forever.”
The thread — The text’s claim that the wicked will be completely forgotten echoes Job 4:20, while the dung imagery parallels the judgment decrees in 1 Kings 14:10 and 2 Kings 9:37.
Why it lands — The verse states that human arrogance leaves no permanent legacy and that the wicked will vanish without a trace. It requires the reader to accept that pride guarantees total erasure rather than enduring honor.
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
Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 14:10 Because of all this, behold, I am bringing disaster on the house of Jeroboam: I will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both slave and free, in Israel; I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns up dung until it is gone!
- 2 Kings 9:37 And Jezebel’s body will lie like dung in the field on the plot of ground at Jezreel, so that no one can say: This is Jezebel.’”
- Job 4:20 They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; unnoticed, they perish forever.
- Job 7:10 He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more.
- Job 8:18 If he is uprooted from his place, it will disown him, saying, ‘I never saw you.’
- Job 14:10 But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last, and where is he?
- Psalms 83:10 who perished at Endor and became like dung on the ground.
- Jeremiah 8:2 They will be exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the host of heaven which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up or buried, but will become like dung lying on the ground.