Bible Strands
Job 22:20
‘Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire has consumed their excess.’
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Eliphaz speaks to Job in the midst of a debate on divine justice, describing the sudden collapse of the wicked immediately after noting that the righteous rejoice at their downfall.
The words — The Hebrew לֹא נִכְחַד קִימֵנוּ (lo nikh Chad qimenu) literally means “our adversary is not hidden/destroyed,” while אֵשׁ אָכְלָה יִתְרָם (esh akhelah yitram) translates to “fire has consumed their abundance.”
The thread — The motif of fire destroying the wicked’s wealth appears in Genesis 19:24, Job 1:16, and Job 20:26.
Why it lands — The text states that human enemies and accumulated resources are ultimately consumed by divine fire, requiring the reader to abandon trust in earthly security and pursue reconciliation with God.
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
Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.
Cross-references
- Genesis 19:24 Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.
- Job 1:16 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The fire of God fell from heaven. It burned and consumed the sheep and the servants, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
- Job 20:26 Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.
- 2 Peter 2:6 if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly;
- Job 4:7 Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed?
- Job 8:3 Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
- Job 15:5 For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty.
- Job 15:30 He will not escape from the darkness; the flame will wither his shoots, and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.
- Job 20:18 He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he cannot enjoy the profits of his trading.
- Job 21:27 Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me.