Job — Chapter 20

Respondens autem Sophar Naamathites

On Sophar's second speech — the brief joy of the wicked: Sophar opens by claiming his inner turmoil forces him to respond (v. 2). The LXX translates: Sophar says he is troubled not because Job's arguments have convinced him but because he finds them impertinent. On vv. 4-5: "Knowest thou not from the beginning, since man was placed upon the earth, that the glorying of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?" — Corderius treats this as a genuine and important theological truth: the apparent prosperity of the wicked is brief and illusory. He cites Gregory (Moral. XV.54) who develops this into an extended meditation on the ultimate futility of earthly pleasure divorced from God. The wicked may feast now, but their feasting turns to bitterness; the sweetness of sin in the mouth becomes the gall of asps in the belly (v. 14). On v. 6-7: "Though his pride mount up to the heaven, and his head touch the clouds, yet he shall perish forever like his own dung" — the extreme of comparison with dung is noted as rhetorically powerful in Eastern literature; Corderius cites Chrysostom and Basil on the equivalence of pride and filth in the moral order.

Hoc scio a principio ex quo positus est

On the brevity of the wicked man's triumph: "Do you not know this from of old, since man was placed on earth, that the exulting of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless but for a moment? Though his height mount up to the heavens, and his head reach to the clouds, he will perish forever like his own dung." Corderius treats Sophar's theological claim as true in itself, even if misapplied to Job. He develops an extended meditation on the brevity of earthly success divorced from God. The phrase "perdit quasi stercus" (perishes as dung) is deliberately shocking — Sophar emphasizes the humiliation awaiting earthly pride. Corderius follows Chrysostom: the most spectacular earthly careers end in oblivion; only what was done for God endures. He cites the Emperor examples from history (Nebuchadnezzar, Antiochus IV) as illustrations of the principle. The theological lesson: prosperity without God is not merely valueless but dangerous, since it reinforces the illusion of self-sufficiency.

Ossa ejus implebuntur vitiis adolescentiae

On the punishment of the wicked through their own pleasures: "His bones are full of his youthful vigor, but it will lie down with him in the dust. Though evil is sweet in his mouth, though he hides it under his tongue, though he is loath to let it go and holds it in his mouth — yet his food is turned in his stomach; it is the venom of cobras within him." Corderius develops this as a profound moral psychology: sin seems sweet at the moment of enjoyment but turns bitter in its consequences. He draws on Aristotle (Ethics X.1-3) on pleasure and pain, and transforms it theologically: the sweetness of sin is a diabolical deception, a poison coated with honey. On v. 15: "He swallows down riches and vomits them up again; God casts them out of his belly" — Corderius sees here the cycle of avarice: accumulation and dispersal, the belly that cannot be satisfied and therefore cannot retain. He cites Chrysostom on the futility of avarice: the more one has, the more one wants; satisfaction never comes; and in the end, divine judgment strips away all that was hoarded.

Panis ejus in utero illius vertetur in fel

On the bitterness of ill-gotten gains: "The food he has swallowed he vomits up; God casts it out of his belly. He sucks the poison of cobras; the tongue of a viper kills him." Corderius develops a full theology of the consequences of avarice and exploitation: what is gained by injustice cannot be digested; the spiritual "stomach" of the unjust man rejects what it has swallowed. He cites Chrysostom (In Matt. Hom. 63): the avaricious man never finds peace in his possessions; he is tormented by the fear of losing what he has and the desire for more. The poison of the viper's tongue represents the slanders and injustices that enable unjust gain: they ultimately turn on the user. On vv. 20-22: "Because he knew no contentment in his belly, he will not let anything in which he delights escape him... In the fullness of his sufficiency he will be in distress" — the paradox of insatiable desire: the more one has, the more one needs; satisfaction perpetually deferred. Corderius uses this as a pastoral warning against the temptation to measure success by accumulation.