He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.
Job 20:15 stands inside the long dispute in Job 3-31 over the cause and purpose of human suffering. It is the speech of one of Job's three friends, not the voice of Job or of God. Its claim is that wealth swallowed by the wicked will be forced back up, with God Himself expelling it from the wrongdoer's grasp. That the book is inspired guarantees only that the friend actually uttered these words, not that his charge held true against Job.
Such sayings of the friends are not to be taken as trustworthy doctrine about God or about Job unless confirmed by other inspired Scripture. Their underlying principle remains generally sound though it was wrongly applied to Job, namely that evil is finally punished and good is finally rewarded. Suffering and affliction by themselves therefore do not prove that the sufferer lies under God's displeasure.
Job 20:15 stands inside the long dispute in Job 3-31 over the cause and purpose of human suffering. It is the speech of one of Job's three friends, not the voice of Job or of God. Its claim is that wealth swallowed by the wicked will be forced back up, with God Himself expelling it from the wrongdoer's grasp. That the book is inspired guarantees only that the friend actually uttered these words, not that his charge held true against Job.
Such sayings of the friends are not to be taken as trustworthy doctrine about God or about Job unless confirmed by other inspired Scripture. Their underlying principle remains generally sound though it was wrongly applied to Job, namely that evil is finally punished and good is finally rewarded. Suffering and affliction by themselves therefore do not prove that the sufferer lies under God's displeasure.