Having completed his list of promised rewards for a new life, Zophar ends his speech with a warning to Job that if he does not change his ways, he will be lost. But the eyes of the wicked will fail: as in the case of Bildad’s speech in 8.20-22, this saying expresses the miserable fate of the wicked. Eyes is used as the image that will “cease, fade, disappear, grow dim” in such passages as Psalm 119.82, 123. The meaning here is not to be taken literally, since the physical eyes of the good and evil fail alike. The point here is that the wicked fail to see (understand, grasp) the significance of their true situation. It is their spiritual eyes which fail them, or as Good News Translation says, “The wicked will look around in despair.” That is, they will be in trouble and look around for a way out. Line 20a may need to be restructured in some languages to make clear the nature of the failing vision; for example, “The wicked will fail to see the truth,” or without the figure, “Evil people will not understand what is happening to them.”

All way of escape will be lost to them: Zophar emphasizes the frustration in store for the wicked because they cannot find a way to escape from their troubles. The inability of the wicked or the troubled to escape from a dreadful end is a common poetic picture in the Old Testament. For example, in Psalm 88.8 the psalmist cries out to God, “I am closed in and cannot escape…” (Good News Translation). Psalm 142.4 expresses the same thought, “no refuge remains to me…” (Revised Standard Version). On the other hand it is the righteous who escape from troubles (Prov 12.13). Because the vision of the wicked is impaired, they do not see their way out of their troubles; and this may be expressed, for example, “They are unable to find a way to escape,” “They do not see how they can be freed,” “They do not see a place where they can take refuge.”

And their hope is to breathe their last translates the Hebrew “and their hope the breathing out of the soul.” This refers to giving up the ghost, to die. The brightest hope of the wicked is to die. Job has already expressed this as his hope. Zophar aims his final blow at Job by saying that death is his final hope, unless of course he changes according to Zophar’s advice. This line may be rendered, for example, “And these people can only hope for death,” “People like these have only one last hope: death,” or “There is no hope for such people; they die.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, Wiliam. A Handbook on Job. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .