“He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.”
My Notes
What Does Job 20:15 Mean?
"He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly." Zophar describes the wicked person's relationship with wealth using digestive imagery: the riches are swallowed (consumed greedily), then vomited back up (involuntarily expelled). God forces the regurgitation — the wealth won't stay down. The body that consumed the riches rejects them.
The three verbs — swallowed, vomit, cast out — trace the complete digestive cycle of ill-gotten wealth: acquisition (swallowing), rejection (vomiting), and divine intervention (God forcing the expulsion). The wicked person can take the wealth in, but God ensures it comes back out. The consumption doesn't lead to digestion. It leads to expulsion.
The phrase "God shall cast them out of his belly" adds divine agency to the physical metaphor: the vomiting isn't natural — God actively forces the riches out. The wealth isn't lost through bad luck or market forces. God reaches into the belly of the wicked and extracts what was swallowed. The taking-back is as intentional as the taking.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What have you consumed or accumulated that might not be staying down — that God might be forcing out?
- 2.How does the swallowing/vomiting imagery change your picture of greed?
- 3.What does God personally 'casting out' stolen wealth teach about divine justice in economics?
- 4.Where have you seen wealth consumed through oppression eventually expelled — and what did it look like?
Devotional
He swallowed the riches — and God made him vomit them back up. The imagery is intentionally revolting: the wicked person consumes wealth greedily, like someone gorging on food, and then God reaches into his stomach and forces it all back out. The riches won't stay down. The consumption is temporary. The expulsion is divine.
Zophar's metaphor captures what greed actually looks like from God's perspective: the wealthy oppressor who swallows down riches looks like a person binge-eating. The consumption is compulsive, excessive, and ultimately self-destructive. The belly that devoured everything will be emptied by God's hand. The greed that drove the swallowing is answered by the violence of the vomiting.
The 'God shall cast them out of his belly' means the reversal is divine, not natural: the market doesn't correct this. Karma doesn't balance it. GOD intervenes. God reaches into the belly where the stolen wealth sits and removes it personally. The taking-back is as deliberate as the taking. The wealth came in through greed. It goes out through God's hand.
Zophar applies this to Job (wrongly), but the principle has its own truth: wealth consumed through oppression doesn't nourish. It poisons. The riches that were swallowed down become the sickness that destroys. God doesn't let the wicked digest their stolen gains permanently.
What have you 'swallowed' — consumed, acquired, accumulated — that God might need to force back out?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
He hath swallowed down riches,.... Not his own, but another's, which he has spoiled him of and devoured, with as much…
He hath swallowed down riches - He has “glutted” down riches - or gormandized them - or devoured them greedily. The…
The instances here given of the miserable condition of the wicked man in this world are expressed with great fulness and…
The same general figure of a delightful food particularized. The ill-gotten riches which he amassed do not abide with…