Job 20:11

11. The sin of his youth Literally, secret things. Hitzig and many moderns render עלומו , secret sins, (see Psalms 90:8,) though others prefer youth, in the sense of “youthful vigour.” The latter sense, then, would give the idea that prematurely the wicked man descends to the grave. The root of the word ‘ halam, (from which is ‘ holam, eternity, “the hidden,”) means both to hide and to be young. Even if the latter meaning be accepted, it may as properly mean youthful sin as youthful vigour. Job had spoken of hope descending with him to the bars of sheol, and of rest in the dust, (Job 17:16.) “No!” says Zophar, “your secret sins shall lie down with you in the dust the grave shall be no place of rest.” It were bad enough if, like a wound in the body, sin left simply a scar upon the soul. But sin is a poison, as Zophar proceeds to show. It enters into man’s entire being, until he may be said to be “full” of it. So subtle is the virus that it penetrates every tissue. The sins of youth make themselves felt in subsequent years through premature old age, the ruin of health, manifold regret ripening into remorse, and the general wreck of our moral being. Youth is strangely a period of weakness, and pre-eminently one of temptation; but nature utters aloud her notes of warning, and the voice of the Lord God walking also in this paradise, may be heard affectionately cautioning the soul against eating of forbidden fruit.