Matthew Poole and continuators on Job 8:20

20. Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers:

Heb. Not despise or reject; i. e. He will not deny them his help, as appears by the opposite and following Branch of the Verse: He will not suffer them to be utterly lost.

i. e. Deliver them out of their troubles: Hence it may seem that thou, O Iob, art not a perfect or upright man, but an evil-doer: But this is certain, if for the future thy heart and way be not perfect, and thou doest not cease to do evil, thou wilt be utterly and irrecoverably lost; as on the contrary, if thou doest repent and reform, he will help and deliver thee, and restore thee to thy former glory and happiness; which Promise though it be not here expressed, is sufficiently implied in the contrary threatning, as is evident from the following words which plainly suppose it, and have a reference to it: such Ellipses of Contraries being not unusual in Scripture, as we shall see hereafter, especially in the Book of the Proverbs.

Marginal references: Heb take the [illegible: 1 word] by the [illegible: 1 word].