John Trapp on Job 20:12

Verſe 12. Though wickedneſſe be ſweet in his mouth.] As poiſon ſwallowed in ſome pleaſing meat or drink. Agrippine, in poiſoning her husband Claudius the Emperor, tempered it in meat he moſt delighted in. Poiſon given in Wine, works more furiouſly, as did that Waſſail the Monk drank to King John of England. That wickedneſſe with a witneſſe here meant, is oppreſſion, and is ſaid to be held in the mouth, and hid under the tongue, as ſome think, becauſe it is oft covered with godly ſpeeches, whereby he ſeeketh to circumvent and deceive his neighbour. Others by theſe expreſſions will have underſtood continuance in ſin and complacency therein, rolling it under his tongue, as a child doth a piece of ſugar, which he is loath to part with,Ariſt Ethic. l. 3 Aelian. var. biſt. l. 10. and retaining it a long thime in his mouth that he may taſte it with more pleaſure. Philo[illegible: 1 letter]enus wiſhed his neck were as long as a Cranes, that he might the longer keep the taſte of his ſweet-meats and dainty morſels. Such is the wicked mans wiſh, and his practiſe is anſwerable: for and his tongue is miſchief and vanity, Pſal. 1.7. He licks his lips with the remembrance of his former ſins, and ſo recommitteth them in his deſires, at leaſt, whilſt he recalleth former acts with delight. Thus the rebellious Iſraelites called to mind the Fleſh-pots of Egypt, and were moved: and thus afterwards they multiplyed their whoredomes by calling to remembrance the dayes of their youth, wherein they had gone a whoring in the Land of Egypt, Ezek. 23.21.