3 They drive away H5090 the ass H2543 of the fatherless, H3490 they take H2254 the widow's H490 ox H7794 for a pledge. H2254
When thou dost lend H5383 thy brother H7453 any H3972 thing, H4859 thou shalt not go H935 into his house H1004 to fetch H5670 his pledge. H5667 Thou shalt stand H5975 abroad, H2351 and the man H376 to whom thou dost lend H5383 shall bring out H3318 the pledge H5667 abroad H2351 unto thee. And if the man H376 be poor, H6041 thou shalt not sleep H7901 with his pledge: H5667 In any case H7725 thou shalt deliver H7725 him the pledge H5667 again H7725 when the sun H8121 goeth down, H935 that he may sleep H7901 in his own raiment, H8008 and bless H1288 thee: and it shall be righteousness H6666 unto thee before H6440 the LORD H3068 thy God. H430
Thou shalt not pervert H5186 the judgment H4941 of the stranger, H1616 nor of the fatherless; H3490 nor take H2254 a widow's H490 raiment H899 to pledge: H2254 But thou shalt remember H2142 that thou wast a bondman H5650 in Egypt, H4714 and the LORD H3068 thy God H430 redeemed H6299 thee thence: therefore I command H6680 thee to do H6213 this thing. H1697 When thou cuttest down H7114 thine harvest H7105 in thy field, H7704 and hast forgot H7911 a sheaf H6016 in the field, H7704 thou shalt not go again H7725 to fetch H3947 it: it shall be for the stranger, H1616 for the fatherless, H3490 and for the widow: H490 that the LORD H3068 thy God H430 may bless H1288 thee in all the work H4639 of thine hands. H3027 When thou beatest H2251 thine olive tree, H2132 thou shalt not go over the boughs H6286 again: H310 it shall be for the stranger, H1616 for the fatherless, H3490 and for the widow. H490 When thou gatherest H1219 the grapes of thy vineyard, H3754 thou shalt not glean H5953 it afterward: H310 it shall be for the stranger, H1616 for the fatherless, H3490 and for the widow. H490
For thou hast taken a pledge H2254 from thy brother H251 for nought, H2600 and stripped H6584 the naked H6174 of their clothing. H899 Thou hast not given water H4325 to the weary H5889 to drink, H8248 and thou hast withholden H4513 bread H3899 from the hungry. H7457 But as for the mighty H2220 man, H376 he had the earth; H776 and the honourable man H5375 H6440 dwelt H3427 in it. Thou hast sent H7971 widows H490 away empty, H7387 and the arms H2220 of the fatherless H3490 have been broken. H1792
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Job 24
Commentary on Job 24 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 24
Job having by his complaints in the foregoing chapter given vent to his passion, and thereby gained some ease, breaks them off abruptly, and now applies himself to a further discussion of the doctrinal controversy between him and his friends concerning the prosperity of wicked people. That many live at ease who yet are ungodly and profane, and despise all the exercises of devotion, he had shown, ch. 21. Now here he goes further, and shows that many who are mischievous to mankind, and live in open defiance to all the laws of justice and common honesty, yet thrive and succeed in their unrighteous practices; and we do not see them reckoned with in this world. What he had said before (ch. 12:6), "The tabernacles of robbers prosper,' he here enlarges upon. He lays down his general proposition (v. 1), that the punishment of wicked people is not so visible and apparent as his friends supposed, and then proves it by an induction of particulars.
Job 24:1-12
Job's friends had been very positive in it that they should soon see the fall of wicked people, how much soever they might prosper for a while. By no means, says Job; though times are not hidden from the Almighty, yet those that know him do not presently see his day, v. 1.
For the proof of this, that wicked people prosper, Job specifies two sorts of unrighteous ones, whom all the world saw thriving in their iniquity:-
Job 24:13-17
These verses describe another sort of sinners who therefore go unpunished, because they go undiscovered. They rebel against the light, v. 13. Some understand it figuratively: they sin against the light of nature, the light of God's law, and that of their own consciences; they profess to know God, but they rebel against the knowledge they have of him, and will not be guided and governed, commanded and controlled, by it. Others understand it literally: they have the day-light and choose the night as the most advantageous season for their wickedness. Sinful works are therefore called works of darkness, because he that does evil hates the light (Jn. 3:20), knows not the ways thereof, that is, keeps out of the way of it, or, if he happen to be seen, abides not where he thinks he is known. So that he here describes the worst of sinners,-those that sin wilfully, and against the convictions of their own consciences, whereby they add rebellion to their sin,-those that sin deliberately, and with a great deal of plot and contrivance, using a thousand arts to conceal their villanies, fondly imagining that, if they can but hide them from the eye of men, they are safe, but forgetting that there is no darkness or shadow of death in which the workers of iniquity can hide themselves from God's eye, ch. 34:22. In this paragraph Job specifies three sorts of sinners that shun the light:-
Job 24:18-25
Job here, in the conclusion of his discourse,