19 For he oppressed -- he forsook the poor, A house he hath taken violently away, And he doth not build it.
Because of the multitude of oppressions They cause to cry out, They cry because of the arm of the mighty.
An oppressor of the poor reproacheth his Maker, And whoso is honouring Him Is favouring the needy.
lo, the reward of the workmen, of those who in-gathered your fields, which hath been fraudulently kept back by you -- doth cry out, and the exclamations of those who did reap into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth have entered;
for the judgment without kindness `is' to him not having done kindness, and exult doth kindness over judgment.
The women of My people ye cast out from its delightful house, From its sucklings ye take away My honour to the age.
And they have desired fields, And they have taken violently, And houses, and they have taken away, And have oppressed a man and his house, Even a man and his inheritance.
Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, Who `are' in the mountain of Samaria, Who are oppressing the poor, Who are bruising the needy, Who are saying to their lords: `Bring in, and we do drink.' Sworn hath the Lord Jehovah by His holiness, That lo, days are coming upon you, And he hath taken you away with hooks, And your posterity with fish-hooks. And `by' breaches ye go forth, A woman `at that' over-against her, And ye have cast down the high place, An affirmation of Jehovah.
The people of the land have used oppression, And have taken plunder violently away, And humble and needy have oppressed, And the sojourner oppressed -- without judgment.
To bruise under one's feet any bound ones of earth,
Because the vineyard of Jehovah of Hosts `Is' the house of Israel, And the man of Judah His pleasant plant, And He waiteth for judgment, and lo, oppression, For righteousness, and lo, a cry. Wo `to' those joining house to house, Field to field they bring near, till there is no place, And ye have been settled by yourselves In the midst of the land!
If oppression of the poor, and violent taking away of judgment and righteousness thou seest in a province, do not marvel at the matter, for a higher than the high is observing, and high ones `are' over them.
The fruit of thy ground, and all thy labour, eat up doth a people whom thou hast not known; and thou hast been only oppressed and bruised all the days;
Because of the spoiling of the poor, Because of the groaning of the needy, Now do I arise, saith Jehovah, I set in safety `him who' doth breathe for it.
To judge the fatherless and bruised: He addeth no more to oppress -- man of the earth!
If I despise the cause of my man-servant, And of my handmaid, In their contending with me, Then what do I do when God ariseth? And when He doth inspect, What do I answer Him? Did not He that made me in the womb make him? Yea, prepare us in the womb doth One. If I withhold from pleasure the poor, And the eyes of the widow do consume, And I do eat my morsel by myself, And the orphan hath not eat of it, (But from my youth He grew up with me as `with' a father, And from the belly of my mother I am led.) If I see `any' perishing without clothing, And there is no covering to the needy, If his loins have not blessed me, And from the fleece of my sheep He doth not warm himself, If I have waved at the fatherless my hand, When I see in `him' the gate of my court, My shoulder from its blade let fall, And mine arm from the bone be broken.
The borders they reach, A drove they have taken violently away, Yea, they do evil. The ass of the fatherless they lead away, They take in pledge the ox of the widow, They turn aside the needy from the way, Together have hid the poor of the earth. Lo, wild asses in a wilderness, They have gone out about their work, Seeking early for prey, A mixture for himself -- food for young ones. In a field his provender they reap, And the vineyard of the wicked they glean. The naked they cause to lodge Without clothing. And there is no covering in the cold. From the inundation of hills they are wet, And without a refuge -- have embraced a rock. They take violently away From the breast the orphan, And on the poor they lay a pledge. Naked, they have gone without clothing, And hungry -- have taken away a sheaf. Between their walls they make oil, Wine-presses they have trodden, and thirst. Because of enmity men do groan, And the soul of pierced ones doth cry, And God doth not give praise.
Lo, I have known your thoughts, And the devices against me ye do wrongfully. For ye say, `Where `is' the house of the noble? And where the tent -- The tabernacles of the wicked?'
It dwelleth in his tent -- out of his provender, Scattered over his habitation is sulphur.
`Lo, here `am' I; testify against me, over-against Jehovah, and over-against His anointed; whose ox have I taken, and whose ass have I taken, and whom have I oppressed; whom have I bruised, and of whose hand have I taken a ransom, and hide mine eyes with it? -- and I restore to you.' And they say, `Thou hast not oppressed us, nor hast thou crushed us, nor hast thou taken from the hand of any one anything.'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Job 20
Commentary on Job 20 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 20
One would have thought that such an excellent confession of faith as Job made, in the close of the foregoing chapter, would satisfy his friends, or at least mollify them; but they do not seem to have taken any notice of it, and therefore Zophar here takes his turn, enters the lists with Job, and attacks him with as much vehemence as before.
But the great mistake was, and (as bishop Patrick expresses it) all the flaw in his discourse (which was common to him with the rest), that he imagined God never varied from this method, and therefore Job was, without doubt, a very bad man, though it did not appear that he was, any other way than by his infelicity.
Job 20:1-9
Here,
Job 20:10-22
The instances here given of the miserable condition of the wicked man in this world are expressed with great fulness and fluency of language, and the same thing returned to again and repeated in other words. Let us therefore reduce the particulars to their proper heads, and observe,
Job 20:23-29
Zophar, having described the many embarrassments and vexations which commonly attend the wicked practices of oppressors and cruel men, here comes to show their utter ruin at last.