Job 24:3
1 “Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment? Why may those who know Him never see His days?
2 Men move boundary stones; they pasture stolen flocks.
They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
4 They push the needy off the road and force all the poor of the land into hiding.
5 Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go to work foraging for food; the wasteland is food for their children.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
- KJV
- They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
- WEB
- They drive away the donkey of the fatherless, and they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
- ASV
- They drive away the ass of the fatherless; They take the widow`s ox for a pledge.
- DARBY
- They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge;
- BLB
- They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take as a pledge the ox of the widow.
- ÅB
- Farløses esel driver de bort; enkens okse tar de i pant.
- OTB
- De driver bort de farløses esler,
De tar enkens okse som pant. - B1930
- Farløses asen driver de bort; enkens okse tar de i pant.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Deuteronomy 24:6
Do not take a pair of millstones or even an upper millstone as security for a debt, because that would be taking one’s livelihood as security.
Read in contextJob 22:6–9
For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing.
Read in contextJob 31:16–17
If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,
Read in contextDeuteronomy 24:17–21
Do not deny justice to the foreigner or the fatherless, and do not take a widow’s cloak as security.
Read in contextDeuteronomy 24:10–13
When you lend anything to your neighbor, do not enter his house to collect security.
Read in context1 Samuel 12:3
Here I am. Bear witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe and closed my eyes? Tell me, and I will restore it to you.”
Read in context