Job 24:4

4 They thrust the needy from the path and force all the poor of the land into hiding.

Job 24:4 in Other Translations

KJV
4 They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.
ESV
4 They thrust the poor off the road; the poor of the earth all hide themselves.
NLT
4 The poor are pushed off the path; the needy must hide together for safety.
MSG
4 Push the helpless into the ditch, bully the weak so that they fear for their lives.
CSB
4 They push the needy off the road; the poor of the land are forced into hiding.

Job 24:4 Meaning and Commentary

Job 24:4

They turn the needy out of the way
Either, in a moral sense, out of the right way, the way of righteousness and truth, by their bad examples, or by their threatenings or flatteries; or, in a civil sense, out of the way of their livelihood, by taking that from them by which they got it; or, in a literal sense, obliging them to turn out of the way from them, in a supercilious and haughty manner, or causing them, through fear of them, to get out of the way, that they might not meet them, lest they should insult them, beat and abuse them, or take that little from them they had, as follows:

the poor of the earth hide themselves together;
who are not only poor in purse, but poor in spirit, meek, humble, and lowly, and have not spirit and courage to stand against such oppressors, but are easily crushed by them; these through fear of them hide themselves in holes and corners in a body, in a large company together, lest they should fall into their cruel hands, and be used by them in a barbarous manner, see ( Proverbs 28:28 ) .

Job 24:4 In-Context

2 There are those who move boundary stones; they pasture flocks they have stolen.
3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
4 They thrust the needy from the path and force all the poor of the land into hiding.
5 Like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go about their labor of foraging food; the wasteland provides food for their children.
6 They gather fodder in the fields and glean in the vineyards of the wicked.

Cross References 3

  • 1. Job 29:16; Job 31:19
  • 2. Job 29:12; Job 30:25; Psalms 12:5; Psalms 41:1; Psalms 82:3,4; Isaiah 11:4
  • 3. S Job 20:19; S Proverbs 28:12; Proverbs 28:28
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