Job 24:4

4 They force needy people off the road. All the poor people of the country go 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 "[People] move boundary markers. They steal flocks and tend them as shepherds.

3 They drive away the orphan's donkey. They take the widow's ox as security for a loan.

4 They force needy people off the road. All the poor people of the country go into hiding.

5 Like wild donkeys in the desert, poor people go out to do their work, looking for food. The plains provide food for their children.

6 They harvest animal food in the field [to feed themselves]. They pick the leftover grapes in the wicked person's vineyard.