Job 24:9

9 There are those who pluck the fatherless from the breast, And take a pledge of the poor,

Job 24:9 Meaning and Commentary

Job 24:9

They pluck the fatherless from the breast
Either on purpose to starve it, which must be extremely barbarous; or to sell it to be brought up a slave; or by obliging the mother to wean it before the due time, that she might be the better able to do work for them they obliged her to. Mr. Broughton renders the words, "of mischievousness they rob the fatherless"; that is, through the greatness of the mischief they do, as Ben Gersom interprets it; or through the exceeding mischievous disposition they are of; of which this is a flagrant instance; or

``they rob the fatherless of what remains for him after spoiling ^F14,''

or devastation, through the plunder of his father's substance now dead, which was exceeding cruel:

and take a pledge of the poor;
either the poor himself, or his poor fatherless children, see ( 2 Kings 4:1 ) ; or what is "upon the poor" ^F15, as it may be rendered; that is, his raiment, which was commonly taken for a pledge; and, by a law afterwards established in Israel, was obliged to be restored before sunset, that he might have a covering to sleep in, ( Exodus 22:26 Exodus 22:27 ) ; (See Gill on Job 22:6).

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 (dvm) "per devastationem", some in Munster; "post vastationem", Tigurine version; so Nachmanides & Bar Tzemach.
F15 (yne le) "super inopem", Cocceius, Schultens; so Ben Gersom.

Job 24:9 In-Context

7 They lie all night naked without clothing, And have no covering in the cold.

8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, And embrace the rock for lack of a shelter.

9 There are those who pluck the fatherless from the breast, And take a pledge of the poor,

10 So that they go around naked without clothing. Being hungry, they carry the sheaves.

11 They make oil within the walls of these men. They tread wine presses, and suffer thirst.