Job 24:14
in Job 24When daylight is gone, the murderer rises to kill the poor and needy; in the night he is like a thief.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The murderer riseth with the light; He killeth the poor and needy; And in the night he is as a thief.
KJV
The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.
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This verse in Job 24
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThe murderer rising with the light - Perhaps the words should be read as Mr. Good has done: - With the daylight ariseth the murderer; Poor and needy, he sheddeth blood. This description is suitable to a highwayman; one who robs in daylight, and who has been impelled by poverty and distress to use this most unlawful and perilous mode to get bread; and for fear of being discovered or taken, commits murder, and thus adds crime to crime.
This site's exposition
those who rebel against the light
on Job 24:13-17
A second group joins the list, "those who rebel against the light". The murderer rises when "daylight is gone", and housebreakers "dig through houses" and "shut themselves in" by day. Clarke notes the reversal these men live by, since for them "deep darkness is their morning" and daylight threatens exposure.
This site's exposition
the murderer rises to kill the poor and needy
The rebels against the light of verse 13 begin with the murderer. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown place his work at early dawn, while it is still dark and travellers and labourers set out, as at Psalm 10:8. By night the same man turns thief.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief. MYSTICAL INTERPRETATION Whereas the murderer in the killing of his neighbours is wont to come upon them chiefly in the silence of the night, why is it that he is said in this place to 'rise with the light' in order to 'kill the poor and needy,' whilst 'in the night' he is described 'to be as a thief?'
As a sign that they resist the spiritual light of wisdom he says that loving darkness they even hate exterior light, according to John, "Everyone who does evil hates the light." (3:20) So he continues here, "At the first light of morning, the murderer rises …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Ut jugulent homines, surgunt de nocte latrones, Tuque ut te serves non expergisceris?-- Rogues nightly rise to murder men for pelf; Will you not rouse you to preserve yourself? The eyes that are full of adultery ( 2 Pet. ii.
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The murderer rising with the light,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
with the light--at early dawn, while still dark, when the traveller in the East usually sets out, and the poor laborer to his work; the murderous robber lies in wait then (Ps 10:8). is as a thief--Thieves in the East steal while men sleep at night; robbers murder at early dawn.
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1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The murderer - One of the instances, referred to in the previous verse, of those who perform their deeds in darkness. Rising with the light - Hebrew לאור lā'ôr. Vulgate “Mane primo - in the earliest twilight.” The meaning is, that he does it very early; by daybreak. It is not in open day, but at the earliest dawn. Killeth the poor and needy - Those who are so poor and needy that they are obliged to rise early and go forth to their toil. There is a double aggravation - the crime of murder itself, and the fact that it is committed on those who are under a necessity of going forth at that early hour to their labor. And in the night is as a thief - The same man. Theft is usually committed under cover of the night. The idea of Job is, that though these crimes cannot escape the notice of God, yet that he does not interpose to punish those who committed them. A striking incidental illustration of the fact stated here, occurred in the journey of Messrs. Robinson and Smith, on their way from Akabah to Jerusalem. After retiring to rest one night, they were aroused by a sudden noise; and they apprehended attack by robbers. “Our Arabs,” says Dr. R. “were evidently alarmed. They said, if thieves, “they would steal upon us at midnight; if robbers they would come down upon towards morning.” Bibl. Research. i. 270. It would seem, therefore, that there was some settled time or order in which they are accustomed to commit their various depredations.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Should one rise in daylight If they would rise by day, they would slay the wayfarers.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
They These wicked people are the generation of the Flood, who rebelled because of אור, because of the rain; because it would ascend from the earth, they needed nothing.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָא֡וֹר | laor | to the light | H216 → | 121 times |
| יָ֘ק֤וּם | yakum | he rises | H6965 → | 628 times |
| רוֹצֵ֗חַ | rotzeach | a murderer | H7523 → | |
| יִֽקְטָל־ | yiktol- | he kills | H6991 → | |
| עָנִ֥י | ʾani | [the] poor | H6041 → | 73 times |
| וְאֶבְי֑וֹן | veevyon | and [the] needy | H34 → | 61 times |
| וּ֝בַלַּ֗יְלָה | uvalaylah | and in the night | H3915 → | 233 times |
| יְהִ֣י | yehi | he is | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כַגַּנָּֽב׃ | khaganav | like <the> thief | H1590 → |
לָא֡וֹרto the light
laorH216 →121 times
יָ֘ק֤וּםhe rises
yakumH6965 →628 times
רוֹצֵ֗חַa murderer
rotzeachH7523 →
יִֽקְטָל־he kills
yiktol-H6991 →
עָנִ֥י[the] poor
ʾaniH6041 →73 times
וְאֶבְי֑וֹןand [the] needy
veevyonH34 →61 times
וּ֝בַלַּ֗יְלָהand in the night
uvalaylahH3915 →233 times
יְהִ֣יhe is
yehiH1961 →3559 times
כַגַּנָּֽב׃like <the> thief
khaganavH1590 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Thessalonians 5:2For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
it leads to
- Revelation 16:15
“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.”
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- 2 Peter 3:10
But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 3:3
Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 24:42–44
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come.
- Luke 12:39–40
But understand this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.
- Revelation 16:15
Through
Revelation 3:3Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will…
it leads to
- Revelation 2:5
Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from…
- 1 Thessalonians 5:2
For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
- Matthew 24:42–43
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come.
- Revelation 2:5
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XVI; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.