Job 24:3
in Job 24They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They drive away the ass of the fatherless; They take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
KJV
They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
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This verse in Job 24
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
They drive away the ass of the fatherless - Of the orphan, who cannot protect himself, and whose only property may consist in this useful animal. Injury done to an orphan is always regarded as a crime of special magnitude, for they are unable to protect themselves; see the notes at Job 22:9. They take the widow’s ox for a pledge - See the notes at Job 22:6. The widow was dependent on her ox to till the ground, and hence, the crime of taking it away in pledge for the payment of a debt.
This site's exposition
Men move boundary stones
on Job 24:2-4
"Men move boundary stones", they "pasture stolen flocks", they "drive away the donkey of the fatherless", and they "take the widow’s ox in pledge". Gill notes that the fatherless and the widow were the weakest members of a household economy, the people law and custom were meant to shield.
This site's exposition
They drive away the donkey of the fatherless
The fatherless and the widow head the list of the wronged, as they did in Eliphaz's charge against Job at Job 22:9. Barnes notes that an orphan's donkey may be his only property. A wrong done to those who cannot defend themselves weighs heavier.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
He enlarges their fault from the condition of the persons on whom they inflict those injuries. People are usually compassionate to orphans because of their weakness of age and lack of parents. Against this he says, "They have stolen the ass of the orphans," because …
They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge. Whom do we understand by the fatherless in this place, but the Elect of God, who are set in tenderness of mind, are nourished with the efficacious grace of faith, and do not yet see the face of their Father, Who has already died in their behalf.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
That secret sinners often pass undiscovered, ver. 13-18. That God punishes such by secret judgments, and reserves them for future judgment, ver. 19-25.
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-19-anchored-1-12
They drive away the ass of the fatherless,....
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חֲמ֣וֹר | chamor | [the] donkey of | H2543 → | |
| יְתוֹמִ֣ים | yetomim | fatherless ones | H3490 → | 42 times |
| יִנְהָ֑גוּ | yinhagu | they drive away | H5090 → | |
| יַ֝חְבְּל֗וּ | yachbelu | they take as pledge | H2254 → | 27 times |
| שׁ֣וֹר | shor | [the] ox of | H7794 → | 79 times |
| אַלְמָנָֽה׃ | ʾalmanah | a widow | H490 → | 56 times |
חֲמ֣וֹר[the] donkey of
chamorH2543 →
יְתוֹמִ֣יםfatherless ones
yetomimH3490 →42 times
יִנְהָ֑גוּthey drive away
yinhaguH5090 →
יַ֝חְבְּל֗וּthey take as pledge
yachbeluH2254 →27 times
שׁ֣וֹר[the] ox of
shorH7794 →79 times
אַלְמָנָֽה׃a widow
ʾalmanahH490 →56 times
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 Samuel 12:3Here 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…
it leads to
- Acts 20:33
I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.
- Numbers 16:15
Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, “Do not regard their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them or mistreated a single one of them.”
- 1 Samuel 24:6
So he said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed. May I never lift my hand against him, since he is the…
- Deuteronomy 16:19
Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.
- 1 Peter 5:2
Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but because it is God’s will; not out of greed, but out of eagerness;
- Acts 20:33
Through
Deuteronomy 24:6Do 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.
it leads to
- Luke 12:15
And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
- Deuteronomy 20:19
When you lay siege to a city for an extended time while fighting against it to capture it, you must not destroy its trees by putting an axe to them, because you can eat…
- Genesis 44:30
So if the boy is not with us when I return to your servant, and if my father, whose life is wrapped up in the boy’s life,
- Luke 12:15
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XVI; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.