Job 24:6
in Job 24They gather fodder in the fields and glean the vineyards of the wicked.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They cut their provender in the field; And they glean the vintage of the wicked.
KJV
They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked.
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This verse in Job 24
Commentary
12 notes on this verseThey reap every one his corn in the field - This is perfectly characteristic. These wandering hordes often make sudden irruptions, and carry off the harvest of grain, olives, vines, etc., and plunge with it into the wilderness, where none can follow them. The Chaldee gives the same sense: “They reap in a field that is not their own, and cut off the vineyard of the wicked.”
This site's exposition
like wild donkeys in the desert
on Job 24:5-8
The poor now appear "like wild donkeys in the desert", who "go to work foraging for food" while "the wasteland is food for their children". They "glean the vineyards of the wicked". Watson notes that the poor do the labor that feeds their oppressors and own none of the harvest.
This site's exposition
glean the vineyards of the wicked
Readers divide over who gathers here. Henry takes the robbers of verse 2 as reaping other men's fields as freely as their own. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take the poor of verse 5 as the gleaners, working vineyards that belong only to the wicked.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
Then he determines the type of plunder saying, "They reap a field which is not their own," for they reap the harvest of another by violence. "And they glean the vine of someone whom they overcame by force," since they oppress someone beforehand in order …
They reap a field not their own, and the vineyard of him whom they have oppressed by violence they gather.
"They reap in a field not their own" … as wild asses tread underfoot the fields of others and browse on their grass, so the impious, with their impudent violence, reap in fields that are not theirs and steal them from their owners. "They glean …
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
), that is, they enter upon other people's ground, cut their corn, and carry it away as freely as if it were their own. Even the wicked gather the vintage, and it is their wickedness; or, as we read it, They gather the vintage of the wicked, and so one wicked man is made a scourge to another.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
They reap everyone his corn in the field,....
But no desert can set men out of the reach of God's eye and hand. Their trade is to steal, and to make a prey of all about them. They have chosen it as their trade; it is their work, because there is more to be got by it, and it is got more easily, than by an honest calling.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
If we translate "belonging to the wicked," then it will imply that the wicked alone have vineyards, the "pious poor" (Job 24:4) have none. "Gather" in Hebrew, is "gather late." As the first clause refers to the early harvest of corn, so the second to the vintage late in autumn.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
They reap every one his corn - Margin, “mingled corn,” or “dredge.” The word used here (בליל belı̂yl) denotes, properly, “meslin,” mixed provender, made up of various kinds of grain, as of barley, vetches, etc., prepared for cattle; see the notes at Isa 30:24. In the field - They break in upon the fields of others, and rob them of their grain, instead of cultivating the earth themselves. So it is rendered by Jerome - Agrum non suum deme-runt; et vineam ejus, quem vi. oppresserint vindemiant. The Septuagint renders it, “A field, not their own, they reap down before the time - πρὸ ὥρας pro hōras. They gather the vintage of the wicked - Margin, “the wicked gather the vintage.” Rather, they gather the vintage of the oppressor. It is not the vintage of honest industry; not a harvest which is the result of their own labor, but of plunder. They live by depredations on others. This is descriptive of those who support themselves by robbery.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בַּ֭שָּׂדֶה | basadeh | in the field | H7704 → | 334 times |
| בְּלִיל֣וֹ | belilo | fodder its | H1098 → | |
| יִקְצ֑וֹרוּ | yaktziru | they harvest | H7114 → | 49 times |
| וְכֶ֖רֶם | vekherem | and [the] vineyard of | H3754 → | |
| רָשָׁ֣ע | rasha' | [the] wicked | H7563 → | 263 times |
| יְלַקֵּֽשׁוּ׃ | yelakeshu | they glean | H3953 → |
בַּ֭שָּׂדֶהin the field
basadehH7704 →334 times
בְּלִיל֣וֹfodder its
beliloH1098 →
יִקְצ֑וֹרוּthey harvest
yaktziruH7114 →49 times
וְכֶ֖רֶםand [the] vineyard of
vekheremH3754 →
רָשָׁ֣ע[the] wicked
rasha'H7563 →263 times
יְלַקֵּֽשׁוּ׃they glean
yelakeshuH3953 →
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
Micah 6:15You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil; you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.
it leads to
- Zephaniah 1:13
Their wealth will be plundered and their houses laid waste. They will build houses but not inhabit them, and plant vineyards but never drink their wine.
- Amos 5:11
Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the…
- Jeremiah 12:13
They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves to no avail. Bear the shame of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”
- Haggai 1:6
You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into…
- Isaiah 62:8–9
The LORD has sworn by His right hand and by His mighty arm: “Never again will I give your grain to your enemies for food, nor will foreigners drink the new wine for which…
- Zephaniah 1:13
Through
Deuteronomy 28:51They will eat the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain or new wine or oil, no calves of your herds…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:33
A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed.
- Isaiah 62:8
The LORD has sworn by His right hand and by His mighty arm: “Never again will I give your grain to your enemies for food, nor will foreigners drink the new wine for which…
- Deuteronomy 28:33
Through
Deuteronomy 28:33A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 5:17
They will devour your harvest and food; they will consume your sons and daughters; they will eat up your flocks and herds; they will feed on your vines and fig trees. With the sword…
- Jeremiah 5:17
About Job
This page draws on 11 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 (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XVI; Ishodad of Merv, COMMENTARY ON JOB 24:6; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; R. A. Watson, The Book of Job, Expositor's Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.