Job 4:8
in Job 4As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
According as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, And sow trouble, reap the same.
KJV
Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
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This verse in Job 4
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
those who plow iniquity
on Job 4:8-9
Eliphaz supports his doctrine with a farmer's proverb, sowing and reaping standing for sin and its punishment. The next line, "By the breath of God they perish," carries the figure into judgment, breath and wind doing what plow and harvest only pictured.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Given therefore that adversity does not happen to the innocent and the upright, he consequently identifies those who experience adversity, "No, rather, I have seen that those who do evil and sow pains, reap the same." When he says, "I have seen," he makes allusion …
Even, as I have seen, they that plough iniquity, and sow sorrows, and reap the same, by the blast of God do they perish, and by the breath of His nostrils are they consumed. To 'sow griefs' is to utter deceits, but to 'reap griefs' is to prevail by so speaking. Or, surely, they 'sow griefs,' who do froward actions, they 'reap griefs,' when they ate punished for this forwardness.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Even as I have seen,....
He corroborates his assertion by a vision which he had, in which he was reminded of the incontestable purity and justice of God, and the meanness, weakness, and sinfulness of man,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
They that plough iniquity - A proverbial form of speech drawn from nature. Whatever seed a man sows in the ground, he reaps the same kind; for every seed produces its like.
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
Even as I have seen - Eliphaz appeals to his own observation, that people who had led wicked lives were suddenly cut off. Instances of this kind he might doubtless have observed - as all may have done. But his inference was too broad when he concluded that all the wicked are punished in this manner. It is true that wicked people are thus cut off and perish; but it is not true that all the wicked are thus punished in this life, nor that any of the righteous are not visited with similar calamities. His reasoning was of a kind that is common in the world - that of drawing universal conclusions from premises that are too narrow to sustain them, or from too few carefully observed facts. They that plow iniquity - This is evidently a proverbial expression; and the sense is, that as people sow they reap. If they sow wheat, they reap wheat; if barley, they reap barley; if tares, they reap tares. Thus, in Pro 22:8: “He that soweth iniquity shall reap also vanity.” So in Hos 8:7: “For they have sown the wind, And they shall reap the whirlwind: It hath no stalk; the bud shall yield no meal If so be it yield, strangers shall swallow it up” Thus, in the Persian adage: “He that planteth thorns shall not gather roses.” Dr. Good. So Aeschylus: Ἄτης ἄρουρα Θάνατον ἐκκαρπίζεται. Atēs aroura thanaton ekkarpizetai. The field of wrong brings forth death as its fruit. The meaning of Eliphaz is, that people who form plans of wickedness must reap appropriate fruits. They cannot expect that an evil life will produce ultimate happiness.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| רָ֭אִיתִי | raiti | I have seen | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| חֹ֣רְשֵׁי | choreshei | plowers of | H2790 → | 74 times |
| אָ֑וֶן | ʾaven | wickedness | H205 → | 77 times |
| וְזֹרְעֵ֖י | vezoreei | and sowers of | H2232 → | |
| עָמָ֣ל | ʾamal | mischief | H5999 → | 55 times |
| יִקְצְרֻֽהוּ׃ | yiktzeruhu | they harvest it | H7114 → | 49 times |
כַּאֲשֶׁ֣רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
רָ֭אִיתִיI have seen
raitiH7200 →1300 times
חֹ֣רְשֵׁיplowers of
choresheiH2790 →74 times
אָ֑וֶןwickedness
ʾavenH205 →77 times
וְזֹרְעֵ֖יand sowers of
vezoreeiH2232 →
עָמָ֣לmischief
ʾamalH5999 →55 times
יִקְצְרֻֽהוּ׃they harvest it
yiktzeruhuH7114 →49 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
Proverbs 22:8He who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.
it leads to
- Galatians 6:7–8
Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hosea 10:13
You have plowed wickedness and reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way and in the multitude of your mighty men,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 30:31
For Assyria will be shattered at the voice of the LORD; He will strike them with His scepter.
- Psalms 125:3
For the scepter of the wicked will not rest upon the land allotted to the righteous, so that the righteous will not put forth their hands to injustice.
- Galatians 6:7–8
Through
Hosea 8:7For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up.
it leads to
- Proverbs 22:8
He who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.
- Galatians 6:7
Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.
- Nahum 1:3
The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. His path is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust beneath…
- Proverbs 22:8
Through
Job 15:35They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.”
it leads to
- Psalms 7:14
Behold, the wicked man travails with evil; he conceives trouble and births falsehood.
- Psalms 7:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book V; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.