Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 20:19

Because he hath oppressed [and] hath forsaken the poor; [because] he hath violently taken away a house which he built not;

19. and hath forsaken ] Abandoned them, after oppressing them, to their destitution. Thus, though joining house to house (Isa 5:8) and dispossessing the poor, the houses which he robs he shall not build up as Is. says, Many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair without inhabitant (ch. Job 5:9).

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Because he hath oppressed – Margin, crushed. Such is the Hebrew.

And forsaken the poor – He has plundered them, and then forsaken them – as robbers do. The meaning is, that he had done this by his oppressive manner of dealing, and then left them to suffer and pine in want.

He hath violently taken away an house which he builded not – That is, by overreaching and harsh dealings he has come in possession of dwellings which he did not build, or purchase in any proper manner. It does not mean that he had done this by violence – for Zophar is not describing a robber, but he means that he took advantage of the needs of the poor and obtained their property. This is often done still. A rich man takes advantage of the needs of the poor, and obtains their little farm or house for much less than it is worth. He takes a mortgage, and then forecloses it, and buys the property himself for much less than its real value, and thus practices a species of the worst kind of robbery. Such a man, Zophar says, must expect punishment – and if there is any man who has occasion to dread the wrath of heaven it is he.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Job 20:19

Because he hath oppressed, and hath forsaken the poor.

Social wickedness

What is it that excites all this Divine antagonism and judgment? Was the object of it a theological heretic? Was the man pronounced wicked because he had imbibed certain wrong notions? Was this a case of heterodoxy of creed being punished by the outpouring of the vials of Divine wrath? Look at the words again. His philanthropy was wrong. The man was wicked socially–wicked in relation to his fellow men. All wickedness is not of a theological nature and quality, rising upward into the region of metaphysical conceptions and definitions of the Godhead, which only the learned can present or comprehend; there is a lateral wickedness, a wickedness as between man and man, rich and poor, poor and rich young and old; a household wickedness, a market place iniquity. There we stand on solid rock. If you have been led away with the thought that wickedness is a theological conception, and a species of theological nightmare, you have only to read the Bible, in its complete sense, in order to see that judgment is pronounced upon what may be called lateral wickedness–the wickedness that operates among ourselves, that wrongs mankind, that keeps a false weight, and a short measure, that practises cunning and deceit upon the simple and innocent, that fleeces the unsuspecting,–a social wickedness that stands out that it may be seen in all its black hideousness, and valued as one of the instruments of the devil. There is no escape from the judgment of the Bible. If it pronounced judgment upon false opinions only, then men might profess to be astounded by terms they cannot comprehend: but the Bible goes into the family, the market place, the counting house, the field where the labourer toils, and insists upon judging the actions of men, and upon sending away the richest man from all his bank of gold, if he have oppressed and forsaken the poor. (Joseph Parker, D.D.)

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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 19. He hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor] Literally, He hath broken in pieces the forsaken of the poor; ki ritstsats azab dallim. The poor have fled from famine, and left their children behind them; and this hard-hearted wretch, meaning Job all the while, has suffered them to perish, when he might have saved them alive.

He hath violently taken away a house which he builded not] Or rather, He hath thrown down a house, and hath not rebuilt it. By neglecting or destroying the forsaken orphans of the poor, mentioned above, he has destroyed a house, (a family,) while he might, by helping the wretched, have preserved the family from becoming extinct.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

By his oppression he brought men to utter poverty, and then forsook or left them in that forlorn estate, affording no mercy nor help to them. Or, some he made poor by his oppression, and others that were poor he suffered to perish for want of that relief which he should and might have afforded them; which is a crying sin in Gods sight, and one of those sins for which God destroyed Sodom, Eze 16:49, and therefore fitly mentioned here as one of the sins for which God punished this wicked man. Or, he oppresseth and leaveth poor, as Broughton renders it.

An house which he built not, i.e. which was none of his. Heb. he hath violently taken away an house, and (or but) did not build (or repair, as building is oft used) it, to wit, that house for his own use, i.e. he did not build or possess that house, as he intended to do, but was cut off by Gods hand before he could enjoy the fruit of his oppressions.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

19. oppressedwhereas he oughtto have espoused their cause (2Ch16:10).

forsakenleft helpless.

housethus leaving thepoor without shelter (Isa 5:8;Mic 2:2).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Because he hath oppressed [and] hath forsaken the poor,…. Having oppressed, crushed, and broken the poor to pieces, he leaves them so without pity and compassion for them, and without giving them any relief; he first by oppression makes them poor, or however poorer still, and then leaves them in such circumstances; for this does not suppose that he once was a favourer of them, and afforded them assistance in their necessities, and afterwards forsook them; but rather, as Ben Gersom gives the sense, he does not leave the poor until he has oppressed and crushed them, and then he does; Mr. Broughton’s reading of the words agrees with the former sense, “he oppresseth and leaveth poor”:

[because] he hath violently taken away an house which he built not; an house which did not belong to him, he had no property in or right unto, which, as he had not bought, he had not built; and therefore could lay no rightful claim unto it, and yet this he took in a violent manner from the right owner of it, see Mic 2:2; or “and”, or “but shall not build it” a, or “buildeth it not”; he took it away with an intention to pull it down, and build a stately palace in the room of it; but either his substance was taken from him, or he taken away by death before he could finish it, and so either through neglect, or want of opportunity, or of money, did not what he thought to have done.

a “et non aedificabit eam”, Pagninus, Montanus; “et non aedificat eam”, Cocceius, Schultens; “non autem”, Beza; “sed non”, Schmidt, Michaelis.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(19) Because he hath oppressed and forsaken . . .For these insinuations there was not a vestige of ground, but Job formally rebuts them in Job 31

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

19. A house which he builded not Literally, A house hath he plundered, but he shall not build it up. “House” is used collectively for houses. The prerogative of the wicked is, that they destroy; (Ecc 9:18😉 for them there is no counterpart, such as of “building up.” He finally fails in all his desires and efforts, for they are founded in wrong.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Job 20:19 Because he hath oppressed [and] hath forsaken the poor; [because] he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;

Ver. 19. Because he hath oppressed and forsaken the poor ]. Heb. Because he hath crushed or broken in pieces. The original word importeth (as one well observeth) tyrannical oppression without mercy or moderation, without ho or hold; some give full scope to their rage and wrath, they put neither bond nor bridle upon their covetousness and cruelty: such are characterized by this word.

And forsaken the poor ] Or, Left men poor; viz. by leaving them without a livelihood, and so as good as without life. A poor man in his house is like a snail in his shell; crush that, and you kill him. They which read it, And forsaken the poor, give us this good note, that as it is sinful to forsake the poor, though we have never oppressed them, Mat 25:35-36 (not to do justice is injustice, not to show mercy is cruelty, Mar 3:4 ), so to oppress, and then forsake them, is far more sinful.

Because he hath violently taken away ] Violently and in open view, in an impudent manner. He pulleth down men’s houses, but never thinketh of repairing them; so some read this text. Let our depopulators look to it, who build themselves desolate places, and desire to live alone in the earth. This hath been noted as a great fault in our nation. And therefore Goropius thinketh that the English were called Angli because they were so good anglers, having skill to lay various baits when they fished for other men’s livings.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Because: Job 21:27, Job 21:28, Job 22:6, Job 24:2-12, Job 31:13-22, Job 31:38, Job 31:39, Job 35:9, 1Sa 12:3, 1Sa 12:4, Psa 10:18, Psa 12:5, Pro 14:31, Pro 22:22, Pro 22:23, Ecc 4:1, Ecc 5:8, Eze 22:29, Amo 4:1-3, Jam 2:6, Jam 2:13, Jam 5:4

oppressed: Heb. crushed, Deu 28:33, Lam 3:34

he hath violently: Job 18:15, Job 24:2, 1Ki 21:19, Isa 5:7, Isa 5:8, Mic 2:2, Mic 2:9

Reciprocal: Exo 20:15 – General Lev 6:4 – which he Lev 25:14 – General 2Ch 16:10 – oppressed Job 22:20 – our substance Job 27:13 – the heritage Psa 62:10 – Trust Pro 11:17 – but Pro 13:11 – Wealth Pro 15:6 – in the revenues Pro 22:16 – that oppresseth Eze 45:9 – exactions Dan 5:6 – the king’s Hab 2:9 – that coveteth an evil covetousness

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Job 20:19. Because he hath oppressed and forsaken the poor By his oppression he brought men to utter poverty, and then forsook them in that destitute state, affording them no mercy nor help. Or, the meaning is, He made some poor by his oppressions, and others, that were poor, he suffered to perish for want of that relief which he might have afforded them. He hath violently taken away a house, &c. Namely, for his own use; which he builded not Which was none of his.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments