“Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;”
"For he has crushed and abandoned the poor; he has robbed a house which he did not build." Zophar specifies the wicked person's crimes: oppression of the poor, theft. These actions generate cosmic liability. The verse suggests that robbery and cruelty provoke retribution.
Church Fathers on Job 20:19
Because he hath broken down and laid bare the house of the poor, because he hath violently taken it away and not builded it, neither is he satisfied in his belly. He ‘breaks in pieces and lays bare the house of the poor,’ who is not ashamed as well to rob out of avarice him whom he crushes by power. ‘He violently taketh it away and doth not build it.’ As if it were expressed in plain words; ‘He that ought to have builded it, he over and above takes it away.’ For the Lord Who…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!