to crack in pieces · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
forsaken
עָזַ֣ב'a.Zav
H5800
to loosen · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
poor
דַּלִּ֑יםda.Lim
H1800
properly · adjective, masculine plural absolute
away
גָּ֝זַ֗לga.Zal
H1497
to pluck off · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
house
בַּ֥יִתBa.yit
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular absolute
builded
יִבֶנֵֽהוּyi.ve.Ne.hu
H1129
to build (literally and figuratively) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Job 35:9 By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry: they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty.
Proverbs 14:31 He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.
Proverbs 22:22-23 Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:
Ezekiel 22:29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger…
James 2:6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
James 2:13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
James 5:4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which…
Deuteronomy 28:33 The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 20:10-22
The instances here given of the miserable condition of the wicked man in this world are expressed with great fulness and fluency of language, and the same thing returned to again and repeated in other words. Let us therefore reduce the particulars to their proper heads, and observe,
I. What his wickedness is for which he is punished.
1. The lusts of the flesh, here called the sins of his youth (Job 20:11); for those are the sins which, at that age, people are most tempted to. The forbidden pleasures of sense are said to be sweet in his mouth (Job 20:12); he indulges himself in all the gratifications of the carnal appetite, and takes an inordinate complacency in them, as yielding the most agr…
oppressed--whereas he ought to have espoused their cause (Ch2 16:10).
forsaken--left helpless.
house--thus leaving the poor without shelter (Isa 5:8; Mic 2:2).
John Gill on Job 20:19
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 h…
17 He shall not delight himself in streams,
Like to rivers and brooks of honey and cream.
18 Giving back that for which he laboured, he shall not swallow it;
He shall not rejoice according to the riches he hath gotten.
19 Because he cast down, let the destitute lie helpless;
He shall not, in case he hath seized a house, finish building it.
20 Because he knew no rest in his craving,
He shall not be able to rescue himself with what he most loveth.
As poets sing of the aurea aetas of the paradise-like primeval age: Flumina jam lactis, jam flumina nectaris ibant,
(Note: Ovid, Metam. i. 112, comp. Virgil, Ecl. iv. 30:
Et durae quercus sudabant roscida mella;
and Horace, Epod. xvi. 47
Mella cava…
The Church Fathers
"For he has broken down the houses of many poor men, and he has plundered a dwelling, though he did not build it. His possessions provide no security." He has broken down, that is, has shattered mercilessly [their houses], has carried off all their properties and has not given them back. In fact, he has not mended this situation, that is, has not returned what he has stolen. But, as he has carried off the properties of the poor and has not restored them, so his own possessions will not be saved either. "He shall not be saved by his desire. There is nothing remaining of his provisions; therefore his goods shall not flourish." The impious, Zophar says, will not save himself through his desire, and then he will not have any provision left, because he does not possess anything that has been left to him by his absolute misery.
Ver. 19, 20. 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. 23. 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 is to come in judgment, shall say to the reprobate, For I was an hungred, and ye gave Me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me not in; naked, and ye covered Me not, &c. [Matt. 25, 42. 43.] as the consequence of which sin it is added, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. If then he is sentenced to so great a penalty, who is convicted merely of not having given away his own, with what punishment does not that man deserve to be stricken, who is proved to have taken the things of others also? And so he 'took it away and did not build it up,' in that he not only never gave any thing of his own, but also took away what was another's. Now it is well added; Surely his belly shall not be satisfied. For the 'belly' of the wicked man is avarice, in that there is collected together in it whatsoever is swallowed with wrong desire. But it is plain that avarice is not extinguished, but increased by the objects desired. For like fire, when it has got fuel to feed on, it increases; and from the same cause that the flame appears to be restrained for a moment, it is seen a little while after to spread itself out. And it often happens that when Almighty God is greatly wroth with the covetous soul, He first lets all things accrue to it according to its wish, and afterwards takes it away in vengeance, that it may undergo eternal punishments on account of them. And hence it is added; And when he shall have that which he desired, he shall not be able to possess it. 24. For it is a mark of greater indignation, when that thing is given which is desired amiss, and therefrom there ensues sudden retribution, because he got that likewise, which he went after when God was wroth the while. And hence it is said by the Psalmist, where the people are described as having lusted after flesh for food in a wrong…
Dictionary and topics
Creditor · OPPRESSIONS OF — OPPRESSIONS OF
Debtor · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Poor, The · Punishment for: Acting unjustly towards — Punishment for: Acting unjustly towards
Worldliness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The streams of olive oil and rivers of milk and honey signify superabundant blessing (Exod 5:19; Deut 27:3; Joel 3:18).
Rashi on Job 20:19
When he oppressed, he abandoned the poor After he oppressed the poor, he abandoned the poor and was banished from the world and went his way, and they return and collect their stolen items from him.
[The expression] כִּי רָצַץ [means] when he oppressed, like (Exod. 18:16), “Whenever (כי) they have a concern, they come to me,” which means when they have.
