Their children will beg from the poor, for they must give back their stolen riches.
Parallel translations
- WEB His children shall seek the favor of the poor. His hands shall give back his wealth.
- KJV His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods.
- BSB His sons will seek the favor of the poor, for his own hands must return his wealth.
- NKJV His children will seek the favor of the poor, And his hands will restore his wealth.
- NASB “His sons favor the poor, And his hands give back his wealth.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Zophar says the wicked man's children must beg from the poor and his own hands give back his wealth. His ill-gotten gain is reversed.
Overview
The descendants of the wicked, far from inheriting riches, are reduced to seeking favor from the poor, while the man himself must restore what he plundered. The verse reflects the principle that unjust gain does not endure and must be repaid. It anticipates the biblical theme of restitution and the eventual undoing of every injustice under God's righteous rule.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Job 20:18That for which he labored he shall restore, and shall not swallow it down. According to the substance that he has gotten, he shall not rejoice.
- Luke 19:8Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor. If I have wrongfully exacted anything of anyone, I restore four times as much.”
- Job 27:16–17Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare clothing as the clay;
- Prov 6:31but if he is found, he shall restore seven times. He shall give all the wealth of his house.
- Exod 12:36Yahweh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. They plundered the Egyptians.
- Exod 22:3If the sun has risen on him, guilt of bloodshed shall be for him; he shall make restitution. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
- Ps 109:10Let his children be wandering beggars. Let them be sought from their ruins.
- 2 Sam 12:6He must restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity!”
- Prov 28:3A needy man who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain which leaves no crops.
- Job 5:4His children are far from safety. They are crushed in the gate. Neither is there any to deliver them,
- Exod 9:2For if you refuse to let them go, and hold them still,
- Exod 22:1“If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it, or sells it; he shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 20:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.