You gave no water to the weary and withheld food from the famished,
Parallel translations
- WEB You haven’t given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
- KJV Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.
- NKJV You have not given the weary water to drink, And you have withheld bread from the hungry.
- NASB “You have given the weary no water to drink, And you have withheld bread from the hungry.
- NLT You must have refused water for the thirsty and food for the hungry.
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
Eliphaz accuses Job of denying water to the weary and bread to the hungry. He charges Job with cruel neglect of the needy.
Overview
Eliphaz lists failures of basic mercy, ironically the very deeds Job insists he faithfully performed (Job 31:17, 31:31-32). Hospitality and care for the needy were sacred duties. The false accusation highlights the cruelty of Eliphaz's approach. Scripture, by contrast, commends caring for the hungry and thirsty as service to God Himself (Matt 25:35).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Job 31:17if I have eaten my morsel alone, not sharing it with the fatherless—
- Matt 25:42For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink,
- Isa 58:7Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
- Ezek 18:16He does not oppress another, or retain a pledge, or commit robbery. He gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.
- Ezek 18:7He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.
- Prov 19:17Kindness to the poor is a loan to the LORD, and He will repay the lender.
- Isa 58:10and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will go forth in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.
- Job 31:31if the men of my house have not said, ‘Who is there who has not had his fill?’—
- Prov 11:24–25One gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor.
- Ps 112:9He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor.
- Rom 12:20On the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
- Deut 15:7–11If there is a poor man among your brothers within any of the gates in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, then you are not to harden your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother.
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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 22:7 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.