Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.
Parallel translations
- WEB You haven’t given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
- BSB You gave no water to the weary and withheld food from the famished,
- 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 31:17Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;
- Matt 25:42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
- Isa 58:7Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
- Ezek 18:16Neither hath oppressed any, hath not withholden the pledge, neither hath spoiled by violence, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment,
- Ezek 18:7And hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment;
- Prov 19:17He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
- Isa 58:10And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day:
- Job 31:31If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.
- Prov 11:24–25There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.
- Ps 112:9He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour.
- Rom 12:20Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
- Deut 15:7–11If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy 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
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