“They drive away the donkeys of orphans; They seize the widow’s ox as a pledge.
Parallel translations
- WEB They drive away the donkey of the fatherless, and they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
- KJV They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
- BSB They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
- NKJV They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; They take the widow’s ox as a pledge.
- NLT They take the orphan’s donkey and demand the widow’s ox as security for a loan.
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
The wicked rob the orphan's donkey and seize the widow's ox as security. It matters because they prey on the most vulnerable.
Overview
Job lists crimes against the fatherless and the widow, the very people God commands His people to protect. Taking a widow's ox in pledge strips her of livelihood, exposing the cruelty of the oppressors. Such injustice stands condemned by the God who is the defender of the orphan and widow (Ps. 68:5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Deut 24:6No man shall take the mill or the upper millstone as a pledge; for he takes a life in pledge.
- Deut 24:17–21You shall not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, nor take a widow’s clothing in pledge;
- Deut 24:10–13When you lend your neighbor any kind of loan, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge.
- 1 Sam 12:3Here I am. Witness against me before Yahweh, and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Of whose hand have I taken a ransom to make me blind my eyes? I will restore it to you.”
- Job 22:6–9For you have taken pledges from your brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
- Job 31:16–17“If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
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 24:3 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.