Bible Strands
Job 20:10
His sons will seek the favor of the poor, for his own hands must return his wealth.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Zophar addresses Job within his second poetic discourse, detailing the collapse of the wicked man’s fortune. The declaration follows immediate imagery of the oppressor’s disappearance and precedes a description of his buried vitality.
The words — תָּשֵׁ֥בְנָה (ta.She.ve.nah) = they will give back, and אוֹנֽ/וֹ ('o.N/o) = his wealth. Paired with יְרַצּ֣וּ (ye.ra.Tzu) = they will seek, they establish a sequence of forced restitution.
The thread — The theme of compelled wealth return runs through Job 20:18 and Job 27:16, while the reversal of hoarded riches appears in Luke 19:8.
Why it lands — It demands recognition that accumulated assets do not guarantee stability when divine judgment reverses human accumulation. The text requires the reader to accept that wealth extracted through oppression ultimately circulates back to those it displaced.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods.
Cross-references
- Job 20:18 He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he cannot enjoy the profits of his trading.
- Job 27:16 Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay,
- Luke 19:8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my possessions I give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will repay it fourfold.”
- Exodus 9:2 But if you continue to restrain them and refuse to let them go,
- Exodus 12:36 And the LORD gave the people such favor in the sight of the Egyptians that they granted their request. In this way they plundered the Egyptians.
- Exodus 22:1 “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters or sells it, he must repay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.
- Exodus 22:3 But if it happens after sunrise, there is guilt for his bloodshed. A thief must make full restitution; if he has nothing, he himself shall be sold for his theft.
- 2 Samuel 12:6 Because he has done this thing and has shown no pity, he must pay for the lamb four times over.”
- Job 5:4 His sons are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender.
- Psalms 109:10 May his children wander as beggars, seeking sustenance far from their ruined homes.