Job 24:12

From the city, men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out, yet God charges no one with wrongdoing.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Job addresses his friends and the broader assembly during his extended discourse on the visible reality of unpunished wickedness. He describes a moment where systemic oppression operates without immediate divine intervention.

The words — The Hebrew יִנְאָקוּ (yin.'A.ku) literally means "they groan," paired with נֶֽפֶשׁ (ne.fesh) meaning "throat" or "soul," which together describe the desperate cries of the fatally wounded (חֲלָלִים).

The thread — The text reports that victims cry out while God charges no one, a pattern of observed injustice that aligns with the tears of the oppressed in Ecclesiastes 4:1 and the warning that delayed judgment fuels further evil in Ecclesiastes 8:11.

Why it lands — The passage states that present silence does not negate the reality of wrongdoing or the validity of the victims' cries. It requires the reader to separate the experience of delayed justice from the conclusion that God is indifferent or complicit.

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

מֵ֘עִ֤ירme./'Irfrom/ [the] city מְתִ֨ים׀me.Timmen יִנְאָ֗קוּyin.'A.kuthey groan וְנֶֽפֶשׁ־ve./ne.fesh-and/ [the] throat of חֲלָלִ֥יםcha.la.Lim[those] fatally wounded תְּשַׁוֵּ֑עַte.sha.Ve.a'it cries for help וֶ֝אֱל֗וֹהַּve./'e.Lo.ahand/ God לֹא־lo'-not יָשִׂ֥יםya.Simhe puts תִּפְלָֽה׃tif.Lahoffensiveness

King James Version

Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.

Cross-references

Ecclesiastes 4:1 Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter.
Psalms 50:21 You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face.
Ecclesiastes 8:11 When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
Malachi 2:17 You have wearied the LORD with your words; yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the LORD, and in them He delights,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”
Malachi 3:15 So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even test God and escape.’”
Romans 2:4 Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?
Exodus 1:13 They worked the Israelites ruthlessly
Exodus 2:23 After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God.
Exodus 22:27 because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? And if he cries out to Me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.
Judges 10:16 So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and He could no longer bear the misery of Israel.