Bible Strands
Job 24:18
They are but foam on the surface of the water; their portion of the land is cursed, so that no one turns toward their vineyards.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job addresses his three friends, describing the sudden ruin of the wicked oppressors during his broader argument about the delayed execution of divine justice.
The words — The Hebrew word תְּקֻלַּ֣ל (te.ku.Lal) literally means "it is cursed," and חֶלְקָתָ֣/ם (chel.ka.Ta/m) refers to their "portion."
The thread — The motif of cursed land and abandoned inheritance runs through Deuteronomy 28:16 and parallels the sudden uprooting described in Job 22:16.
Why it lands — The text states that the wicked will own land that yields no crops and vineyards no one will visit; interpreters infer this demonstrates the futility of earthly security against God's judgment.
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
He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 28:16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.
- Job 9:26 They sweep by like boats of papyrus, like an eagle swooping down on its prey.
- Job 22:16 They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood.
- Psalms 58:7 May they vanish like water that runs off; when they draw the bow, may their arrows be blunted.
- Psalms 69:22 May their table become a snare; may it be a retribution and a trap.
- Psalms 73:18 Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin.
- Proverbs 3:33 The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the righteous.
- Isaiah 23:10 Cultivate your land like the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish; there is no longer a harbor.
- Malachi 2:2 If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to honor My name,” says the LORD of Hosts, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already begun to curse them, because you are not taking it to heart.