Bible Strands
Job 24:2
Men move boundary stones; they pasture stolen flocks.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job speaks to his companions during a discourse questioning why God delays setting a time for judgment. He describes the present actions of the wicked to ground his complaint in observable reality.
The words — גְּבֻל֥וֹת (ge.vu.Lot) means boundaries, and גָּ֝זְל֗וּ (ga.ze.Lu) means they seize or steal. These terms specify the exact nature of the property and livestock theft described in the verse.
The thread — The prohibition against moving boundary markers runs through Deuteronomy 19:14, Deuteronomy 27:17, and Proverbs 23:10. These texts establish boundary theft as a known legal violation that Job 24:2 cites as an example of current injustice.
Why it lands — The text states that men displace land markers and pasture seized flocks to illustrate concrete, unpunished crime. It asks the reader to see how documented human injustice fuels the question of why divine judgment is not yet visible.
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
Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 19:14 You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker, which was set up by your ancestors to mark the inheritance you shall receive in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.
- Deuteronomy 27:17 ‘Cursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary stone.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- Proverbs 23:10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
- Proverbs 22:28 Do not move an ancient boundary stone which your fathers have placed.
- Hosea 5:10 The princes of Judah are like those who move boundary stones; I will pour out My fury upon them like water.
- Job 1:15 the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
- Job 1:17 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels, and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
- Job 5:5 The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from the thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.