Bible Strands
Job 24:4
They push the needy off the road and force all the poor of the land into hiding.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Job addresses his companions regarding the widespread social corruption that occurs while divine justice appears delayed.
The words — אֶבְיוֹנִים ('ev.yo.Nim) denotes the destitute who are stripped of rights, while חֻ֝בְּא֗וּ (chu.be.'U) describes the forced concealment they endure.
The thread — This pattern of oppression and hiding recurs in Proverbs 28:28, Job 24:14, and Ezekiel 22:29.
Why it lands — The text documents how the powerful strip the vulnerable of basic security and drive them into concealment. Readers must recognize systemic injustice as a present reality requiring accountability.
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
They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 28:28 When the wicked come to power, people hide themselves; but when they perish, the righteous flourish.
- Job 24:14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises to kill the poor and needy; in the night he is like a thief.
- Ezekiel 22:29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and have exploited the foreign resident without justice.
- Amos 2:7 They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the earth; they push the needy out of their way. A man and his father have relations with the same girl and so profane My holy name.
- Job 29:12 because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.
- Job 30:25 Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?
- Job 31:16 If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,
- Psalms 41:1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Blessed is the one who cares for the poor; the LORD will deliver him in the day of trouble.
- Psalms 109:16 For he never thought to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and brokenhearted, even to their death.
- Proverbs 22:16 Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself or giving gifts to the rich will surely lead to poverty.