Bible Strands
Job 31:13
If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or maidservant when they made a complaint against me,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job addresses God while cataloging his personal integrity, framing each point as a conditional denial of past wrongdoing. He speaks as a patriarch evaluating his own administration of household justice before the divine court.
The words — The clause centers on אֶמְאַס ('em'as), literally "I rejected," and מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat), literally "cause" or "judgment." Together they describe the active dismissal of a servant's legal grievance rather than simple neglect.
The thread — This concern for servant justice runs through Exodus 21:20 and Exodus 21:26, which establish master accountability for physical harm to slaves, and Leviticus 25:43, which commands against harsh rule over the vulnerable. Job explicitly measures his conduct against these covenant statutes.
Why it lands — The text requires employers and leaders to acknowledge their obligation to hear and address the complaints of those under their authority. It asks readers to verify whether they actively dismiss or fairly process the grievances of the dependent.
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
If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;
Cross-references
- Exodus 21:20 If a man strikes his manservant or maidservant with a rod, and the servant dies by his hand, he shall surely be punished.
- Exodus 21:26 If a man strikes and blinds the eye of his manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free as compensation for the eye.
- Leviticus 25:43 You are not to rule over them harshly, but you shall fear your God.
- Leviticus 25:46 You may leave them to your sons after you to inherit as property; you can make them slaves for life. But as for your brothers, the Israelites, no man may rule harshly over his brother.
- Deuteronomy 15:12 If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you must set him free.
- Deuteronomy 24:14 Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.
- Jeremiah 34:14 Every seventh year, each of you must free his Hebrew brother who has sold himself to you. He may serve you six years, but then you must let him go free. But your fathers did not listen or incline their ear.
- Ephesians 6:9 And masters, do the same for your slaves. Give up your use of threats, because you know that He who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him.
- Colossians 4:1 Masters, supply your slaves with what is right and fair, since you know that you also have a Master in heaven.