Bible Strands
Job 31:38
if my land cries out against me and its furrows weep together,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job speaks in a self-imposed oath of innocence, addressing his alleged accusers and God. He uses this conditional clause to detail his ethical conduct regarding agricultural labor and land stewardship.
The words — The Hebrew תִזְעָק (tizʿaq) literally means "it cried out," and יִבְכּוּ (yibkû) literally means "they wept." These verbs describe the land and its furrows as active witnesses rather than passive property.
The thread — The motif of creation testifying against human wrongdoing runs in Job 20:27 and Habakkuk 2:11, while the land's blessing is depicted in Psalms 65:13. The pattern contrasts cosmic judgment with agricultural prosperity.
Why it lands — The text demands that readers examine their own relationship to the land and those who work it. It requires a concrete accounting of how one's actions affect the earth and its laborers.
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 my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;
Cross-references
- Habakkuk 2:11 For the stones will cry out from the wall, and the rafters will echo it from the woodwork.
- Job 20:27 The heavens will expose his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him.
- Psalms 65:13 The pastures are clothed with flocks, and the valleys are decked with grain. They shout in triumph; indeed, they sing.
- James 5:4 Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.