Bible Strands
Job 31:39
if I have devoured its produce without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job speaks his final oath of innocence before God, listing hypothetical violations to demonstrate his integrity. He stands at the conclusion of his self-defense, framing agricultural exploitation as a direct offense against divine justice.
The words — The Hebrew כֹּחָהּ (kocho) means "its produce," paired with אָכַלְתִּי (akhalti), "I have eaten," and בְּלִי כֶסֶף (beli kesef), "without silver." The phrase בְּעָלֶיהָ הִפַּחְתִּי (be'aleha hippacht) literally renders "I have caused to breathe out the life of its owners," indicating the destruction of tenant farmers.
The thread — The motif of harvested land or withheld compensation crying out appears in James 5:4, where unpaid wages of field workers "cry out against you." The cursed ground refusing to yield its produce in Genesis 4:12 shows the reverse dynamic of divine judgment on agricultural failure.
Why it lands — The text demands a reader examine whether personal gain comes at the cost of starving laborers or exhausting those who work the land. It frames economic exploitation not as a private transaction but as a violation that provokes divine reckoning.
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 have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 21:19 Tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘Have you not murdered a man and seized his land?’ Then tell him that this is also what the LORD says: ‘In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, there also the dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’”
- 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.
- Genesis 4:12 When you till the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”
- 1 Kings 21:13 And the two scoundrels came in and sat opposite Naboth, and these men testified against him before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king!” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death.
- Proverbs 1:19 Such is the fate of all who are greedy, whose unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors.
- Isaiah 26:21 For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.
- Ezekiel 22:6 See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood.
- Ezekiel 22:12 In you they take bribes to shed blood. You engage in usury, take excess interest, and extort your neighbors. But Me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD.