Job 20:19

Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(19) Because he hath oppressed and forsaken . . .—For these insinuations there was not a vestige of ground, but Job formally rebuts them in Job 31

Benson Commentary

Job 20:19. Because he hath oppressed and forsaken the poor — By his oppression he brought men to utter poverty, and then forsook them in that destitute state, affording them no mercy nor help. Or, the meaning is, He made some poor by his oppressions, and others, that were poor, he suffered to perish for want of that relief which he might have afforded them. He hath violently taken away a house, &c. — Namely, for his own use; which he builded not — Which was none of his.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

20:10-22 The miserable condition of the wicked man in this world is fully set forth. The lusts of the flesh are here called the sins of his youth. His hiding it and keeping it under his tongue, denotes concealment of his beloved lust, and delight therein. But He who knows what is in the heart, knows what is under the tongue, and will discover it. The love of the world, and of the wealth of it, also is wickedness, and man sets his heart upon these. Also violence and injustice, these sins bring God's judgments upon nations and families. Observe the punishment of the wicked man for these things. Sin is turned into gall, than which nothing is more bitter; it will prove to him poison; so will all unlawful gains be. In his fulness he shall be in straits, through the anxieties of his own mind. To be led by the sanctifying grace of God to restore what was unjustly gotten, as Zaccheus was, is a great mercy. But to be forced to restore by the horrors of a despairing conscience, as Judas was, has no benefit and comfort attending it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Because he hath oppressed - Margin, "crushed." Such is the Hebrew.

And forsaken the poor - He has plundered them, and then forsaken them - as robbers do. The meaning is, that he had done this by his oppressive manner of dealing, and then left them to suffer and pine in want.

He hath violently taken away an house which he builded not - That is, by overreaching and harsh dealings he has come in possession of dwellings which he did not build, or purchase in any proper manner. It does not mean that he had done this by violence - for Zophar is not describing a robber, but he means that he took advantage of the needs of the poor and obtained their property. This is often done still. A rich man takes advantage of the needs of the poor, and obtains their little farm or house for much less than it is worth. He takes a mortgage, and then forecloses it, and buys the property himself for much less than its real value, and thus practices a species of the worst kind of robbery. Such a man, Zophar says, must expect punishment - and if there is any man who has occasion to dread the wrath of heaven it is he.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

19. oppressed—whereas he ought to have espoused their cause (2Ch 16:10).

forsaken—left helpless.

house—thus leaving the poor without shelter (Isa 5:8; Mic 2:2).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

By his oppression he brought men to utter poverty, and then forsook or left them in that forlorn estate, affording no mercy nor help to them. Or, some he made poor by his oppression, and others that were poor he suffered to perish for want of that relief which he should and might have afforded them; which is a crying sin in God’s sight, and one of those sins for which God destroyed Sodom, Ezekiel 16:49, and therefore fitly mentioned here as one of the sins for which God punished this wicked man. Or, he oppresseth and leaveth poor, as Broughton renders it.

An house which he built not, i.e. which was none of his. Heb. he hath violently taken away an house, and (or but) did not build (or repair, as building is oft used) it, to wit, that house for his own use, i.e. he did not build or possess that house, as he intended to do, but was cut off by God’s hand before he could enjoy the fruit of his oppressions.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor,.... Having oppressed, crushed, and broken the poor to pieces, he leaves them so without pity and compassion for them, and without giving them any relief; he first by oppression makes them poor, or however poorer still, and then leaves them in such circumstances; for this does not suppose that he once was a favourer of them, and afforded them assistance in their necessities, and afterwards forsook them; but rather, as Ben Gersom gives the sense, he does not leave the poor until he has oppressed and crushed them, and then he does; Mr. Broughton's reading of the words agrees with the former sense, "he oppresseth and leaveth poor":

because he hath violently taken away an house which he built not; an house which did not belong to him, he had no property in or right unto, which, as he had not bought, he had not built; and therefore could lay no rightful claim unto it, and yet this he took in a violent manner from the right owner of it, see Micah 2:2; or "and", or "but shall not build it" (a), or "buildeth it not"; he took it away with an intention to pull it down, and build a stately palace in the room of it; but either his substance was taken from him, or he taken away by death before he could finish it, and so either through neglect, or want of opportunity, or of money, did not what he thought to have done.

(a) "et non aedificabit eam", Pagninus, Montanus; "et non aedificat eam", Cocceius, Schultens; "non autem", Beza; "sed non", Schmidt, Michaelis.

Geneva Study Bible

Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

19. and hath forsaken] Abandoned them, after oppressing them, to their destitution. Thus, though joining house to house (Isaiah 5:8) and dispossessing the poor, the houses which he robs he shall not build up—as Is. says, Many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair without inhabitant (ch. Job 5:9).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 19. - Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor. These charges are now for the first time insinuated against Job; later on, they are openly brought by Eliphaz (Job 22:5-9). Job denies them categorically in Job 29:11-17. They seem to have been pure calumnies, without an atom of foundation. Because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not. Another calumny, doubtless. Something like it was insinuated by Eliphaz in Job 15:28. Job 20:19

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

17 He shall not delight himself in streams,

Like to rivers and brooks of honey and cream.

18 Giving back that for which he laboured, he shall not swallow it;

He shall not rejoice according to the riches he hath gotten.

19 Because he cast down, let the destitute lie helpless;

He shall not, in case he hath seized a house, finish building it.

20 Because he knew no rest in his craving,

He shall not be able to rescue himself with what he most loveth.

As poets sing of the aurea aetas of the paradise-like primeval age: Flumina jam lactis, jam flumina nectaris ibant,

(Note: Ovid, Metam. i. 112, comp. Virgil, Ecl. iv. 30:

Et durae quercus sudabant roscida mella;

and Horace, Epod. xvi. 47

Mella cava manant ex ilice, montibus altis

Levis crepante lympha desilit pede.)

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