They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow's ox for a pledge.
Job is replying to his friends, who insist that suffering is always God's payment for sin. To break their rule he points at crimes everyone can see. Men move landmarks and steal flocks. Here they take the last working animal from an orphan and a widow — and heaven says nothing.
The crimes listed
The verse sits inside a list of open, public wrongs. One writer walks through it:
Leslie M. GrantJob wonders why God, who is Almighty, does not take account of all that happens in time. Why do those who know Him never see Him deal seriously with gross evil while it is going on? For, he says, "Some remove landmarks," and so steal land from others. They seize flocks of sheep by force and feed on them. "They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow's ox for a pledge. They push the needy off the road," forcing the poor of the land to hide. These were evils publicly known to take place.
Who the robbers are
These robbers already own flocks and herds. They take the orphan's donkey and the widow's ox because they want more:
William KellyNow Job just takes up the things around him. "They take away flocks by force and feed on them. They drive away the donkey of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge. They turn the needy out of the way." These were what you might call the "respectable" people of society. They had flocks and herds, but they wanted more. "The poor of the earth hide themselves together."
A pledge that takes a life
A pledge is security held against a debt. The law limited what a creditor could take, because some things are a person's very life:
Numerical Bible NotesNext come two more laws. The first is again something allowed, but with a limit. A creditor might take a pledge from his poor neighbour. But he could not take the hand-mill that ground the man's grain day by day. That would be taking a man's life as pledge.
A widow's ox is that kind of possession. It ploughs her field. Take it, and she can never repay the debt.
The two God calls His own
Job names two victims: an orphan and a widow. These are the very people God holds close to His heart:
C. H. MackintoshHe is high over all, the great, the mighty and the terrible. But He has a heart for the widow and the fatherless. They are helpless, stripped of every earthly and natural support: the poor, grieving, broken-hearted widow, and the lonely orphan. God thinks of such people and cares for them in a very special way. They have a claim on His loving heart and mighty hand. "A Father of the fatherless, and a Judge of the widow is God in His holy habitation."
Job's case against his friends
Job is not just describing misery. He is building an argument against the men accusing him:
Samuel RidoutJob takes other cases to illustrate the same heartlessness. The wicked tear the fatherless from the breast; they defraud the poor. Why do his friends hint that he was guilty of such conduct? Glaring cases were plain to see… How can Eliphaz make such facts fit in with his theory that evil is always punished in this life? But, oh, how can God close His eyes to these things, and afflict a faithful man instead of these wrongdoers? This is Job's great trouble, and for this he has found no solution.
Why no one is struck down
One writer says Job's question can be answered. The silence is delay, not indifference:
William Kellythere are these times of evil. God is a moral governor, and He takes notice of all evil — yes, even the words of people, since words reveal the secrets of the heart. So how is it that He lets evil pass as He does, and that there is no day of retribution now? Well, we can perfectly answer that. It is all reserved for Christ… And therefore it is reserved for the Lord Jesus to execute judgment. All judgment is committed to the Son, because He is the Son of man.
Summary
- Crime. The theft is not of luxury but of livelihood — a donkey and an ox, the only working animals an orphan and a widow own.
- Cover. The thieves are respectable owners of flocks and herds who "wanted more." Everyone can see what they do.
- Claim. These two victims are the very people God names as His special care — "a Father of the fatherless, and a Judge of the widow."
- Case. Job uses these open crimes to break his friends' rule that suffering always proves guilt. Here the guilty go untouched, while he suffers.
- Court. The silence is delay, not blindness. God has committed all judgment to the Son, and Christ will carry it out.