The Meaning of Job 24:3 Explained

Job 24:3

KJV: They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge.

YLT: The ass of the fatherless they lead away, They take in pledge the ox of the widow,

Darby: They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge;

ASV: They drive away the ass of the fatherless; They take the widow's ox for a pledge.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

They drive away  the ass  of the fatherless,  they take  the widow's  ox  for a pledge. 

What does Job 24:3 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 24:1-25 - Not Here, But Hereafter
Job laments that the times of punishment are not so explained by God, that those who know Him may see and understand His reasons. He then turns to describe the life of the ungodly, who do dark deeds with apparent impunity. A very sad catalogue of crimes follows. The oppression of the needy, the driving away of the ass of the fatherless, the taking of the widow's ox for a pledge, the frequenting of the wilderness, the plunder of caravans regardless of the claims of pity, the stealing of oil and wine from those who had labored to produce them, the murdering of the poor laboring man at the dawn, the commission of crimes at night-such are the iniquities which are described. And these crimes are still committed in so-called Christian lands. Wonderful that God should bear with us, but His long-suffering would fain lead men to repent. It is only after long forbearing and trial that He cuts down.
In his closing words, Job 24:18-21, Job quotes the opinion of his friends as to the condition of the ungodly, that they pass away swiftly as the waters, and are snapped as a branch of a tree. And, in opposition, he states his own view, Job 24:23-25, that they die in exalted positions, not by a painful and lingering death, but as corn in the maturity of the ear. This also is true. Wicked men do not always meet their deserts in this world. In the next world penalty is inevitable. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 24

1  Wickedness often goes unpunished
17  There is a secret judgment for the wicked

What do the individual words in Job 24:3 mean?

The donkey of the fatherless they drive away they take as a pledge the ox of widow
חֲמ֣וֹר יְתוֹמִ֣ים יִנְהָ֑גוּ יַ֝חְבְּל֗וּ שׁ֣וֹר אַלְמָנָֽה

חֲמ֣וֹר  The  donkey 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: חֲמֹור 
Sense: (he)ass.
יְתוֹמִ֣ים  of  the  fatherless 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: יָתֹום  
Sense: an orphan, fatherless.
יִנְהָ֑גוּ  they  drive  away 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: נָהַג 
Sense: to drive, lead, guide, conduct.
יַ֝חְבְּל֗וּ  they  take  as  a  pledge 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: חָבַל 
Sense: to bind.
שׁ֣וֹר  the  ox 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: שֹׁור  
Sense: ox, bull, a head of cattle.
אַלְמָנָֽה  of  widow 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: אַלְמָנָה  
Sense: widow.