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Job 4:8
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In my experience, those who plow injusticeand those who sow trouble reap the same.
According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity, And sow trouble, Reap the same.
Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.
I have noticed that people who plow evil and plant trouble, harvest it.
Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
"According to what I have seen, those who plow wrongdoing And those who sow trouble harvest it.
According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity, And sow trouble, Reap the same.
As I haue seene, they that plow iniquitie, and sowe wickednesse, reape the same.
According to what I have seen, those who plow wickednessAnd those who sow trouble harvest it.
As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble, reap the same.
In my experience, only those who plant seeds of evil harvest trouble,
What I see is that those who plow sin and sow trouble reap just that.
Even as I have seen, they that plough iniquity and sow mischief, reap the same.
Yes, I have seen people whose lives were cut short, but they were evil troublemakers.
As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble, reap the same.
I have seen people plow fields of evil and plant wickedness like seed; now they harvest wickedness and evil.
Just as I have seen, plowers of mischief and sowers of trouble will reap it.
As I have seen, the ones who plow iniquity and sow misery reap the same.
As for those that plowe wickednesse (as I haue sene myself) and sowe myschefe, they reape ye same.
According as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, And sow trouble, reap the same.
What I have seen is that those by whom trouble has been ploughed, and evil planted, get the same for themselves.
For as I haue proued by experience, they that plow iniquitie & sow wretchednesse, reape the same.
According as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow mischief, reap the same.
Euen as I haue seene, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickednsse, reape the same.
Accordingly as I have seen men ploughing barren places, and they that sow them will reap sorrows for themselves.
According as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow trouble, reap the same.
Certis rathir Y siy hem, that worchen wickidnesse, and sowen sorewis,
According to as I have seen, those that plow iniquity, And sow trouble, reap the same.
Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
Even as I have seen, Those who plow iniquity And sow trouble reap the same.
My experience shows that those who plant trouble and cultivate evil will harvest the same.
As I have seen, those who plow sin and plant trouble gather the same.
As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.
So far as I have seen, They who plow for iniquity and sow misery, reap the same:
On the contrary, I have seen those who work iniquity, and sow sorrows, and reap them,
As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.
As I have seen -- ploughers of iniquity, And sowers of misery, reap it!
"According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity And those who sow trouble harvest it.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
they that plow: Psalms 7:14-16, Proverbs 22:8, Jeremiah 4:18, Hosea 8:7, Hosea 10:12, Hosea 10:13, 2 Corinthians 9:6, Galatians 6:7, Galatians 6:8
Reciprocal: Job 15:31 - for vanity Job 21:27 - I know Psalms 7:15 - and is Proverbs 1:31 - General Proverbs 24:30 - went Isaiah 17:11 - the harvest Jeremiah 2:17 - Hast thou Micah 7:13 - for Zephaniah 3:3 - princes
Cross-References
And in the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground.
And the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you so angry? And why do you look annoyed?
Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" And he [lied and] said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"
The LORD said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's [innocent] blood is crying out to Me from the ground [for justice].
"When you cultivate the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength [it will resist producing good crops] for you; you shall be a fugitive and a vagabond [roaming aimlessly] on the earth [in perpetual exile without a home, a degraded outcast]."
And the LORD said to him, "Therefore, whoever kills Cain, a sevenfold vengeance [that is, punishment seven times worse] shall be taken on him [by Me]." And the LORD set a [protective] mark (sign) on Cain, so that no one who found (met) him would kill him.
"If Cain is avenged sevenfold [as the LORD said he would be], Then Lamech [will be avenged] seventy-sevenfold."
To Seth, also, a son was born, whom he named Enosh (mortal man, mankind). At that [same] time men began to call on the name of the LORD [in worship through prayer, praise, and thanksgiving].
So when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside to the middle of the gate to speak to him privately, and there he struck Abner in the abdomen so that he died, to avenge the blood of Asahel, Joab's brother.
"Your maidservant had two sons, but the two of them struggled and fought in the field. There was no one to separate them, so one struck the other and killed him.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Even as I have seen,.... Here he goes about to prove, by his own experience, the destruction of wicked men; and would intimate, that Job was such an one, because of the ruin he was fallen into:
they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same; figurative expressions, denoting that such who devise iniquity in their hearts, form and plan schemes of it in their minds, signified by "plowing iniquity", and who were studious and diligent to put into practice what they devised; who took a great deal of pains to commit sin, and were constant at it, expressed by "sowing wickedness": these sooner or later eat the fruit of their doings, are punished in proportion to their crimes, even in this life, as well as hereafter, see Hosea 8:7 Galatians 6:7; though a Jewish commentator b observes, that the thought of sin is designed by the first phrase; the endeavour to bring it into action by the second; and the finishing of the work, or the actual commission of the evil, by the third; the punishment thereof being what is expressed in Job 4:9; the Targum applies this to the generation of the flood.
b R. Simeon Bar Tzemach.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Even as I have seen - Eliphaz appeals to his own observation, that people who had led wicked lives were suddenly cut off. Instances of this kind he might doubtless have observed - as all may have done. But his inference was too broad when he concluded that all the wicked are punished in this manner. It is true that wicked people are thus cut off and perish; but it is not true that all the wicked are thus punished in this life, nor that any of the righteous are not visited with similar calamities. His reasoning was of a kind that is common in the world - that of drawing universal conclusions from premises that are too narrow to sustain them, or from too few carefully observed facts.
They that plow iniquity - This is evidently a proverbial expression; and the sense is, that as people sow they reap. If they sow wheat, they reap wheat; if barley, they reap barley; if tares, they reap tares. Thus, in Proverbs 22:8 :
“He that soweth iniquity shall reap also vanity.”
So in Hosea 8:7 :
“For they have sown the wind,
And they shall reap the whirlwind:
It hath no stalk; the bud shall yield no meal
If so be it yield, strangers shall swallow it up”
Thus, in the Persian adage:
“He that planteth thorns shall not gather roses.”
Dr. Good.
So Aeschylus:
Ἄτης ἄρουρα Θάνατον ἐκκαρπίζεται.
Atēs aroura thanaton ekkarpizetai.
The field of wrong brings forth death as its fruit.
The meaning of Eliphaz is, that people who form plans of wickedness must reap appropriate fruits. They cannot expect that an evil life will produce ultimate happiness.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Job 4:8. They that plough iniquity — A proverbial form of speech drawn from nature. Whatever seed a man sows in the ground, he reaps the same kind; for every seed produces its like. Thus Solomon, Proverbs 22:8: "He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity." And St. Paul, Galatians 6:7-8: "Be not deceived, God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he who soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." And of the same nature is that other saying of the apostle, He that soweth sparingly, shall reap sparingly, 2 Corinthians 9:6.
The same figure is employed by the Prophet Hosea Hosea 8:7: They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind; and Hosea 10:12-13: Sow to yourselves in righteousness; reap in mercy. Ye have ploughed wickedness; ye have reaped iniquity. The last sentence contains, not only the same image, but almost the same words as those used by Eliphaz.
Our Lord expresses the same thing, in the following words: Matthew 7:16-18: Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. So the Greeks: -
Ατης αρουρα θανατον εκκαρπιζεται.
Aesch. Ἑπτα επι Θηβαις, ver. 607.
"The field of iniquity produces the fruit of death."
Ὑβρις γαρ εξανθους εκαρπωσε σταχυν
Ατης, ὁθεν παγκλαυτον εξαμᾳ θερος.
IB. Περσαι, ver. 823.
"For oppression, when it springs,
Puts forth the blade of vengeance; and its fruit
Yields a ripe harvest of repentant wo." - POTTER.
The image is common every where because it is a universal law of nature.
