Job 31:39

Job 31:39 If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:

Ver. 39. If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money] i.e. Not paying the labourers their wages, which is a bony sin, Amo 5:12-13, crying cruelty, Jas 5:4, such as hath a woe hanging on the heels of it, Jer 22:17. See what sins it is set among, and what punishment is awarded to it, Mal 3:5. Let Laban be guilty of it, Gen 31:7, but Job protesteth against it here with an imprecation.

Or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life] That is, the occupiers thereof, the poor rent holders (by racking their rents), to miss subsistence, so that they could not make a living of it with all their labour. Owners of the land he calleth them improperly; since the land was his, as in the former verse; but if he had the propriety, they had the pains, and theretbro should have a livelihood, as Solomon’s vinedressers had, Son 8:12; but so had not Pharaoh’s labourers, the oppressed Israelites, who toiled like horses, and yet were held to so hard allowance, that they were weary of their lives, and their souls were ready to expire, as the Hebrew here hath it. Prisoners’ pittance many poor tenants have, such as will neither keep them alive nor suffer them to die.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Meaning, that he was no briber nor extortioner.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

lose . . . life--not literally, but "harassed to death"; until he gave me up his land gratis [MAURER]; as in Jdg 16:16; "suffered him to languish" by taking away his means of living [UMBREIT] (Kg1 21:19).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 39. If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money] I have never been that narrow-minded man who, through a principle of covetousness, exhausts his land, putting himself to no charges, by labour and manure, to strengthen it; or defrauds those of their wages who were employed under him. If I have eaten the fruits of it, I have cultivated it well to produce those fruits; and this has not been without money, for I have gone to expenses on the soil, and remunerated the labourers.

Or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life] Coverdale translates, Yee yf I have greved eny of the plowmen. They have not panted in labour without due recompense.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

39. to lose their life] lit. if I have caused the soul of the owners thereof to breathe out. The reference may be either to oppressions which brought the owners to death, after which their land was seized without money, or to oppressive appropriation of the land so that the rightful owner was brought to death through penury and misery.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If I have eaten the fruits thereof - Margin, strength. The strength of the earth is that which the earth produces or which is the result of its strength. We speak now of a “strong soil “ - meaning that it is capable of bearing much.

Without money - Hebrew “without silver “ - silver being the principal circulating medium in early times. The meaning here is, “without paying for it;” either without having paid for the land, or for the labor. “Or have caused the owners thereof.” Margin, the soul of the owners thereof to expire, or breathe out. The Hebrew is, “If I have caused the life of the owners (or lords) of it to breathe out.” The meaning is, if I have appropriated to myself the land or labor of others without paying for it, so that their means of living are taken away. He disclaims all injustice in the case. He had not deprived others of their land by violence or fraud, so that they had no means of subsistence.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Money. Or paying for them. (Menochius) --- And have. Protestants, "or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life."

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Without money; either without paying the price required by the right owner for the land, or by defrauding my workmen of the wages of their labours.

To lose their life; killing them, that so I might have undisturbed possession of it, as Ahab did Naboth.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

39. To lose their life — Literally, breathe out their life. The idea seems to be, not of direct murder, but of “harassing to death” (thus Maurer) the rightful owners, in order that their lands might be secured.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money; i.e. without acquiring a title to them by purchase. Or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life. Either by actual violence or by depriving them of the means of support. (see the comment on Job_29:13) Job had been accused of robbery and oppression both by Zophar (Job_20:12-19) and Eliphaz. (Job_22:5-9) He had not, however, been accused of actual murder.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Without money - Either without paying the price for the land, or by defrauding my workmen of their wages. Life - Killing them that I might have undisturbed possession of it, as Ahab did Naboth.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

without money to hire workers and to oppress them [by not paying them]. Another explanation. This refers to the second tithe, concerning which it is written (Deut. 14:25): “And you shall tie the money in your hand.”

and I caused pain to its owner The sharecropper who tills it.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.