Job 6:27
New International Version
You would even cast lots for the fatherless and barter away your friend.

New Living Translation
You would even send an orphan into slavery or sell a friend.

English Standard Version
You would even cast lots over the fatherless, and bargain over your friend.

Berean Standard Bible
You would even cast lots for an orphan and barter away your friend.

King James Bible
Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig a pit for your friend.

New King James Version
Yes, you overwhelm the fatherless, And you undermine your friend.

New American Standard Bible
“You would even cast lots for the orphans, And barter over your friend.

NASB 1995
“You would even cast lots for the orphans And barter over your friend.

NASB 1977
“You would even cast lots for the orphans, And barter over your friend.

Legacy Standard Bible
You would even cast lots for the orphans And bargain over your friend.

Amplified Bible
“You would cast lots (gamble) over the fatherless And bargain away your friend.

Christian Standard Bible
No doubt you would cast lots for a fatherless child and negotiate a price to sell your friend.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
No doubt you would cast lots for a fatherless child and negotiate a price to sell your friend.

American Standard Version
Yea, ye would cast lots upon the fatherless, And make merchandise of your friend.

Contemporary English Version
Why, you would sell an orphan or your own neighbor!

English Revised Version
Yea, ye would cast lots upon the fatherless, and make merchandise of your friend.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Would you also throw dice for an orphan? Would you buy and sell your friend?

Good News Translation
You would even roll dice for orphan slaves and make yourselves rich off your closest friends!

International Standard Version
Indeed, you would gamble to buy an orphan; and barter to buy your friend!

Majority Standard Bible
You would even cast lots for an orphan and barter away your friend.

NET Bible
Yes, you would gamble for the fatherless, and auction off your friend.

New Heart English Bible
Yes, you would even cast lots for the fatherless, and make merchandise of your friend.

Webster's Bible Translation
Yes, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig a pit for your friend.

World English Bible
Yes, you would even cast lots for the fatherless, and make merchandise of your friend.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
You cause anger to fall on the fatherless, "" And are strange to your friend.

Young's Literal Translation
Anger on the fatherless ye cause to fall, And are strange to your friend.

Smith's Literal Translation
But ye will cause the orphans to fall, and ye will dig for your friend.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
You rush in upon the fatherless, and you endeavour to overthrow your friend.

Catholic Public Domain Version
You encroach upon the orphan, and you strive to undermine your friend.

New American Bible
You would even cast lots for the orphan, and would barter over your friend!

New Revised Standard Version
You would even cast lots over the orphan, and bargain over your friend.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Behold, you overwhelm the fatherless, and you grieve your friend.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Behold, you are magnified against orphans and you grieve your friend
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Yea, ye would cast lots upon the fatherless, And dig a pit for your friend.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Even because ye attack the fatherless, and insult your friend.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Job Replies: My Complaint is Just
26Do you intend to correct my words, and treat as wind my cry of despair? 27You would even cast lots for an orphan and barter away your friend. 28But now, please look at me. Would I lie to your face?…

Cross References
Psalm 35:15-16
But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee; they gathered together against me. Assailants I did not know slandered me without ceasing. / Like godless jesters at a feast, they gnashed their teeth at me.

Psalm 69:12
Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of drunkards.

Proverbs 17:5
He who mocks the poor insults their Maker; whoever gloats over calamity will not go unpunished.

Proverbs 24:17-18
Do not gloat when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles, / or the LORD will see and disapprove, and turn His wrath away from him.

Isaiah 57:4
Whom are you mocking? At whom do you sneer and stick out your tongue? Are you not children of transgression, offspring of deceit,

Jeremiah 18:18
Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.”

Lamentations 1:12
Is this nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look around and see! Is there any sorrow like mine, which was inflicted on me, which the LORD made me suffer on the day of His fierce anger?

Ezekiel 22:7
Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed.

Micah 3:2-3
You hate good and love evil. You tear the skin from my people and strip the flesh from their bones. / You eat the flesh of my people after stripping off their skin and breaking their bones. You chop them up like flesh for the cooking pot, like meat in a cauldron.”

Zechariah 7:10
Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’

Matthew 5:11-12
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. / Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.

Matthew 26:59-61
Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were seeking false testimony against Jesus in order to put Him to death. / But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward / and declared, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”

Mark 14:56-58
For many bore false witness against Jesus, but their testimony was inconsistent. / Then some men stood up and testified falsely against Him: / “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this man-made temple, and in three days I will build another that is made without hands.’”

Luke 6:22-23
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man. / Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For their fathers treated the prophets in the same way.

Luke 23:35
The people stood watching, and the rulers sneered at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”


Treasury of Scripture

Yes, you overwhelm the fatherless, and you dig a pit for your friend.

overwhelm.

Job 22:9
Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

Job 24:3,9
They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge…

Job 29:12
Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.

ye dig.

Psalm 7:15
He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.

Psalm 57:6
They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah.

Jeremiah 18:20,22
Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them…

Jump to Previous
Anger Bargain Barter Cast Cause Child Creditors Dead Dig Fall Fatherless Friend Lots Merchandise Orphans Overwhelm Pit Profit Strange
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Anger Bargain Barter Cast Cause Child Creditors Dead Dig Fall Fatherless Friend Lots Merchandise Orphans Overwhelm Pit Profit Strange
Job 6
1. Job shows that his complaints are not causeless.
8. He wishes for death, wherein he is assured of comfort.
14. He reproves his friends of unkindness.














You would even cast lots
The phrase "cast lots" refers to an ancient practice used to make decisions or determine fate, often seen in the Old Testament. The Hebrew root for "lots" is "goral," which signifies a small stone or object used in this decision-making process. In the context of Job, this phrase underscores the callousness and moral insensitivity of Job's friends. Casting lots was sometimes used to discern God's will, but here it is depicted as a heartless act, suggesting that Job's friends are willing to gamble with the lives and well-being of the vulnerable, such as the fatherless. This highlights the depth of Job's despair and his perception of betrayal by those who should have been his comforters.

for the fatherless
The "fatherless" in ancient Israelite society were among the most vulnerable, often lacking protection and provision. The Hebrew word "yathom" is used here, emphasizing the plight of orphans who were dependent on the community for care. Job's accusation that his friends would "cast lots for the fatherless" is a severe indictment of their character, suggesting they are so devoid of compassion that they would exploit even the most defenseless. This reflects a broader biblical theme of God's concern for orphans and the expectation that His people will act justly and mercifully towards them.

and barter away your friend
The act of "bartering away" a friend implies a betrayal of trust and loyalty. The Hebrew root "karah" conveys the idea of trading or selling, which in this context, suggests a transactional view of relationships. Job feels that his friends have commodified their relationship with him, valuing personal gain over genuine friendship. This accusation is particularly poignant given the cultural emphasis on loyalty and covenantal relationships in the ancient Near East. Job's lament here is not just about personal betrayal but also about the breakdown of societal and moral values, where even sacred bonds are subject to exploitation.

(27) Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless.--Rather, probably, Ye would cast lots upon the fatherless, and make merchandise of your friend. This is more

in accordance with the language, and preserves the parallelism.

Verse 27. - Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless; rather, on the fatherless would ye east lots (comp. Joel 3:3; Obadiah 1:11; Nahum 3:10). Job means to say they are so pitiless that they would cast lots for the children of an insolvent debtor condemned to become slaves at his death (see 2 Kings 4:1; Nehemiah 5:5). And ye dig a pit for your friend; or, ye would make merchandise of your friend as in the Revised Version. Job does not speak of what his friends had done, but of what he deems them capable of doing.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
You would even cast lots
תַּפִּ֑ילוּ (tap·pî·lū)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 5307: To fall, lie

for the fatherless
וְ֝תִכְר֗וּ (wə·ṯiḵ·rū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 3738: To dig, to plot, to bore, open

and negotiate a price
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

for your friend.
רֵֽיעֲכֶֽם׃ (rê·‘ă·ḵem)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 7453: Friend, companion, fellow


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OT Poetry: Job 6:27 Yes you would even cast lots (Jb)
Job 6:26
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