What is the meaning of Job 31:38?

if my land cries out against me

“If my land cries out against me” (Job 31:38 a)

Job paints the scene of his own fields turning into witnesses against him.

• The language recalls Genesis 4:10, where Abel’s blood “cries out” from the ground, showing that God hears injustice even when people ignore it.

• Job claims he has not seized property, cheated boundaries, or oppressed workers; compare Deuteronomy 24:14-15, which warns against withholding wages and letting a hired man’s plea “cry out to the LORD.”

• Psalm 24:1 reminds us that “The earth is the LORD’s,” so abusing land—or those who work it—is ultimately sin against its true Owner.

• Jeremiah 22:13 denounces the king “who builds his palace by unrighteousness… who uses his neighbor’s service without wages,” showing that unjust acquisition provokes divine judgment.

Job is ready to let the very soil testify. If there were any hidden exploitation, the ground itself would expose him before God, emphasizing his confidence in his integrity.

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and its furrows weep together

“and its furrows weep together” (Job 31:38 b)

The “furrows” are the plowed rows that receive seed. Job imagines them personified, sobbing over mistreatment.

• Genesis 3:17 speaks of the ground being “cursed” because of Adam’s sin, setting a precedent for creation reacting to human evil.

• Romans 8:22 says, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now,” echoing the idea of fields lamenting.

• Hosea 4:3 mentions the land mourning when people abandon God’s ways.

• James 5:4 warns, “Look, the wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you,” matching Job’s imagery of agricultural rows testifying to injustice.

By invoking weeping furrows, Job highlights care for the environment and for laborers. He asserts that he has not wrung profit out of the land through oppression or negligence but has treated both soil and servants fairly (see Psalm 65:9-10 for a picture of land blessed under righteous stewardship).

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summary

Job 31:38 shows a righteous man inviting scrutiny. He says, in effect, “If even the ground I farm can accuse me, let it speak.” The verse teaches:

• God hears the silent cries of exploited land and labor.

• Stewardship of property is moral, not merely economic.

• Creation itself allies with divine justice, ready to testify when people sin.

Job’s confident challenge underscores his integrity and reminds us that our relationship with the earth—and with those who work it—must honor its true Owner, the Lord.