Job 20:19

For he has oppressed the poor and abandoned them; ¹  he has seized a house which he did not build. ² 

For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute; he has seized houses he did not build.

"For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor; He has seized a house which he has not built.

For he oppressed the poor and left them destitute. He foreclosed on their homes.

And why? Because they exploited the poor, took what never belonged to them.

Because he has been cruel to the poor, turning away from them in their trouble; because he has taken a house by force which he did not put up;

For they have crushed and abandoned the poor, they have seized a house that they did not build.

For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor, He has violently seized a house which he did not build.

For he has oppressed the poor and abandoned them; ¹  he has seized a house which he did not build. ² 

¹ tc The verb indicates that after he oppressed the poor he abandoned them to their fate. But there have been several attempts to improve on the text. Several have repointed the text to get a word parallel to “house.” Ehrlich came up with עֹזֵב (’ozev, “mud hut”), Kissane had “hovel” (similar to Neh 3:8). M. Dahood did the same (“The Root ’zb II in Job,” JBL 78 [1959]: 306-7). J. Reider came up with עֶזֶב (’ezev, the “leavings”), what the rich were to leave for the poor (“Contributions to the Scriptural text,” HUCA 24 [1952/53]: 103-6). But an additional root עָזַב (’azav) is questionable. And while the text as it stands is general and not very striking, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Dhorme reverses the letters to gain בְּעֹז (bÿ’oz, “with force [or violence]”).

² tn The last clause says, “and he did not build it.” This can be understood in an adverbial sense, supplying the relative pronoun to the translation.