What Does Job 36:6 Mean in the King James?
He preserveth not the life of the wicked: but giveth right to the poor.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The poor receive not charity but mishpat, the judgment that gives their claim standing.
THE MEANING
The verse says God does not keep the wicked alive, while giving the poor their right. Poverty does not erase the afflicted person’s claim: they receive a judgment that recognizes their case. The two halves hold both outcomes in view, life is not secured by wickedness, and justice is not denied to the poor.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that being poor means having no claim before God.
THE ROOT
מִשְׁפָּט
mishpat
GROWS FROM
שפט
Shaphat: to judge or decide a case.
“Right” can sound like an entitlement, but mishpat is judgment that recognizes and sets a claim in order. Here, that judgment is given to the poor: their case is not left to the powerful to decide.
ALSO GROWS
shaphat: to judge, decide
שָׁפַט
The verb shows mishpat as an act of judgment, not merely a possession.
shofet: judge
שֹׁפֵט
The person who judges embodies the authority to hear and decide a case.
mishpatim: judgments, ordinances
מִשְׁפָּטִים
The plural carries the same root into decisions that order a community’s claims.
עֲנִיִּים
aniyyim
GROWS FROM
ענה
Anah: to be afflicted, bowed down, or brought low.
“poor” in this verse is aniyyim. The word points beyond lack of money to people who are pressed down or afflicted. That makes the verse’s pairing precise: mishpat is given to those whose low position could leave their claim unheard.
ALSO GROWS
ani: poor, afflicted
עָנִי
This singular form carries the same image of a person brought low.
anah: to afflict, humble
עָנָה
The verb reveals the condition behind the word: being pressed down or made low.
יְחַיֶּה
yechayyeh
GROWS FROM
חיה
Chayah: to live or keep alive.
The phrase translated “preserveth … the life” uses the verb “keep alive.” Set beside the judgment given to the poor, it makes the verse speak of both survival and justice: neither is simply secured by wickedness or denied by poverty.
ALSO GROWS
chai: living, alive
חַי
This branch names the state of being alive that the verb expresses.
chayyim: life
חַיִּים
The noun shares the root and makes the life at stake explicit.
THE PATTERN
God’s justice reaches people whom power leaves without standing.
He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?THE THREAD
For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.The word for “poor” in both verses comes from ענה (anah), carrying the sense of being afflicted or brought low. Job says the afflicted receive mishpat; this Psalm says their hope is not forgotten or lost.
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