King James Version

Obadiah 1:5

If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes?

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Hebrew

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אִםimoh thatאִםconjunction — “oh that”H518used very widely as demonstrative, lo!; interrogative, whether?; or conditional, if, although; also Oh that!, when; hence, as a negative, not(and, can-, doubtless, if, that) (not), [phrase] but, either, [phrase] except, [phrase] more(-over if, than), neither, nevertheless, nor, oh that, or, [phrase] save (only, -ing), seeing, since, sith, [phrase] surely (no more, none, not), t…גַּנָּבִ֤יםganavimthiefגַּנָּבnoun, common, masculine, plural, absolute — “thief”, the ordinary formH1590a stealerthief.בָּאֽוּbavto comeבּוֹאverb, qal, perfect, 3rd person, common, plural — “to come”, a completed actionH935to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)abide, apply, attain, [idiom] be, befall, [phrase] besiege, bring (forth, in, into, to pass), call, carry, [idiom] certainly, (cause, let, thing for) to come (against, in, out, upon, to pass), depart, [idiom] doubtless again, [phrase] eat,…לְךָ֙lekhatoלְךָ֙preposition, suffix, pronominal, 2nd person, masculine, singular — “to”toאִםimoh thatאִםconjunction — “oh that”H518used very widely as demonstrative, lo!; interrogative, whether?; or conditional, if, although; also Oh that!, when; hence, as a negative, not(and, can-, doubtless, if, that) (not), [phrase] but, either, [phrase] except, [phrase] more(-over if, than), neither, nevertheless, nor, oh that, or, [phrase] save (only, -ing), seeing, since, sith, [phrase] surely (no more, none, not), t…שׁ֣וֹדְדֵיshodededeadשָׁדַדverb, qal, participle, construct — “dead”, a verb used as a describing wordH7703properly, to be burly, i.e. (figuratively) powerful (passively, impregnable); by implication, to ravagedead, destroy(-er), oppress, robber, spoil(-er), [idiom] utterly, (lay) waste.לַ֔יְלָהlaylahnightלַיִלnoun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “night”, the ordinary formH3915properly, a twist (away of the light), i.e. night; figuratively, adversity(mid-)night (season).אֵ֣יךְeykhhowאֵיךְparticle, interrogative — “how”H349how? or how!; also wherehow, what.נִדְמֵ֔יתָהnidmeytahbe cut downדָּמָהverb, niphal, perfect, 2nd person, masculine, singular — “be cut down”, a completed actionH1820to be dumb or silent; hence, to fail or perish; trans. to destroycease, be cut down (off), destroy, be brought to silence, be undone, [idiom] utterly.הֲל֥וֹאhalono , -r,לֹאparticle, interrogative, particle, negative — “no , -r,”H3808not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles[idiom] before, [phrase] or else, ere, [phrase] except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), ([idiom] as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, [phrase] surely, [phrase] as trul…יִגְנְב֖וּyignevvcarry awayגָּנַבverb, qal, imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, plural — “carry away”, an unfinished actionH1589to thieve (literally or figuratively); by implication, to deceivecarry away, [idiom] indeed, secretly bring, steal (away), get by stealth.דַּיָּ֑םdayamenoughדַּיnoun, common, masculine, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, plural — “enough”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH1767enough (as noun or adverb), used chiefly with preposition in phrasesable, according to, after (ability), among, as (oft as), (more than) enough, from, in, since, (much as is) sufficient(-ly), too much, very, when.אִםimoh thatאִםconjunction — “oh that”H518used very widely as demonstrative, lo!; interrogative, whether?; or conditional, if, although; also Oh that!, when; hence, as a negative, not(and, can-, doubtless, if, that) (not), [phrase] but, either, [phrase] except, [phrase] more(-over if, than), neither, nevertheless, nor, oh that, or, [phrase] save (only, -ing), seeing, since, sith, [phrase] surely (no more, none, not), t…בֹּֽצְרִים֙botserimgatherבָּצַרverb, qal, participle, absolute — “gather”, a verb used as a describing wordH1219to gather grapes; also to be isolated (i.e. inaccessible by height or fortification)cut off, (de-) fenced, fortify, (grape) gather(-er), mighty things, restrain, strong, wall (up), withhold.בָּ֣אוּbavto comeבּוֹאverb, qal, perfect, 3rd person, common, plural — “to come”, a completed actionH935to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)abide, apply, attain, [idiom] be, befall, [phrase] besiege, bring (forth, in, into, to pass), call, carry, [idiom] certainly, (cause, let, thing for) to come (against, in, out, upon, to pass), depart, [idiom] doubtless again, [phrase] eat,…לָ֔ךְlakhetoלָ֔ךְpreposition, suffix, pronominal, 2nd person, feminine, singular — “to”toהֲל֖וֹאhalono , -r,לֹאparticle, interrogative, particle, negative — “no , -r,”H3808not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles[idiom] before, [phrase] or else, ere, [phrase] except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), ([idiom] as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, [phrase] surely, [phrase] as trul…יַשְׁאִ֥ירוּyashirvleaveשָׁאַרverb, hiphil, imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, plural — “leave”, an unfinished actionH7604properly, to swell up, i.e. be (causatively, make) redundantleave, (be) left, let, remain, remnant, reserve, the rest.עֹלֵלֽוֹתolelotgrapesעֹלֵלָהnoun, common, feminine, plural, absolute — “grapes”, the ordinary formH5955only in plural gleanings; by extension gleaning-time(gleaning) (of the) grapes, grapegleanings.

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night — how art thou cut off! — would they not steal till they had enough? If grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes?

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night (how art thou cut off!), would they not steal only till they had enough? if grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes?

Young’s Literal Translation

If thieves have come in to thee, If spoilers of the night, How hast thou been cut off! Do they not steal their sufficiency? If gatherers have come in to thee, Do they not leave gleanings?

World English Bible

“If thieves came to you, if robbers by night—oh, what disaster awaits you—wouldn’t they only steal until they had enough? If grape pickers came to you, wouldn’t they leave some gleaning grapes?

Darby Translation

If thieves had come to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen [till] they had had enough? If grape-gatherers had come to thee, would they not have left some gleanings?

Douay-Rheims

If thieves had gone in to thee, if robbers by night, how wouldst thou have held thy peace? would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grapegatherers had come in to thee, would they not have left thee at the least a cluster?

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night — how art thou cut off! — would they not steal till they had enough? If grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes?

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

If thieves came in to thee, or robbers by night, where wouldest thou have been cast away? would they not have stolen just enough for themselves? and if grape-gatherers went in to thee, would they not leave a gleaning?

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Εἰ κλέπται εἰσῆλθον πρὸς σὲ, ἢ λῃσταὶ νυκτὸς, ποῦ ἂν ἀπεῤῥίφης; οὐκ ἂν ἔκλεψαν τὰ ἱκανὰ ἑαυτοῖς; καὶ εἰ τρυγηταὶ εἰσῆλθον πρὸς σὲ, οὐκ ἂν ἐπελείποντο ἐπιφυλλίδα;