Proverbs 14:31(v15)He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for his Maker, but he who is kind to the needy honors him.
Job 22:6(v19)For you have taken pledges from your brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
Job 34:19(v15)He doesn’t respect the persons of princes, nor respect the rich more than the poor; for they all are the work of his hands.
Proverbs 22:2(v15)The rich and the poor have this in common: Yahweh is the maker of them all.
Malachi 2:10(v15)Don’t we all have one father? Hasn’t one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, profaning the covenant…
Show all 63 cross-references
Deuteronomy 24:13(v20)You shall surely restore to him the pledge when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his garment and bless you. It shall be…
Job 10:8-12(v15)“ ‘Your hands have framed me and fashioned me altogether, yet you destroy me. Remember, I beg you, that you have fashioned me as clay. Will…
Job 22:9(v21)You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
Deuteronomy 15:7-10(v16)If a poor man, one of your brothers, is with you within any of your gates in your land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not…
Job 29:12(v21)Because I delivered the poor who cried, and the fatherless also, who had no one to help him,
Isaiah 38:14(v16)I chattered like a swallow or a crane. I moaned like a dove. My eyes weaken looking upward. Lord, I am oppressed. Be my security.”
1 John 3:18(v19)My little children, let’s not love in word only, or with the tongue only, but in deed and truth.
Isaiah 58:7(vv15, 19)Isn’t it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that…
Deuteronomy 15:11(v17)For the poor will never cease out of the land. Therefore I command you to surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your…
Deuteronomy 15:14(v17)You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your wine press. As Yahweh your God has blessed…
Deuteronomy 28:32(v16)Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people. Your eyes will look, and fail with longing for them all day long. There will…
Joshua 22:22-23(v22)“The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, the Mighty One, God, Yahweh, he knows; and Israel shall know: if it was in rebellion, or if in trespass…
2 Chronicles 28:15(v19)The men who have been mentioned by name rose up and took the captives, and with the plunder clothed all who were naked among them, dressed…
Nehemiah 5:5(v15)Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children as their children. Behold, we bring our sons and our daughters into bondage…
Nehemiah 8:10(v17)Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for today is holy…
Job 5:16(v16)So the poor has hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.
Job 6:27(v21)Yes, you would even cast lots for the fatherless, and make merchandise of your friend.
Job 10:3(v15)Is it good to you that you should oppress, that you should despise the work of your hands, and smile on the counsel of the wicked?
Job 20:19(v16)For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor. He has violently taken away a house, and he will not build it up.
Job 22:7(v17)You haven’t given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
Job 22:7-9(v16)You haven’t given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry. But as for the mighty man, he had the earth.…
Job 24:4(v19)They turn the needy out of the way. The poor of the earth all hide themselves.
Job 24:9(v21)There are those who pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor,
Job 29:11(v20)For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it commended me:
Job 29:12-16(v17)Because I delivered the poor who cried, and the fatherless also, who had no one to help him, the blessing of him who was ready to perish…
Job 29:13(v19)the blessing of him who was ready to perish came on me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
Job 31:10(v22)then let my wife grind for another, and let others sleep with her.
Job 31:40(v22)let briers grow instead of wheat, and stinkweed instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.
Job 38:15(v22)From the wicked, their light is withheld. The high arm is broken.
Psalms 7:4-5(v22)if I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me (yes, I have delivered him who without cause was my adversary), let the enemy…
Psalms 69:3(v16)I am weary with my crying. My throat is dry. My eyes fail looking for my God.
Psalms 112:9(v16)He has dispersed, he has given to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. His horn will be exalted with honor.
Psalms 119:82(v16)My eyes fail for your word. I say, “When will you comfort me?”
Psalms 119:123(v16)My eyes fail looking for your salvation, for your righteous word.
Psalms 137:6(v22)Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don’t remember you, if I don’t prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy.
Psalms 139:14-16(v15)I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well. My frame wasn’t…
Proverbs 23:10-11(v21)Don’t move the ancient boundary stone. Don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless, for their Defender is strong. He will plead their…
Jeremiah 5:28(v21)They have grown fat. They shine; yes, they excel in deeds of wickedness. They don’t plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they…
Lamentations 4:17(v16)Our eyes still fail, looking in vain for our help. In our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save.
Ezekiel 18:7(v17)and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and…
Ezekiel 18:16(v17)hasn’t wronged any, hasn’t taken anything to pledge, hasn’t taken by robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the…
Ezekiel 22:7(v21)In you have they treated father and mother with contempt. Among you they have oppressed the foreigner. In you they have wronged the…
Micah 2:1-2(v21)Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of…
Micah 7:3(v21)Their hands are on that which is evil to do it diligently. The ruler and judge ask for a bribe; and the powerful man dictates the evil…
Matthew 25:36(v19)I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.’
Matthew 25:43(v19)I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
Luke 3:11(v19)He answered them, “He who has two coats, let him give to him who has none. He who has food, let him do likewise.”
Luke 11:41(v17)But give for gifts to the needy those things which are within, and behold, all things will be clean to you.
Luke 16:21(v16)and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
John 13:29(v17)For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus said to him, “Buy what things we need for the feast,” or that he should give…
Acts 4:32(v17)The multitude of those who believed were of one heart and soul. Not one of them claimed that anything of the things which he possessed was…
Acts 9:39(v19)Peter got up and went with them. When he had come, they brought him into the upper room. All the widows stood by him weeping, and showing…
Acts 11:29(v16)As any of the disciples had plenty, each determined to send relief to the brothers who lived in Judea;
Romans 12:13(v17)contributing to the needs of the saints; given to hospitality.
Galatians 2:10(v16)They only asked us to remember the poor—which very thing I was also zealous to do.
James 1:27(v17)Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself…
James 2:16(v19)and one of you tells them, “Go in peace. Be warmed and filled;” yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it?
1 John 3:17(v17)But whoever has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, then closes his heart of compassion against him, how does God’s love remain…
63 distinct cross-references across this passage (64 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (18 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv15, 16, 18, 21, 22He was moved to show pity unto servants, because…
He was moved to show pity unto servants, because they were God’s creatures as he was.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv15–22Job 31:15 Did not he that made me in…
Job 31:15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?
Ver. 15. Did not he that made me in the womb, make him?] In which regard have not we all one Father, and hath not one God created us? Mal 2:10. Is it not he who formeth and shapeth us, and all by the book, Psa 139:16. We are all of all sorts in this respect (whether kings or captives, lords or lowlies), made of the same mould, hewn out of the same rock, digged out of the same pit, cut out of the same piece, the shears only going between, as they say. Thus for our bodies, and for our better part, is not the meanest made in God’s image, and as capable of heaven, if God please, as the greatest? In the law the servant paid the half shekel as well as the master; and in Christ Jesus, as there is neither Jew nor Greek, so neither bond nor free, Gal 3:28. Truth it is, God hath made these distinctions and degrees among men, but himself is no respecter of persons. He acknowledgeth no faces (so the Hebrew expresseth it). He taketh no notice of any man’s outward condition, as country, sex, wisdom, wealth, dignity, &c. These neither please God nor displease him, but as they are in a good or bad man; as a cipher by itself is nothing without a figure before it. This reason wrought with Job, and should do, doubtless, with all superiors, to bring them to a moderation. Why should a poor man be slighted or brow beaten? Is he not God’s handiwork also? Was he not made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth? Psa 139:15, that is, in his mother’s womb, as it followeth.
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And did not one (that is God) fashion (Heb. apt or fit) us in the womb?] Quum fortuna, non natura eos fecerit servos, cur, propter fortunam, eos contemptiores habuissem? Forasmuch as not Nature, but Providence, hath made them my servants, why should I for that cause deal hardly with them; and not rather favour them the more, for our common condition of birth, and death, and coming to judgment? Apte et concinne elaboravit (Brent.). Servus αυναδελφος vei ομοδελφος domini sui est.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv15–22I considered that he was, though my servant, yet…
I considered that he was, though my servant, yet my fellow creature, made by the same God, and therefore one of God’s subjects, whom I could not abuse without the injury of his supreme Lord.
Did not one fashion us in the womb, Heb. did he not form us in one womb? not in one individual womb, but in a womb of the same kind, in a human womb, with a body and soul of the same nature and quality, a reasonable and immortal creature, and made after God’s image, no less than myself, to whom therefore I owed some respect for God’s sake.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry1710 · Public DomainOn v16Eliphaz had particularly charged Job with unmercifulness to the…
Eliphaz had particularly charged Job with unmercifulness to the poor (Job 22:6, etc.): Thou hast withholden bread from the hungry, stripped the naked of their clothing, and sent widows away empty. One would think he could not have been so very positive and express in his charge unless there had been some truth in it, some ground, for it; and yet it appears, by Job's protestation, that it was utterly false and groundless; he was never guilty of any such thing. See here,
I. The testimony which Job's conscience gave in concerning his constant behaviour towards the poor. He enlarges most upon this head because in this matter he was most particularly accused. He solemnly protests,
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1. That he had never been wanting to do good to them, as there was occasion, to the utmost of his ability. He was always compassionate to the poor, and careful of them, especially the widows and fatherless, that were destitute of help. (1.) He was always ready to grant their desires and answer their expectations, Job 31:16. If a poor person begged a kindness of his, he was ready to gratify him; if he could but perceive by the widow's mournful craving look that she expected an alms from him, though she had not confidence enough to ask it, he had compassion enough to give it, and never caused the eyes of the widow to fail. (2.) He put a respect upon the poor, and did them honour; for he took the fatherless children to eat with him at his own table: they should fare as he fared, and be familiar with him, and he would show himself pleased with their company as if they had been his own, Job 31:17. As it is one of the greatest grievances of poverty that it exposes to contempt, so it is none of the least supports to the poor to be respected. (3.) He was very tender of them, and had a fatherly concern for them, Job 31:18. He was a father to the fatherless, took care of orphans, brought them up with him under his own eye, and gave them, not only maintenance, but education. He was a guide to the widow, who had lost the guide of her youth; he advised her in her affairs, took cognizance of them, and undertook the management of them. Those that need not our alms may yet have occasion for our counsel, and it may be a real kindness to them. This Job says he did from his youth, from his mother's womb. He had something of tenderness and compassion woven in his nature; he began betimes to do good, ever since he could remember; he had always some poor widow or fatherless child under his care. His parents taught him betimes to pity and relieve the poor, and brought up orphans with him. (4.) He provided food convenient for them; they ate of the same morsels that he did (Job 31:17), did not eat after him, of the crumbs that fell from his table, but with him, of the best dish upon his table. Those that have abundance must not eat their morsels alone, as if they had none but themselves to take care of, nor indulge their appetite with a dainty bit by themselves, but take others to share with them, as David took Mephibosheth. (5.) He took particular care to clothe those that were without covering, which would be more expensive to him than feeding them, Job 31:19. Poor people may perish for want of clothing as well as for want of food - for want of clothing to lie in by night or to go abroad in by day. If Job knew of any that were in this distress, he was forward to relieve them, and instead of giving rich and gaudy liveries to his servants, while the poor were turned off with rags that were ready to be thrown to the dunghill, he had good warm strong clothes made on purpose for them of the fleece of his sheep (Job 31:20), so that their loins, whenever they girt those garments about them, blessed him; they commended his charity, blessed God for him, and prayed God to bless him. Job's sheep were burned with fire from heaven, but this was his comfort that, when he had them, he came honestly by them, and used them charitably, fed the poor with their flesh and clothed them with their wool.
2. That he had never been accessory to the wronging of any that were poor. It might be said, perhaps, that he was kind here and there to a poor orphan that was a favourite, but to others he was oppressive. No, he was tender to all and injurious to none. He never so much as lifted up his hand against the fatherless (Job 31:21), never threatened or frightened them, or offered to strike them; never used his power to crush those that stood in his way or squeeze what he could out of them, though he saw his help in the gate, that is, though he had interest enough, both in the people and in the judges, both to enable him to do it and to bear him out when he had done it. Those that have it in their power to do a wrong thing and go through with it, and a prospect of getting by it, and yet do justly, and love mercy, and are firm to both, may afterwards reflect upon their conduct with much comfort, as Job does here.
II. The imprecation with which he confirms this protestation (Job 31:22): "If I have been oppressive to the poor, let my arm fall from my shoulder-blade and my arm be broken from the bone," that is, "let the flesh rot off from the bone and one bone be disjointed and broken off from another." Had he not been perfectly clear in this matter, he durst not thus have challenged the divine vengeance. And he intimates that it is a righteous thing with God to break the arm that is lifted up against the fatherless, as he withered Jeroboam's arm that was stretched out against a prophet.
III. The principles by which Job was restrained from all uncharitableness and unmercifulness. He durst not abuse the poor; for though, with his help in the gate, he could overpower them, yet he could not make his part good against that God who is the patron of oppressed poverty and will not let oppressors go unpunished (Job 31:23): "Destruction from God was a terror to me, whenever I was tempted to this sin, and by reason of his highness I could not endure the thought of making him my enemy." He stood in awe, 1. Of the majesty of God, as a God above him. He thought of his highness, the infinite distance between him and God, which possessed him with such a reverence of him as made him very circumspect in his whole conversation. Those who oppress the poor, and pervert judgment and justice, forget that he who is higher than the highest regards, and there is a higher than they, who is able to deal with them (Ecc 5:8); but Job considered this. 2. Of the wrath of God, as a God that would certainly be against him if he should wrong the poor. Destruction from God, because it would be a certain and an utter ruin to him if he were guilty of this sin, was a constant terror to him, to restrain him from it. Note, Good men, even the best, have need to restrain themselves from sin with the fear of destruction from God, and all little enough. This should especially restrain us from all acts of injustice and oppression that God himself is the avenger thereof. Even when salvation from God is a comfort to us, yet destruction from God should be a terror to us. Adam, in innocency, was awed with a threatening.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv15–22If I have withheld the poor from their desire,....…
If I have withheld the poor from their desire,.... Their reasonable desires, and which it was in his power to grant; as when they desired a piece of bread, being hungry, or clothes to cover them, being naked; but not unreasonable desires, seeking and asking great things for themselves, or unlimited and unbounded ones, such as the two sons of Zebedee desired of Christ, Mar 10:35;
or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail; through long waiting for, and expecting help and succour from him, and at last disappointed. Job did not use the widow in such a manner as to give her reason to hope for relief or counsel from him she came for, and make her wait long, and then send her away empty, as he was charged, Job 22:9; but he soon dispatched her, by granting her what she sued to him for.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv16, 18, 19, 21If I - Denied them what they desired of…
If I - Denied them what they desired of me. To fail - With tedious expectation of my justice or charity. Job is most large upon this head, because in this matter Eliphaz had most particularly accused him.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22Verse 15. Did not he that made me -…
Verse 15. Did not he that made me - make him?] I know that God is the Judge of all; that all shall appear before him in that state where the king and his subject, the master and his slave, shall be on an equal footing, all civil distinctions being abolished for ever. If, then I had treated my slaves with injustice, how could I stand before the judgment-seat of God? I have treated others as I wish to be treated.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv16, 18, 19Job 31:16-17. If I have withheld the poor, &c.…
Job 31:16-17. If I have withheld the poor, &c. — If I have denied them what they desired of me, either in justice or from necessity; for he was under no obligation to grant their vain or inordinate desires. Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail — With tedious expectation of my justice or charity. I durst neither deny nor delay my help, when they needed or required it. Or have eaten my morsel alone — Without communicating part of my provisions or property to the poor, as it follows; and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof — This one kind of necessitous persons is put for all the rest. Job is most large upon these heads of doing justice to the widows and fatherless, and relieving the poor, because Eliphaz had most particularly accused him in these respects.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv15–22Did not he that made me in the womb…
Did not he that made me in the womb make him? - Had we not one and the same Creator, and have we not consequently the same nature? We may observe in regard to this sentiment, (1.) That it indicates a very advanced state of view in regard to man. The attempt has been always made by those who wish to tyrannize over others, or who aim to make slaves of others, to show that they are of a different race, and that in the design for which they were made, they are wholly inferior. Arguments have been derived from their complexion, from their supposed inferiority of intellect, and the deep degradation of their condition, often little above that of brutes, to prove that they were originally inferior to the rest of mankind. On this the plea has been often urged, and oftener felt than urged, that it is right to reduce them to slavery. Since this feeling so early existed, and since there is so much that may be plausibly said in defense of it, it shows that Job had derived his views from something more than the speculations of people, and the desire of power, when he says that he regarded all people as originally equal, and as having the same Creator. It is in fact a sentiment which people have been practically very reluctant to believe, and which works its way very slowly even yet on the earth; compare Act 17:26. (2.) This sentiment, if fairly embraced and carried out, would soon destroy slavery everywhere.
If people felt that they were reducing to bondage those who were originally on a level with themselves - made by the same God, with the same faculties, and for the same end; if they felt that in their very origin, in their nature, there was that which could not be made mere property, it would soon abolish the whole system. It is kept up only where people endeavor to convince themselves that there is some original inferiority in the slave which makes it proper that he should be reduced to servitude and be held as property. But as soon as there can be diffused abroad the sentiment of Paul, that “God hath made of one blood all nations of men,” Act 17:26, or the sentiment of the patriarch Job, that “the same God made us and them in the womb,” that moment the shackles of the slave will fall, and he will be free. Hence it is apparent, how Christianity, that carries this lesson on its fore-front, is the grand remedy for the evils of slavery, and needs only to be universally diffused to bring the system to an end.
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And did not one fashion us in the womb - Margin, Or, did he not fashion us in one womb? The Hebrew will bear either construction, but the parallelism rather requires that given in the text, and most expositors agree in this interpretation. The sentiment is, whichever interpretation be adopted, that they had a common origin; that God would watch over them alike as his children; and that, therefore, they had equal rights.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22Wait, and not give sentence in due time, (Haydock)…
Wait, and not give sentence in due time, (Haydock) but frustrated her expectation. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv15–22Slaveholders try to defend themselves by maintaining the original…
Slaveholders try to defend themselves by maintaining the original inferiority of the slave. But Mal 2:10; Act 17:26; Eph 6:9 make the common origin of masters and servants the argument for brotherly love being shown by the former to the latter.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv15, 18, 20, 21, 2215. Did not one fashion us — “There is,”…
15. Did not one fashion us — “There is,” said Seneca, “the same beginning, the same origin, for all; no one is more noble than another.” — De Benef., 3:28. Nature, as she contemplates her two great estates, life and death, man’s entrance into and his departure from life, has many a moral for man, such as humility, forbearance, charity, and brotherly love. The charter of human rights rests upon our oneness in nature, and our equality before the ONE who made us — God.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv16, 18, 19, 21, 2216. eyes of the widow to fail] i. e.…
16. eyes of the widow to fail] i. e. with looking in vain for help, Psa_69:3.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv15, 18, 19(15) Did not he that made me in the…
(15) Did not he that made me in the womb make him?—He here meets the charges of Eliphaz (Job_22:6-7; Job_22:9).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv16–22If I have withheld the poor from their desire.…
If I have withheld the poor from their desire. As Eliphaz had maintained, (Job_22:6, Job_22:7) and as Job had already denied. (Job_29:12, Job_29:16) The duty of relieving the poor, solemnly enjoined upon the people of Israel in the Law, (Deu_15:7-11) was generally admitted by the civilized nations of antiquity. In Egypt it was especially insisted on. "The Egyptian"s duties to mankind," says Dr. Birch, "were comprised in giving bread to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, oil to the wounded, and burial to the dead" ("Egypt from the Earliest Times," p. 46). Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail. "Thou hast sent widows away empty," was one of the accusations of Eliphaz. (Job_22:9) "I caused the widow"s heart," replied Job, "to sing for joy". (Job_29:13) The widow"s weakness has always been felt to give her a special claim on man"s benevolence. (see Exo_22:22 Deu_14:29 Deu_16:11, 14 24:19 26:12, 13 Psa_146:9 Pro_15:25 Isa_1:17 Jer_7:6 Mal_3:5 1Ti_5:16 Jam_1:27)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv15, 19Did not He that made me in the womb…
Job_31:15
Did not He that made me in the womb make him?
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God the universal Creator
I. Illustrate the doctrine here conveyed. Both high and low, rich and poor, all sorts and conditions of men, have one common Creator.
1. The unity of creation, Mens tastes, habits, abodes, and appearances differ, but men are one family.
2. The high position of the Divine Being. There are none to divide His praise, none to claim His position.
3. The harmony of Gods providential dealings. He can cause one event to fit in with another, one person to assist and help his fellow, and out of the apparently diverse elements to make one perfect,, harmonious, and beautiful whole.
II. Apply the subject to our own improvement. We are taught from the fact stated by Job. If we see another sin, our language should be, Did not He that made me make him? And we should bear with him tenderly. If we see another in want or poverty our thoughts should be, Did not He that made me make him? And we should afford our best relief.
1. Some suggestions for our duty towards God. He is our Creator. As our supreme Benefactor and Maker we should manifest our sense of His authority over us and our dependence on His care.
2. Some reflections on our duty one to another. (Homilist.)
Mans common rights
Had we not one and the same Creator, and have we not consequently the same nature? We may observe in regard to this sentiment--
1. That it indicates a very advanced state of view in regard to man. The attempt has been always made by those who wish to tyrannise over others, or who aim to make slaves of others, to show that they are of a different race, and that in the design for which they were made, they are wholly inferior. Arguments have been derived from their complexion, from their supposed inferiority of intellect, and the deep degradation of their condition, often little above that of brutes, to prove that they were originally inferior to the rest of mankind. On this the plea has been often urged, and oftener felt than urged, that it is right to reduce them to slavery. Since this feeling so early existed, and since there is so much that may be plausibly said in defence of it, it shows that Job had derived his views from something more than the speculations of men and the desire of power, when he says that he regarded all men as originally equal, and as having the same Creator. It is, in fact, a sentiment which men have been practically very reluctant to believe, and which works its way very slowly even yet on the earth.
2. This sentiment, if fairly embraced and carried out, would soon destroy slavery everywhere. If men felt that they were reducing to bondage those who were originally on a level with themselves,--made by the same God, with the same faculties, and for the same end; if they felt that in their very origin, in their nature, there was that which could not be made mere property, it would soon abolish the whole system. It is kept up only where men endeavour to convince themselves that there is some original inferiority in the slave which makes it proper that he should be reduced to servitude, and be held as property. But as soon as there can be diffused abroad the sentiment of Paul, that God hath made of one blood all nations of men, that moment the shackles of the slave will fall, and he will be free. (Albert Barnes.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv16, 19, 22General Information:
General Information:
Job continues describing situations in which he would deserve God's punishment, but he knows they are not true. He does not finish his sentence in verses 16 and 17. Instead he explains in verse 18 why they are not true. (See: Hypothetical Situations)
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If I have withheld poor people from their desire
"If I have kept poor people from getting what they desire"
if I have caused the eyes of the widow to grow dim from crying
Here "to grow dim" refers to the widow having bad eyesight from crying a lot. AT: "if I have caused a widow to cry in great sadness" (See: Idiom)
my morsel
"my food"
because from my youth the orphan grew up with me as with a father
Here "the orphan" represents orphans in general. Job is describing how he truly treated orphans. AT: "because even when I was young I took care of orphans like a father" (See: Generic Noun Phrases)
because from my youth
The phrase "But I have done none of those things" is understood from the context. AT: "But I have done none of those things, because from my youth" (See: Ellipsis)
I have guided his mother, a widow, from my own mother's womb
Job is describing how he truly treated widows. With the phrase "from my own mother's womb" he uses exaggeration to emphasize that he did this all his life. AT: "all my life I have guided the orphan's mother, a widow" or "all my life I have guided widows" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv15, 16, 18, 21, 22 He was moved to show pity unto servants, because…
He was moved to show pity unto servants, because they were God’s creatures as he was.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv15–22 Job 31:15 Did not he that made me in…
Job 31:15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?
Ver. 15. Did not he that made me in the womb, make him?] In which regard have not we all one Father, and hath not one God created us? Mal 2:10. Is it not he who formeth and shapeth us, and all by the book, Psa 139:16. We are all of all sorts in this respect (whether kings or captives, lords or lowlies), made of the same mould, hewn out of the same rock, digged out of the same pit, cut out of the same piece, the shears only going between, as they say. Thus for our bodies, and for our better part, is not the meanest made in God’s image, and as capable of heaven, if God please, as the greatest? In the law the servant paid the half shekel as well as the master; and in Christ Jesus, as there is neither Jew nor Greek, so neither bond nor free, Gal 3:28. Truth it is, God hath made these distinctions and degrees among men, but himself is no respecter of persons. He acknowledgeth no faces (so the Hebrew expresseth it). He taketh no notice of any man’s outward condition, as country, sex, wisdom, wealth, dignity, &c. These neither please God nor displease him, but as they are in a good or bad man; as a cipher by itself is nothing without a figure before it. This reason wrought with Job, and should do, doubtless, with all superiors, to bring them to a moderation. Why should a poor man be slighted or brow beaten? Is he not God’s handiwork also? Was he not made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth? Psa 139:15, that is, in his mother’s womb, as it followeth.
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And did not one (that is God) fashion (Heb. apt or fit) us in the womb?] Quum fortuna, non natura eos fecerit servos, cur, propter fortunam, eos contemptiores habuissem? Forasmuch as not Nature, but Providence, hath made them my servants, why should I for that cause deal hardly with them; and not rather favour them the more, for our common condition of birth, and death, and coming to judgment? Apte et concinne elaboravit (Brent.). Servus αυναδελφος vei ομοδελφος domini sui est.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv15–22 I considered that he was, though my servant, yet…
I considered that he was, though my servant, yet my fellow creature, made by the same God, and therefore one of God’s subjects, whom I could not abuse without the injury of his supreme Lord.
Did not one fashion us in the womb, Heb. did he not form us in one womb? not in one individual womb, but in a womb of the same kind, in a human womb, with a body and soul of the same nature and quality, a reasonable and immortal creature, and made after God’s image, no less than myself, to whom therefore I owed some respect for God’s sake.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v16 Eliphaz had particularly charged Job with unmercifulness to the…
Eliphaz had particularly charged Job with unmercifulness to the poor (Job 22:6, etc.): Thou hast withholden bread from the hungry, stripped the naked of their clothing, and sent widows away empty. One would think he could not have been so very positive and express in his charge unless there had been some truth in it, some ground, for it; and yet it appears, by Job's protestation, that it was utterly false and groundless; he was never guilty of any such thing. See here,
I. The testimony which Job's conscience gave in concerning his constant behaviour towards the poor. He enlarges most upon this head because in this matter he was most particularly accused. He solemnly protests,
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1. That he had never been wanting to do good to them, as there was occasion, to the utmost of his ability. He was always compassionate to the poor, and careful of them, especially the widows and fatherless, that were destitute of help. (1.) He was always ready to grant their desires and answer their expectations, Job 31:16. If a poor person begged a kindness of his, he was ready to gratify him; if he could but perceive by the widow's mournful craving look that she expected an alms from him, though she had not confidence enough to ask it, he had compassion enough to give it, and never caused the eyes of the widow to fail. (2.) He put a respect upon the poor, and did them honour; for he took the fatherless children to eat with him at his own table: they should fare as he fared, and be familiar with him, and he would show himself pleased with their company as if they had been his own, Job 31:17. As it is one of the greatest grievances of poverty that it exposes to contempt, so it is none of the least supports to the poor to be respected. (3.) He was very tender of them, and had a fatherly concern for them, Job 31:18. He was a father to the fatherless, took care of orphans, brought them up with him under his own eye, and gave them, not only maintenance, but education. He was a guide to the widow, who had lost the guide of her youth; he advised her in her affairs, took cognizance of them, and undertook the management of them. Those that need not our alms may yet have occasion for our counsel, and it may be a real kindness to them. This Job says he did from his youth, from his mother's womb. He had something of tenderness and compassion woven in his nature; he began betimes to do good, ever since he could remember; he had always some poor widow or fatherless child under his care. His parents taught him betimes to pity and relieve the poor, and brought up orphans with him. (4.) He provided food convenient for them; they ate of the same morsels that he did (Job 31:17), did not eat after him, of the crumbs that fell from his table, but with him, of the best dish upon his table. Those that have abundance must not eat their morsels alone, as if they had none but themselves to take care of, nor indulge their appetite with a dainty bit by themselves, but take others to share with them, as David took Mephibosheth. (5.) He took particular care to clothe those that were without covering, which would be more expensive to him than feeding them, Job 31:19. Poor people may perish for want of clothing as well as for want of food - for want of clothing to lie in by night or to go abroad in by day. If Job knew of any that were in this distress, he was forward to relieve them, and instead of giving rich and gaudy liveries to his servants, while the poor were turned off with rags that were ready to be thrown to the dunghill, he had good warm strong clothes made on purpose for them of the fleece of his sheep (Job 31:20), so that their loins, whenever they girt those garments about them, blessed him; they commended his charity, blessed God for him, and prayed God to bless him. Job's sheep were burned with fire from heaven, but this was his comfort that, when he had them, he came honestly by them, and used them charitably, fed the poor with their flesh and clothed them with their wool.
2. That he had never been accessory to the wronging of any that were poor. It might be said, perhaps, that he was kind here and there to a poor orphan that was a favourite, but to others he was oppressive. No, he was tender to all and injurious to none. He never so much as lifted up his hand against the fatherless (Job 31:21), never threatened or frightened them, or offered to strike them; never used his power to crush those that stood in his way or squeeze what he could out of them, though he saw his help in the gate, that is, though he had interest enough, both in the people and in the judges, both to enable him to do it and to bear him out when he had done it. Those that have it in their power to do a wrong thing and go through with it, and a prospect of getting by it, and yet do justly, and love mercy, and are firm to both, may afterwards reflect upon their conduct with much comfort, as Job does here.
II. The imprecation with which he confirms this protestation (Job 31:22): "If I have been oppressive to the poor, let my arm fall from my shoulder-blade and my arm be broken from the bone," that is, "let the flesh rot off from the bone and one bone be disjointed and broken off from another." Had he not been perfectly clear in this matter, he durst not thus have challenged the divine vengeance. And he intimates that it is a righteous thing with God to break the arm that is lifted up against the fatherless, as he withered Jeroboam's arm that was stretched out against a prophet.
III. The principles by which Job was restrained from all uncharitableness and unmercifulness. He durst not abuse the poor; for though, with his help in the gate, he could overpower them, yet he could not make his part good against that God who is the patron of oppressed poverty and will not let oppressors go unpunished (Job 31:23): "Destruction from God was a terror to me, whenever I was tempted to this sin, and by reason of his highness I could not endure the thought of making him my enemy." He stood in awe, 1. Of the majesty of God, as a God above him. He thought of his highness, the infinite distance between him and God, which possessed him with such a reverence of him as made him very circumspect in his whole conversation. Those who oppress the poor, and pervert judgment and justice, forget that he who is higher than the highest regards, and there is a higher than they, who is able to deal with them (Ecc 5:8); but Job considered this. 2. Of the wrath of God, as a God that would certainly be against him if he should wrong the poor. Destruction from God, because it would be a certain and an utter ruin to him if he were guilty of this sin, was a constant terror to him, to restrain him from it. Note, Good men, even the best, have need to restrain themselves from sin with the fear of destruction from God, and all little enough. This should especially restrain us from all acts of injustice and oppression that God himself is the avenger thereof. Even when salvation from God is a comfort to us, yet destruction from God should be a terror to us. Adam, in innocency, was awed with a threatening.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv15–22 If I have withheld the poor from their desire,....…
If I have withheld the poor from their desire,.... Their reasonable desires, and which it was in his power to grant; as when they desired a piece of bread, being hungry, or clothes to cover them, being naked; but not unreasonable desires, seeking and asking great things for themselves, or unlimited and unbounded ones, such as the two sons of Zebedee desired of Christ, Mar 10:35;
or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail; through long waiting for, and expecting help and succour from him, and at last disappointed. Job did not use the widow in such a manner as to give her reason to hope for relief or counsel from him she came for, and make her wait long, and then send her away empty, as he was charged, Job 22:9; but he soon dispatched her, by granting her what she sued to him for.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv16, 18, 19, 21 If I - Denied them what they desired of…
If I - Denied them what they desired of me. To fail - With tedious expectation of my justice or charity. Job is most large upon this head, because in this matter Eliphaz had most particularly accused him.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22 Verse 15. Did not he that made me -…
Verse 15. Did not he that made me - make him?] I know that God is the Judge of all; that all shall appear before him in that state where the king and his subject, the master and his slave, shall be on an equal footing, all civil distinctions being abolished for ever. If, then I had treated my slaves with injustice, how could I stand before the judgment-seat of God? I have treated others as I wish to be treated.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv16, 18, 19 Job 31:16-17. If I have withheld the poor, &c.…
Job 31:16-17. If I have withheld the poor, &c. — If I have denied them what they desired of me, either in justice or from necessity; for he was under no obligation to grant their vain or inordinate desires. Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail — With tedious expectation of my justice or charity. I durst neither deny nor delay my help, when they needed or required it. Or have eaten my morsel alone — Without communicating part of my provisions or property to the poor, as it follows; and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof — This one kind of necessitous persons is put for all the rest. Job is most large upon these heads of doing justice to the widows and fatherless, and relieving the poor, because Eliphaz had most particularly accused him in these respects.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv15–22 Did not he that made me in the womb…
Did not he that made me in the womb make him? - Had we not one and the same Creator, and have we not consequently the same nature? We may observe in regard to this sentiment, (1.) That it indicates a very advanced state of view in regard to man. The attempt has been always made by those who wish to tyrannize over others, or who aim to make slaves of others, to show that they are of a different race, and that in the design for which they were made, they are wholly inferior. Arguments have been derived from their complexion, from their supposed inferiority of intellect, and the deep degradation of their condition, often little above that of brutes, to prove that they were originally inferior to the rest of mankind. On this the plea has been often urged, and oftener felt than urged, that it is right to reduce them to slavery. Since this feeling so early existed, and since there is so much that may be plausibly said in defense of it, it shows that Job had derived his views from something more than the speculations of people, and the desire of power, when he says that he regarded all people as originally equal, and as having the same Creator. It is in fact a sentiment which people have been practically very reluctant to believe, and which works its way very slowly even yet on the earth; compare Act 17:26. (2.) This sentiment, if fairly embraced and carried out, would soon destroy slavery everywhere.
If people felt that they were reducing to bondage those who were originally on a level with themselves - made by the same God, with the same faculties, and for the same end; if they felt that in their very origin, in their nature, there was that which could not be made mere property, it would soon abolish the whole system. It is kept up only where people endeavor to convince themselves that there is some original inferiority in the slave which makes it proper that he should be reduced to servitude and be held as property. But as soon as there can be diffused abroad the sentiment of Paul, that “God hath made of one blood all nations of men,” Act 17:26, or the sentiment of the patriarch Job, that “the same God made us and them in the womb,” that moment the shackles of the slave will fall, and he will be free. Hence it is apparent, how Christianity, that carries this lesson on its fore-front, is the grand remedy for the evils of slavery, and needs only to be universally diffused to bring the system to an end.
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And did not one fashion us in the womb - Margin, Or, did he not fashion us in one womb? The Hebrew will bear either construction, but the parallelism rather requires that given in the text, and most expositors agree in this interpretation. The sentiment is, whichever interpretation be adopted, that they had a common origin; that God would watch over them alike as his children; and that, therefore, they had equal rights.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22 Wait, and not give sentence in due time, (Haydock)…
Wait, and not give sentence in due time, (Haydock) but frustrated her expectation. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv15–22 Slaveholders try to defend themselves by maintaining the original…
Slaveholders try to defend themselves by maintaining the original inferiority of the slave. But Mal 2:10; Act 17:26; Eph 6:9 make the common origin of masters and servants the argument for brotherly love being shown by the former to the latter.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv15, 18, 20, 21, 22 15. Did not one fashion us — “There is,”…
15. Did not one fashion us — “There is,” said Seneca, “the same beginning, the same origin, for all; no one is more noble than another.” — De Benef., 3:28. Nature, as she contemplates her two great estates, life and death, man’s entrance into and his departure from life, has many a moral for man, such as humility, forbearance, charity, and brotherly love. The charter of human rights rests upon our oneness in nature, and our equality before the ONE who made us — God.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv16, 18, 19, 21, 22 16. eyes of the widow to fail] i. e.…
16. eyes of the widow to fail] i. e. with looking in vain for help, Psa_69:3.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv15, 18, 19 (15) Did not he that made me in the…
(15) Did not he that made me in the womb make him?—He here meets the charges of Eliphaz (Job_22:6-7; Job_22:9).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv16–22 If I have withheld the poor from their desire.…
If I have withheld the poor from their desire. As Eliphaz had maintained, (Job_22:6, Job_22:7) and as Job had already denied. (Job_29:12, Job_29:16) The duty of relieving the poor, solemnly enjoined upon the people of Israel in the Law, (Deu_15:7-11) was generally admitted by the civilized nations of antiquity. In Egypt it was especially insisted on. "The Egyptian"s duties to mankind," says Dr. Birch, "were comprised in giving bread to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, oil to the wounded, and burial to the dead" ("Egypt from the Earliest Times," p. 46). Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail. "Thou hast sent widows away empty," was one of the accusations of Eliphaz. (Job_22:9) "I caused the widow"s heart," replied Job, "to sing for joy". (Job_29:13) The widow"s weakness has always been felt to give her a special claim on man"s benevolence. (see Exo_22:22 Deu_14:29 Deu_16:11, 14 24:19 26:12, 13 Psa_146:9 Pro_15:25 Isa_1:17 Jer_7:6 Mal_3:5 1Ti_5:16 Jam_1:27)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv15, 19 Did not He that made me in the womb…
Job_31:15
Did not He that made me in the womb make him?
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God the universal Creator
I. Illustrate the doctrine here conveyed. Both high and low, rich and poor, all sorts and conditions of men, have one common Creator.
1. The unity of creation, Mens tastes, habits, abodes, and appearances differ, but men are one family.
2. The high position of the Divine Being. There are none to divide His praise, none to claim His position.
3. The harmony of Gods providential dealings. He can cause one event to fit in with another, one person to assist and help his fellow, and out of the apparently diverse elements to make one perfect,, harmonious, and beautiful whole.
II. Apply the subject to our own improvement. We are taught from the fact stated by Job. If we see another sin, our language should be, Did not He that made me make him? And we should bear with him tenderly. If we see another in want or poverty our thoughts should be, Did not He that made me make him? And we should afford our best relief.
1. Some suggestions for our duty towards God. He is our Creator. As our supreme Benefactor and Maker we should manifest our sense of His authority over us and our dependence on His care.
2. Some reflections on our duty one to another. (Homilist.)
Mans common rights
Had we not one and the same Creator, and have we not consequently the same nature? We may observe in regard to this sentiment--
1. That it indicates a very advanced state of view in regard to man. The attempt has been always made by those who wish to tyrannise over others, or who aim to make slaves of others, to show that they are of a different race, and that in the design for which they were made, they are wholly inferior. Arguments have been derived from their complexion, from their supposed inferiority of intellect, and the deep degradation of their condition, often little above that of brutes, to prove that they were originally inferior to the rest of mankind. On this the plea has been often urged, and oftener felt than urged, that it is right to reduce them to slavery. Since this feeling so early existed, and since there is so much that may be plausibly said in defence of it, it shows that Job had derived his views from something more than the speculations of men and the desire of power, when he says that he regarded all men as originally equal, and as having the same Creator. It is, in fact, a sentiment which men have been practically very reluctant to believe, and which works its way very slowly even yet on the earth.
2. This sentiment, if fairly embraced and carried out, would soon destroy slavery everywhere. If men felt that they were reducing to bondage those who were originally on a level with themselves,--made by the same God, with the same faculties, and for the same end; if they felt that in their very origin, in their nature, there was that which could not be made mere property, it would soon abolish the whole system. It is kept up only where men endeavour to convince themselves that there is some original inferiority in the slave which makes it proper that he should be reduced to servitude, and be held as property. But as soon as there can be diffused abroad the sentiment of Paul, that God hath made of one blood all nations of men, that moment the shackles of the slave will fall, and he will be free. (Albert Barnes.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv16, 19, 22 General Information:
General Information:
Job continues describing situations in which he would deserve God's punishment, but he knows they are not true. He does not finish his sentence in verses 16 and 17. Instead he explains in verse 18 why they are not true. (See: Hypothetical Situations)
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If I have withheld poor people from their desire
"If I have kept poor people from getting what they desire"
if I have caused the eyes of the widow to grow dim from crying
Here "to grow dim" refers to the widow having bad eyesight from crying a lot. AT: "if I have caused a widow to cry in great sadness" (See: Idiom)
my morsel
"my food"
because from my youth the orphan grew up with me as with a father
Here "the orphan" represents orphans in general. Job is describing how he truly treated orphans. AT: "because even when I was young I took care of orphans like a father" (See: Generic Noun Phrases)
because from my youth
The phrase "But I have done none of those things" is understood from the context. AT: "But I have done none of those things, because from my youth" (See: Ellipsis)
I have guided his mother, a widow, from my own mother's womb
Job is describing how he truly treated widows. With the phrase "from my own mother's womb" he uses exaggeration to emphasize that he did this all his life. AT: "all my life I have guided the orphan's mother, a widow" or "all my life I have guided widows" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)
translationWords
womb
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv21–22 31:21 knowing the judges would take my side: Job…
31:21 knowing the judges would take my side: Job was respected and regarded as a member of the elite class (29:7-10).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.