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Job 31:16-23

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”
— D.L. Moody

Scripture focus

16. If I have withheld the poor from [their] desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail; 17. Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof; 18. (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as [with] a father, and I have guided her from my mother’s womb;) 19. If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering; 20. If his loins have not blessed me, and [if] he were [not] warmed with the fleece of my sheep; 21. If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate: 22. [Then] let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone. 23. For destruction [from] God [was] a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.

Job 31:16-23 — KJV

Commentary

Commentary on Job 31:16

Theological / Devotional

Withheld the poor. Verses 16-23 affirm Job’s benevolent attitude toward the helpless. Eliphaz has accused Job of mistreating the poor (ch. 22:6, 7). Job denied this claim (ch. 29:12-16). In the verses now under consideration, he repeats his denial.

Widow. See Job 22:9; cf. Job 13; see also Ex. 22:22; Deut. 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:19; 26:12, 13; Ps. 146:9; Prov. 15:25; Isa. 1:17; Jer. 7:6; Mal. 3:5; 1 Tim. 5:16; James 1:27. “Caused” her “eyes ... to fail” refers to unfulfilled desire, that is, the widow is prevented from receiving the object of her expectation.

By SdaBc