the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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THE MESSAGE
Job 29:16
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- BridgewayEncyclopedias:
- InternationalParallel Translations
I was a father to the needy,and I examined the case of the stranger.
I was a father to the needy. The cause of him who I didn't know, I searched out.
I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know.
I was like a father to needy people, and I took the side of strangers who were in trouble.
I was a father to the needy, and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;
"I was a father to the needy; I investigated the case I did not know [and assured justice].
"I was a father to the poor, And I investigated the case which I did not know.
I was a father to the needy. The cause of him who I didn't know, I searched out.
I was a father vnto the poore, and when I knewe not the cause, I sought it out diligently.
I was a father to the needy,And I searched out the case which I did not know.
I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.
I was a father to the needy, and I defended them in court, even if they were strangers.
I was a father to the needy, and I investigated the problems of those I didn't know.
I was a father to the needy, and the cause which I knew not I searched out;
I was like a father to the poor. I helped people I didn't even know win their case in court.
I was a father to the poor; and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
I was like a father to the poor and took the side of strangers in trouble.
I was a father to the poor, and I investigated the stranger's legal dispute.
I was father to the poor, and the cause which I did not know, I searched out.
I was a father vnto the poore, & whe I knew not their cause, I sought it out diligetly.
I was a father to the needy: And the cause of him that I knew not I searched out.
I was a father to the poor, searching out the cause of him who was strange to me.
I was a father to the needy; and the cause of him that I knew not I searched out.
I was a father to the poore: and the cause which I knewe not, I searched out.
I was a father to the poore: and when I knewe not the cause, I sought it out diligently.
I was the father of the helpless; and I searched out the cause which I knew not.
I was a father to the needy: and the cause of him that I knew not I searched out.
Y was a fadir of pore men; and Y enqueride most diligentli the cause, which Y knew not.
I was a father to the needy: And the cause of him that I didn't know I searched out.
I [was] a father to the poor: and the cause [which] I knew not I searched out.
I was a father to the poor, And I searched out the case that I did not know.
I was a father to the poor and assisted strangers who needed help.
I was a father to those in need. And I helped those I did not know who had a need.
I was a father to the needy, and I championed the cause of the stranger.
A father, was, I, to the needy, and, as for the cause which I knew not, I used to search it out;
I was the father of the poor: and the cause which I knew not, I searched out most diligently.
I was a father to the poor, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know.
A father I [am] to the needy, And the cause I have not known I search out.
"I was a father to the needy, And I investigated the case which I did not know.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
a father: Job 31:18, Esther 2:7, Psalms 68:5, Ephesians 5:1, James 1:27
the cause: Exodus 18:26, Deuteronomy 13:14, Deuteronomy 17:8-10, 1 Kings 3:16-28, Proverbs 25:2, Proverbs 29:7
Reciprocal: Genesis 39:19 - heard Genesis 45:8 - father Exodus 18:21 - men Judges 17:10 - a father 2 Samuel 14:8 - I will give Ezra 6:1 - and search Ezra 10:16 - to examine the matter Psalms 82:4 - Deliver Proverbs 18:13 - that Proverbs 24:25 - them Proverbs 31:9 - General Ezekiel 18:17 - hath taken Luke 14:13 - call
Cross-References
Morning came: There was Leah in the marriage bed! Jacob confronted Laban, "What have you done to me? Didn't I work all this time for the hand of Rachel? Why did you cheat me?"
So Jacob sent word for Rachel and Leah to meet him out in the field where his flocks were. He said, "I notice that your father has changed toward me; he doesn't treat me the same as before. But the God of my father hasn't changed; he's still with me. You know how hard I've worked for your father. Still, your father has cheated me over and over, changing my wages time and again. But God never let him really hurt me. If he said, ‘Your wages will consist of speckled animals' the whole flock would start having speckled lambs and kids. And if he said, ‘From now on your wages will be streaked animals' the whole flock would have streaked ones. Over and over God used your father's livestock to reward me.
God spoke to Jacob: "Go back to Bethel. Stay there and build an altar to the God who revealed himself to you when you were running for your life from your brother Esau." Jacob told his family and all those who lived with him, "Throw out all the alien gods which you have, take a good bath and put on clean clothes, we're going to Bethel. I'm going to build an altar there to the God who answered me when I was in trouble and has stuck with me everywhere I've gone since." They turned over to Jacob all the alien gods they'd been holding on to, along with their lucky-charm earrings. Jacob buried them under the oak tree in Shechem. Then they set out. A paralyzing fear descended on all the surrounding villages so that they were unable to pursue the sons of Jacob. Jacob and his company arrived at Luz, that is, Bethel, in the land of Canaan. He built an altar there and named it El-Bethel (God-of-Bethel) because that's where God revealed himself to him when he was running from his brother. And that's when Rebekah's nurse, Deborah, died. She was buried just below Bethel under the oak tree. It was named Allon-Bacuth (Weeping-Oak). God revealed himself once again to Jacob, after he had come back from Paddan Aram and blessed him: "Your name is Jacob (Heel); but that's your name no longer. From now on your name is Israel (God-Wrestler)." God continued, I am The Strong God. Have children! Flourish! A nation—a whole company of nations!— will come from you. Kings will come from your loins; the land I gave Abraham and Isaac I now give to you, and pass it on to your descendants. And then God was gone, ascended from the place where he had spoken with him. Jacob set up a stone pillar on the spot where God had spoken with him. He poured a drink offering on it and anointed it with oil. Jacob dedicated the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel (God's-House). They left Bethel. They were still quite a ways from Ephrath when Rachel went into labor—hard, hard labor. When her labor pains were at their worst, the midwife said to her, "Don't be afraid—you have another boy." With her last breath, for she was now dying, she named him Ben-oni (Son-of-My-Pain), but his father named him Ben-jamin (Son-of-Good-Fortune). Rachel died and was buried on the road to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem. Jacob set up a pillar to mark her grave. It is still there today, "Rachel's Grave Stone." Israel kept on his way and set up camp at Migdal Eder. While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went and slept with his father's concubine, Bilhah. And Israel heard of what he did. There were twelve sons of Jacob. The sons by Leah: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn Simeon Levi Judah Issachar Zebulun. The sons by Rachel: Joseph Benjamin. The sons by Bilhah, Rachel's maid: Dan Naphtali. The sons by Zilpah, Leah's maid: Gad Asher. These were Jacob's sons, born to him in Paddan Aram. Finally, Jacob made it back home to his father Isaac at Mamre in Kiriath Arba, present-day Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had lived. Isaac was now 180 years old. Isaac breathed his last and died—an old man full of years. He was buried with his family by his sons Esau and Jacob.
These are the sons that Leah bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram. There was also his daughter Dinah. Altogether, sons and daughters, they numbered thirty-three.
All the people in the town square that day, backing up the elders, said, "Yes, we are witnesses. May God make this woman who is coming into your household like Rachel and Leah, the two women who built the family of Israel. May God make you a pillar in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem! With the children God gives you from this young woman, may your family rival the family of Perez, the son Tamar bore to Judah."
Gill's Notes on the Bible
I [was] a father to the poor,.... Not in a literal sense; for his children were rich as well as himself, while he had them; but in a civil sense, he was the patron of the poor; he was an advocate for them, he took their part, he pleaded their cause, defended their persons, and secured the little property they had; he had the pity and compassion of a father for them, and supplied their wants; he fed them and clothed them; he did not eat his morsel alone, but gave them part of it, and warmed them with the fleece of his flock:
and the cause [which] I knew not I searched out; any cause that was brought before him, he knew thing of before, and which, upon the opening of it, did not appear plain and easy, but had its difficulties; this he closely examined, and searched thoroughly into the merits of, till it appeared plain to him on which side the truth and justice of it lay; he did not hurry it over, and pass sentence, having only in a superficial manner considered it, as is too often the case; but after a long examination of the contending parties, and of the witnesses on both sides, to whom he gave an impartial hearing, he pronounced the decisive sentence; see Proverbs 25:2. Some think this refers to his diligent search and inquiry after causes that were not brought before him; he did, not wait for application to be made to him, but hearing of, or upon inquiry finding, that there were persons oppressed and distressed by cruel men, he of himself voluntarily offered his assistance, searched into their cause, made himself master of it, and freed them from their distresses; so different were his behaviour and character from that of the unjust judge, Luke 18:1; though others, choose to render the words, "the cause of him that I knew not", c. t of a stranger, of one that he had never seen before, of one that was most unknown to him in the world; the cause of such an one he took as, much pains with to get the true knowledge of, and do justice to, as of the dearest relation, the nearest neighbour, and the most intimate friend and acquaintance that he had.
t ×××¢×ª× "quem non cognoveram", Junius Tremellius, Michaelis "ignotissimi", Schultens.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
I was a father to the poor - I took them under my protection, and treated them as if they were my own children.
And the cause which I knew not I searched out - This is according to the interpretation of Jerome. But the more probable meaning is, âthe cause of him who was unknown to me, that is, of the stranger, I searched out.â So Rosenmuller, Herder, Umbreit, and Good. According to this, the sense is, that, as a magistrate, he gave particular attention to the cause of the stranger, and investigated it with care. It is possible that Job here designs specifically to reply to the charge brought against him by Eliphaz in Job 22:6 ff. The duty of showing particular attention to the stranger is often inculcated in the Bible, and was regarded as essential to a character of uprightness and piety among the Orientals.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Job 29:16. The cause which I knew not I searched out. — When any thing difficult occurred, I did not give it a slight consideration; I examined it to the bottom, whatever pain, time, and trouble it cost me, that I might not pronounce a hasty judgment.
