Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Job 31:17

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Job 31:17. Or have eaten my morsel myself alone — Hospitality was a very prominent virtue among the ancients in almost all nations: friends and strangers were equally welcome to the board of the affluent. The supper was their grand meal: it was then that they saw their friends; the business and fatigues of the day being over, they could then enjoy themselves comfortably together. The supper was called coena on this account; or, as Plutarch says, Το μεν γαρ δειπνον φασι κοινα δια την κοινωνιαν καλεισθαι· καθ' ἑαυτους γαρ ηριστων επιεικως οἱ παλαι ρωμαιοι, συνδειπνουντες τοις φιλοις. "The ancient Romans named supper COENA, (κοινα,) which signifies communion (κοινωνια) or fellowship; for although they dined alone, they supped with their friends." - PLUT. Symp. lib. viii., prob. 6, p. 687. But Job speaks here of dividing his bread with the hungry: Or have eaten my morsel myself alone. And he is a poor despicable caitiff who would eat it alone, while there was another at hand, full as hungry as himself.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Job reaffirms his innocence (31:1-40)

Once again Job examines his past life to see if, in fact, he has committed some great sin for which God is now punishing him. He readily acknowledges that God sees everything and that his punishment of sin is just. God knows that he has not been guilty even of unlawful sexual lust (31:1-4). He has not cheated others to enrich himself. If someone can prove that he has, he will gladly surrender all the produce of his fields (5-8). If he has committed adultery, he will gladly accept the lawful punishment due to him and will submit to the humiliation of having to surrender his wife to slavery (9-12).
Job continues: he has always been fair to his servants, knowing that they have been created by God the same as he has. He knows he is answerable to God for the way he treats them (13-15). He has looked after the poor and needy, some from childhood (16-20). He has never cooperated with corrupt judges to exploit the defenceless (21-23). He has not been greedy for money, nor has he engaged in any kind of false worship (24-28). At all times he has been forgiving to enemies and hospitable to strangers (29-32). He has never hidden the truth in fear of either popular opinion or influential people (33-34).
Having found no charge against himself, Job now challenges God to find a charge against him. If God can find such a charge, Job will be glad to have it made public so that he can answer it before God and before his fellow citizens. Then he will be able to prove himself innocent (35-37). He adds a final note that he has not gained any of his lands by dishonesty or violence (38-40).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

JOB STRESSES OTHER AREAS OF HIS INNOCENCE

“If I have withheld the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the fatherless have not eaten thereof (Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as a father, And her have I guided from my mother’s womb); If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering; If his loins have not blessed me, And if he have not been warned with the fleece of my sheep; If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, Because I saw my help in the gate: Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, And mine arm be broken from the bone. For calamity from God is a terror to me, And by reason of his majesty I can do nothing.”

These verses carry Job’s protest that he has not been careless or negligent in his duty toward the fatherless, the widows, the poor, the needy, the hungry, or the naked. Job was rich, “But there is no sin in being rich. The sin comes when we use our riches selfishly and ignore God. Money is not the root of all evil; that root is the love of money. Job was not guilty of this sin; but how about you”?Blair, p. 269. In our world today, there are countless thousands of rich and affluent people who use their wealth solely for selfish and personal reasons without regard to anyone except themselves.

“If I have eaten my morsel alone” “Job does not mean that he has maintained a continual open house for his friends, but that he has shared his plenty with the destitute. His haunting words here still live in the consciences of many.”New Century Bible Commentary, p. 201.

“Her have I guided from my mother’s womb” This is hyperbole in which Job is saying that as far back as he can remember, he has been careful to minister to the needs of widows, orphans, and the poor.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Or have eaten my morsel myself alone - If I have not imparted what I had though ever so small, to others. This was in accordance with the Oriental laws of hospitality. It is regarded as a fixed law among the Arabians, that the guest shall always be helped first, and to that which is best; and no matter how needy the family may be, or how much distressed with hunger, the settled laws of hospitality demand that the stranger-guest shall have the first and best portion. Dr. Robinson, in his “Biblical Researches,” gives an amusing instance of the extent to which this law is carried, and the sternness with which it is executed among the Arabs. In the journey from Suez to Mount Sinai, intending to furnish a supper for the Arabs in their employ, he and his fellow-travelers had bought a kid, and led it along to the place of their encampment. At night the kid was killed and roasted, and the Arabs were anticipating a savory supper.

But those of whom they had bought the kid, learned in some way that they were to encamp near, and naturally concluded that the kid was bought to be eaten, and followed them to the place of encampment, to the number of five or six persons. “Now the stern law of Arabian hospitality demands, that whenever a guest is present at a meal, whether there be much or little, the first and best portion must be laid before the stranger. In this instance the five or six guests attained their object, and had not only the selling of the kid, but also the eating of it, while our poor Arabs, whose mouths had long been watering with expectation, were forced to take up with the fragments.” Vol. 1:118. There is often, indeed, much ostentation in the hospitality of the Orientals, but the law is stern and inflexible. “No sooner,” says Shaw (Travels, vol. 1:p. 20), “was our food prepared, than one of the Arabs, having placed himself on the highest spot of ground in the neighborhood, called out thrice with a loud voice to all their brethren, the sons of the faithful, to come and partake of it; though none of them were in view, or perhaps within a hundred miles of them.” The great law of hospitality Job says he had carefully observed, and had not withheld what he had from the poor and the fatherless.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Shall we turn in our Bibles to the book of Job, chapter 31.

Job has pretty well talked down all of his friends. Bildad has had his last word and Job is still responding, and has been responding, actually, just generally now to his friends. This last discourse of Job is his longest discourse, and he goes on and on with it. And we have been studying the final response of Job to his friends. His next responses will be to God. But Job is talking about his own righteousness, his own goodness, that which he has done. He said,

I made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I think upon a maid? For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? Is not destruction to the wicked? and strange punishment to the doers of iniquity? Doth he not see my ways, and count all my steps? If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot has hasted to deceit; Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know my integrity. If my step hath turned out of the way, and my heart walked after my eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to my hands; Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out. If my heart hath been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbor's door; Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her. For this is a heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges. It's a fire that consumes to destruction, and would root out all mine increase ( Job 31:1-12 ).

So these are things that Job's friends have been hinting that he was guilty of, but he is denying his guilt. "I made a covenant before God. I'm not going to look on another woman. I'm not going to be interested in other women." It is interesting that Jesus said, "If a man looks upon a woman to desire after her, he has committed adultery already in his heart" ( Matthew 5:28 ). Job made a covenant, "I'm not going to look on other women. I'm going to be satisfied with my wife. Now if I have been guilty of adultery, then the punishment of my wife committing adultery with someone else would be a punishment that I deserved. But I'm innocent of these things. Let God weigh me in balances. Let it be fair. Let what I have received be fair from God. I'm receiving more than I deserve for I haven't been guilty of these things."

Job, speaking of the lust, said, "It's a fire that consumes to destruction. It would destroy all my increase." The Bible speaks about a man, who through foolish woman, is brought down to a crust of bread ( Proverbs 6:25-26 ). What destruction unbridled lust can bring. It can destroy great men. It can bring them down. And so Job speaks of it, of a fire that destroys, the burning lust.

If I did despise the cause of my manservant or maidservant, when they contended with me; What shall I do when God rises up? for he visiteth, and what shall I answer him? Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb? ( Job 31:13-15 )

Now Job is speaking here of the fact that he had not really lorded over his servants, that he had looked upon them as equals. "We were both, all of us, created in the womb."

It's really a tragedy when men begin to think themselves superior to others. Rather than realizing that all of us have been created by God and in God's eyes there is no ranking, there is no superiorities. That, of course, goes for male/female, it goes for bond or free. We are all one in Christ Jesus. And yet, it seems that man is always trying to exalt or elevate himself above others. Trying to put himself in the position of higher. "I want others to bow to me. I want others to do obeisance and the whole thing." And that's tragic that men develop these rankings in which they seek then to promote and give honor and flattery and all to each other.

Job said that he dealt honestly with his servants when they argued with him. He looked upon them honestly, because he said, "After all, we were all, we all came out of the womb. I'm no better than they are. I recognize that." And he also recognized that God takes up the cause of the poor. Now it's interesting throughout the scripture it does speak about God hearing the cry of the poor, "When their cry cometh unto Me." And God talks about taking vengeance upon those that would oppress the poor. That when their cries came to Him because of their oppression, He would hear and He would bring vengeance upon those that would oppress the poor.

If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail; If I have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof; (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as a father, and I have guided her from my mother's womb;) If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering; If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate: Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and my arm be broken from the bone ( Job 31:16-22 ).

"If I'm guilty of these things of not helping the poor, if I've allowed people to go naked, if I've allowed people to go hungry while I was living in luxury, then let my arms fall off." Job is bringing curses upon himself. "If I'm guilty of these things, then let these horrible things happen to me."

It is interesting then in those cultures, in that particular culture, and in the eastern culture, hospitality is such an important part of the culture of those people and of those days. It was extremely important that you be hospitable, that you be benevolent, that you help those that are in need. Especially if a person was traveling. You notice how Abraham entertained the people that were traveling, "Come on in, let me fix something for you, and all." As the angels (he didn't know they were angels at the time), but as they were traveling by, "Come on it. It's too late; spend the night here. Let my wife fix you something to eat, and all" ( Genesis 18:3-5 ). Hospitality was an important thing. It should be an important thing in the church. Paul tells us that when we chose those who are to be overseers of in the body of Christ, that we should pick out men who are hospitable, those who have shown themselves to be hospitable.

Our Southern California culture seems to be very isolated. I have been in other parts of the United States where people seem to be more hospitable than they are here. Down in the south, people far more open, hospitable. "Oh, come on over for dinner," you know. And there is a lot of hospitality, southern hospitality. We're in Southern California, but we just don't see it here. But I believe that it is pleasing to the Lord that we really show hospitality. If there is someone who is visiting, someone who is a stranger, that we open up our doors to them, that we invite them over for dinner or that we show them hospitality. The Bible says, "Be careful to entertain strangers, you don't know but what you might one day be entertaining an angel unaware." ( Hebrews 13:2 )

Now my father used to take these scriptures very literally. Also he was an usher in the church as I was growing up and he read in James how that we do wrong when we have respect of people's persons. If one comes into church and he's all dressed up, wearing diamonds and all, you say, "Oh," you know, "come on in, sit in this nice chair." And yet if someone comes in rags, you say, "Go sit in the corner" ( James 2:3 ). So when people would come to church in rags, hobos, he would usher them right down to the front row, with all style. And my dad was a very gallant gentleman, and a lot of flair and a lot of style, you know, and he'd usher them right down to the front row, and sit them right in the prime places, and then invite them home for lunch. We had the most interesting guests. They had the smell of the antiseptic from the mission so many times. We've had all kinds of... oh, I could tell you stories that you'd hardly believe of some of the people that we've had at our house.

We had one fellow that Dad invited home for dinner and he stayed for a couple of weeks with us. And he was a very interesting fellow. If Mom would say, "Wind up the vacuum cord," I would wind up the vacuum cord, and when I was through, he said, "That took you twenty-seven seconds. Now you should be able to do that in fifteen seconds. Now wind it up again. And do it this time in fifteen seconds." Always timing everything, everything had to be split-second timing. And you did it until you could do it in fifteen seconds. We later found out that this guy was a bank robber. And he was the mastermind behind many of the bank robberies and some of the most exotic prison breaks in the United States. And that's why he was always interested in timing. Timed everything, got everything down to split second, and all. And he always, it was part of his thinking processes. When he started telling his stories, oh, was that interesting. We'd sit there just transfixed as he'd tell us about some of the heists and all that he was involved in and escape from some of the major prisons in the United States.

Actually, the way we met him was very fascinating. My father went up to the Ventura County Jail and spoke there at the jail every Sunday. And he would just, you know, one day he was talking to these prisoners and he said, "Fellows," he said, "God answers prayer. Now Jesus said if you ask anything in His Name, the Father would do it. Now look, just get down and ask God for something you need. Put God to the test. Either His Word is true or it isn't." Well this guy, Jimmy Reynolds, was sitting in the back bunk; he didn't even come out to the area where the guys were meeting. He was just sitting back there listening. He was tough, and he didn't want to come out in the open cell with the rest of the guys and show that he was at all interested, but he was just sitting back there. And after my dad left, he turned to the guy across on the next bunk from him, and he said, "Did you hear what the guy said?" He said, "Man, I've sprung a lot of jails, but this would be a new one." He says, "Hey, man, let's you and me get down on our knees and we're going to ask God to get us out of here by next Sunday. And if God gets us out of here by next Sunday, we'll go down to that man's church." My father was also the Sunday school superintendent at the church and so we always got to church a half hour early. And this Sunday morning as we drove up to the church there was this fellow pacing back and forth in front of the church, and when he spotted my dad, he came up and opened the door for my mother and all, and he said, "Good morning, Mrs. Smith, Mr. Smith. Nice to see you today." And he said, "I'm Jimmy." And Dad said, "Well, it's nice to meet you. Will you come in and go to church with us and then come on home to dinner?" And that's how we met him.

Now after he left, my dad went to the sheriff and he said, "You know, we've had an interesting houseguest for the last couple of weeks." He said, "He's told us some very fascinating stories." He said, "The thing I want to know, though, is how did he get out of jail?" And the sheriff told my dad, he said, "Mr. Smith," he said, "that was a mistake." He said, "We weren't supposed to release that man." He said, "We picked him up on a vagrancy charge in Oxnard. We were holding him here, but," he said, "on our cards, when we have a prisoner and there's a hold on them because of their being wanted in other places," he said, "we always type up at the top of the card a red HOLD." He said, "We had a new trustee typing cards. And so he thought that it didn't look neat to have that HOLD up in the right hand corner so he typed it down in the bottom of the card. And so," he said, "that Sunday morning as they were going through the cards, they came across Jimmy Reynolds and found that we had held him as long as we legally could without filing charges. And we really didn't have any charges to file, but we were holding him because of his prison escapes from Oklahoma State Prison and several federal penitentiaries and," he said, "we were supposed to be holding him to extradite him back there. But," he said, "in going through the cards that morning, they just came to his card, saw that his time was up as far as what we could legally hold him, and they didn't pull the card all the way out. And so that Sunday morning they call, 'Jimmy Reynolds,' he said, 'yep.' They said, 'You're free.' He says, 'I'm what?' And they said, 'You're free.'" And he said, "Mr. Smith," he said, "I've broken a lot of jails in the country, but," he said, "this is the first time I've ever had one like this!" You know.

Hospitality. Now that wasn't an angel unaware in that particular case. Some of the things that happened when I was a kid... Oh, my. I could tell you some interesting stories about George the tramp, but that'll have to wait 'til another time. Ah, but my dad was quite a guy.

He said,

I've not allowed my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to another man's soul ( Job 31:30 ).

Verse Job 31:30 :

If the men of my tent said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied. The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the travelers. If I covered my transgression as Adam ( Job 31:31-33 ),

Interesting he refers to Adam, isn't it? Evidently the stories of Adam were widely circulated even by the time of Job, even though the book of Job perhaps precedes in writing the book of Genesis. That is, that it was written before. Yet he is aware of Adam's attempt to cover his sin by sewing the fig leaves.

by hiding my iniquity in my bosom: Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door? So surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown unto me ( Job 31:33-34 , Job 31:36 ).

He said,

I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince I would go near unto him. If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain; If I have eaten the fruit thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life: Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and the cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended ( Job 31:37-40 ).

"I've had it. That's it. I'm innocent." And the final declaration of his innocence before his friends.

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Job’s continuing innocence ch. 31

As was common in ancient Near Eastern judicial cases, Job concluded his summary defense with an oath of innocence. He did so in the form of a negative confession complete with self-imprecations. [Note: Parsons, p. 141. Cf. Michael Brennan Dick, "The Legal Metaphor in Job 31," Catholic Biblical Quarterly 41 (1979):42, 47.] He concluded with a challenge to God to present His charges in writing (Job 31:35-37). Job’s idea was that if God remained silent this would be a vindication of his innocence. However, if he had been guilty, God would have to intervene and impose the punishment Job had designated. [Note: Norman C. Habel, The Book of Job, p. 164.] Note the frequent repetition of the phrase, "If I have . . ." and its equivalents.

"Chapter 31 as to its literary format is a negative testament by which Job will close the matter of whether he is being punished for his sins. After such a statement, in the jurisprudence of the ancient Near East, the burden of proof fell on the court. That is why Job 31:40 says, ’The words of Job are ended.’ Each disavowal had to be accompanied by an oath that called for the same punishment the offense deserved on the basis of the principle of lex talionis (Job 31:5-10). Because the charges against Job were wide and varied, he must give a similarly wide disavowal. He had already done this in a general way (cf. Job 23:10-12), but now he specifies and calls for condemnation and punishment from both God and man (Job 31:8; Job 31:11-12; Job 31:14; Job 31:22-23) if he is guilty of any of these sins." [Note: Smick, "Architectonics, Structured . . .," p. 94. Cf. Hartley, p. 406.]

Job claimed purity from ethical defilement in two ways. He referred to the binding covenant he had made with his eyes (Job 31:1). Then he used the oath form "if" such and such be true "then" (sometimes not stated) let thus and so happen (Job 31:5-10; Job 31:13; Job 31:16; Job 31:19-20 [twice], 21-22, 24, 25, 26, 38, 39-40).

"The making of a covenant with his eyes is not merely a promise not to lust after a girl. The sin he has in mind is far more fundamental, or it would not have commanded this position in the poem. Job is emphatically denying an insidious and widespread form of idolatry: devotion to the betula, ’the maiden,’ the goddess of fertility. This Venus of the Semitic world was variously known as the Maiden Anat in Ugaritic, Ashtoreth in preexilic Israel, and Ishtar in Babylonian sources, wherein she is described as ’laden with vitality, charm and voluptuousness.’ She is probably the ’Queen of Heaven’ mentioned in Jeremiah 7:18; Jeremiah 44:16-19." [Note: Smick, "Architectonics, Structured . . .," p. 96.]

Most of the 14 sins that Job mentioned in this chapter were not heinous crimes but relatively minor deviations from the ethical ideal. They were covert rather than overt iniquities. Thus Job claimed innocence on the highest level of morality (cf. Matthew 5:27-28). Note also that he continued to assume that God punishes the wicked (Job 31:2-3).

"As a consequence of his suffering, Job viewed man’s relationship to God as being based on God’s sovereign caprice; therefore man could hope for happiness only by adhering to an ethical rightness superior to God’s whereby he could demand vindication (Job 31; cf. Job 35:2 b)." [Note: Parsons, p. 144.]

Job 31:10 has in view Job’s wife grinding corn with a hard millstone, the work of a slave, and being overpowered by men sexually.

"His hypothetical adultery would in Hebrew eyes be an offence against her husband, and so another’s adultery with his wife would be a similar offence against him. In Hebrew law adultery always involved a married woman. The marital state of the man was immaterial." [Note: Rowley, p. 200.]

Fundamentally, adultery involves a married man or a married woman (cf. Leviticus 20:10), but in Israel, as well as in Roman society, infidelity by the husband was not commonly viewed as constituting adultery. [Note: See Unger’s Bible Dictionary, 1957 ed., s.v. "Adultery."] Job’s words about adultery (Job 31:9-12) are classic and reveal righteous abhorrence of that sin. Likewise, his statements regarding the importance of treating slaves as human beings (Job 31:13-15) reveal Job’s fear of God and love for his fellowman. He respected human life highly (Job 31:16-23). Job further claimed that he was not an idolater (Job 31:24-28), selfish (Job 31:29-32), or hypocritical (Job 31:33-34).

"Here then is either a very clean conscience or a very calloused one." [Note: Andersen, p. 244.]

Job’s cry for a hearer of his claims (Job 31:35) probably implied God rather than the mediator he had requested earlier (Job 16:19; Job 19:25; cf. Job 30:20).

"An examination of biblical and extra-biblical legal documents establishes Job 31:35 as a dependent’s official appeal before a third party for a civil hearing at which the judge would compel the plaintiff to formalize his accusations and to present any supporting evidence. As we shall see, this request was ordinarily made only after all attempts at informal arbitration had been exhausted and was often accompanied by a sworn statement of innocence. In Job 31 the oath of innocence has been expanded to embrace the entire chapter." [Note: Dick, p. 38.]

His "adversary" in this verse was also God (cf. Job 13:24; Job 16:9; Job 19:11). We should probably understand "owners" (Job 31:39) as "workers."

Having ended his final summation in defense of his innocence, Job rested his case and waited for God’s verdict. This is another climax in the book. Job had claimed innocence in his personal life (Job 31:1-12), toward his neighbor (Job 31:13-20), and toward God (Job 31:24-34; cf. Job 1:11). Job’s friends believed that God always punishes sin, therefore Job was a sinner. Job believed that God was punishing him when he was innocent, therefore God was unfair.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Or have eaten my morsel myself alone,.... Though he had kept no doubt a plentiful table in the time of his prosperity suitable to his circumstances, yet had been no luxurious person, and therefore calls provisions a "morsel"; however, be it what it would, more or less, he did not eat it alone; what he had for himself the poor had a share of it with him, and the same he ate himself he gave to them:

and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof: meaning the poor fatherless: for as to the rich fatherless, it was no charity to feed them: this verse contradicts the charge exhibited against him, Job 22:7.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      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.

      Eliphaz had particularly charged Job with unmercifulness to the poor (Job 22:6-9; Job 22:6-9, c.): 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,

      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; 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; 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; 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; 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; 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; 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; 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; 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; 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 (Ecclesiastes 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.