Amplified Bible
Job 29:16
16I was a father to the needy; I investigated the case I did not know [and assured justice].
Job 29:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
- New International Version (NIV)I was a father to the needy; I took up the case of the stranger.
- English Standard Version (ESV)I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know.
- New King James Version (NKJV)I was a father to the poor, And I searched out the case that I did not know.
Context of Job 29:16
14I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban! 15I was eyes to the blind And I was feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy; I investigated the case I did not know [and assured justice]. 17And I smashed the jaws of the wicked And snatched the prey from his teeth. 18Then I said, ‘I shall die in my nest, And I shall multiply my days as the sand.
Read all of Job 29Job 29:16 word by word
אָ֣ב אָ֭נֹכִֽי לָֽאֶבְיוֹנִ֑ים וְרִ֖ב לֹא־יָדַ֣עְתִּי אֶחְקְרֵֽהוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 29:16
- Job 31:18(But from my youth the orphan grew up with me as with a father, And from my mother’s womb I have been the widow’s guide),
- Esther 2:7He was the guardian of Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. The young woman was beautiful of form and face; and when her father and mother died, Mordecai took her in as his own daughter.
- Psalms 68:5A father of the fatherless and a judge and protector of the widows, Is God in His holy habitation.
- Ephesians 5:1Therefore become imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father];
- James 1:27Pure and unblemished religion [as it is expressed in outward acts] in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit and look after the fatherless and the widows in their distress, and to keep oneself uncontaminated by the [secular] world.
- Exodus 18:26And they judged the people at all times; they would bring the difficult cases to Moses, but every minor dispute they judged and decided themselves.
- Deuteronomy 13:14then you shall investigate and search out [witnesses] and ask thorough questions. If it is true and the matter is established that this loathsome thing has been done among you,
- Deuteronomy 17:8“If any case is too difficult for you to judge—between one kind of homicide and another, between one kind of lawsuit and another, between one kind of assault and another, being controversial issues in your courts—then you shall arise and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses.
- 1 Kings 3:16Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
- Proverbs 25:2It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
- Proverbs 29:7The righteous man cares for the rights of the poor, But the wicked man has no interest in such knowledge.
Commentaries on Job 29:16
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16The 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.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16I 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, “the cause of him who was unknown to me, that is, of the stranger, I searched out.” So Rosenmuller, Herder, Umbreit, and Good. According to this, the sense is, that, as a magistrate, he gave particular attention to…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-17Verses 7-17 All sorts of people paid respect to Job, not only for the dignity of his rank, but for his personal merit, his prudence, integrity, and good management. Happy the men who are blessed with such gifts as these! They have great opportunities of honouring God and doing good, but have great need to watch against pride. Happy the people who are blessed with such men! it is a token for good to them. Here we see what Job valued himself by, in the day…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16Job was active in searching out and helping strangers in need.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 12-1712-17. The grounds on which Job was praised (Job 29:11), his helping the afflicted (Psa 72:12) who cried to him for help, as a judge, or as one possessed of means of charity. Translate: "The fatherless who had none to help him."Read the comment
Topics related to Job 29:16
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 29
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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