Job 29:16

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 always did what was right, like good clothes that I wore. I was fair and honest, like my coat and my hat. 15If people were blind, I would be their guide. If people could not walk, I would fetch things for them. If poor people needed help, I helped them like their father would do. I spoke on behalf of strangers to help them get justice. 17I destroyed the power of wicked people. I rescued the people that they had attacked. 18At that time, I thought, “I will live to be an old man. After a long life, I will die in my own home.

Job 29:16 word by word

אָ֣ב אָ֭נֹכִֽי לָֽאֶבְיוֹנִ֑ים וְרִ֖ב לֹא־יָדַ֣עְתִּי אֶחְקְרֵֽהוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• a fatherאָב'âb · fatherH1
• to the poorאֶבְיוֹן'ebyôn · needyH34
• and the causeרִיבrîyb rib · strifeH7379
• I knewיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• not I searched outחָקַרchâqar · to searchH2713

Cross-references for Job 29:16

• Job 31:18Since I was a young man, I have helped those children like a father. All my life I have helped widows too.
• Esther 2:7Mordecai was taking care of a young cousin called Hadassah. She was also called Esther. Esther's mother and father were no longer alive. She was the daughter of Mordecai's uncle. When her parents died, Mordecai took care of her, as if she was his own daughter. Esther was very beautiful.
• Psalms 68:5God is a father for those who have no father. He takes care of widows. He rules from his holy home.
• Ephesians 5:1You are God's children and he loves you very much. So you must try to be like him.
• James 1:27If you want to serve God in a completely good way, do things like this: Help children who have no parents and women who are widows. Help them in their troubles. If you serve God our Father like that, he will be pleased with you. Do not let the bad people in this world make you bad too.
• Exodus 18:26They worked as judges for the people at all times. If there was a difficult problem, they took it to Moses for him to decide. But they themselves decided the small problems.
• Deuteronomy 13:14Then you must check carefully that the news is true. You must discover whether people really have done this wicked thing in one of your towns.
• Deuteronomy 17:8It may be difficult for the judges in your towns to decide what is true. This may happen when one person has attacked or killed another person. It may happen when people cannot agree about some land. It may be anything that people in your towns are arguing about. If you do not know who is right, you must take those people to the place that the Lord your God will choose.
• 1 Kings 3:16Two women who were prostitutes came to meet with the king. They stood in front of him to tell him their problem.
• Proverbs 25:2God hides things because he is great. But great kings can explain things.
• Proverbs 29:7Righteous people want poor people to receive justice. But wicked people do not understand things like that.

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

• Beneficence
• Poor

In the dictionaries

• Aged
• Chief
• Ready
• Job, Book of
• Poor
• Proverbs, the Book of
• Psalms, Book of
• Search

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