New English Translation
Job 29:16
16I was a father to the needy, and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;
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 just dealing was like a robe and a turban; 15I was eyes for the blind and feet for the lame; I was a father to the needy, and I investigated the case of the person I did not know; 17I broke the fangs of the wicked, and made him drop his prey from his teeth. 18“Then I thought, ‘I will die in my own home, my days as numerous as the grains of 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 31:18but from my youth I raised the orphan like a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow!
- Esther 2:7Now he was acting as the guardian of Hadassah (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, for neither her father nor her mother was alive. This young woman was very attractive and had a beautiful figure. When her father and mother died, Mordecai had raised her as if she were his own daughter.
- Psalms 68:5He is a father to the fatherless and an advocate for widows. God rules from his holy palace.
- Ephesians 5:1Therefore, be imitators of God as dearly loved children
- James 1:27Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
- Exodus 18:26They judged the people under normal circumstances; the difficult cases they would bring to Moses, but every small case they would judge themselves.
- Deuteronomy 13:14You must investigate thoroughly and inquire carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing is being done among you,
- Deuteronomy 17:8If a matter is too difficult for you to judge – bloodshed, legal claim, or assault – matters of controversy in your villages – you must leave there and go up to the place the Lord your God chooses.
- 1 Kings 3:16Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
- Proverbs 25:2It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, and it is the glory of a king to search out a matter.
- Proverbs 29:7The righteous person cares for the legal rights of the poor; the wicked does not understand 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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