New King James Version
Job 29:16
16I was a father to the poor, And I searched out the case that 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 Living Translation (NLT)I was a father to the poor and assisted strangers who needed help.
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 poor, And I searched out the case that I did not know. 17I broke the fangs of the wicked, And plucked the victim from his teeth. 18“Then I said, ‘I shall die in my nest, And 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 I reared him as a father, And from my mother’s womb I guided the widow);
- Esther 2:7And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.
- Psalms 68:5A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation.
- Ephesians 5:1Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.
- James 1:27Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
- Exodus 18:26So they judged the people at all times; the hard cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.
- Deuteronomy 13:14then you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination was committed among you,
- Deuteronomy 17:8“If a matter arises which is too hard for you to judge, between degrees of guilt for bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the Lord your God chooses.
- 1 Kings 3:16Now two women who were harlots 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 considers the cause of the poor, But 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries