Revised Literal Translation
Job 29:16
16I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
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 judgment was as a robe and a diadem. 15I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out. 17And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of 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
Cross-references for Job 29:16
- Job 31:18(For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother’s womb;)
- Esther 2:7And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.
- Psalms 68:5A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.
- Ephesians 5:1Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
- James 1:27Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
- Exodus 18:26And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.
- Deuteronomy 13:14Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you;
- Deuteronomy 17:8If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which Yhwh thy God shall choose;
- 1 Kings 3:16Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.
- Proverbs 25:2It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.
- Proverbs 29:7The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.
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
Revised Literal Translation — © 2018 Michael W. Jones, Sr. — GPL
Commentaries