or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it
Parallel translations
- KJV Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;
- BSB if I have eaten my morsel alone, not sharing it with the fatherless—
- NKJV Or eaten my morsel by myself, So that the fatherless could not eat of it
- NASB Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the orphan has not shared it
- NLT Have I been stingy with my food and refused to share it with orphans?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Job affirms he never ate his food alone while the fatherless went without. He shared his provision with orphans.
Overview
Job declares that he did not selfishly keep his bread to himself but made sure the fatherless were fed alongside him. This generous hospitality toward orphans demonstrates the practical mercy that flows from a righteous heart. Such care for the fatherless reflects God's own character as the father of the fatherless, fully revealed in Christ, who welcomes the abandoned and adopts the orphan into God's family.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Acts 4:32The multitude of those who believed were of one heart and soul. Not one of them claimed that anything of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.
- Luke 11:41But give for gifts to the needy those things which are within, and behold, all things will be clean to you.
- Deut 15:11For the poor will never cease out of the land. Therefore I command you to surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor, in your land.
- Ezek 18:16neither has wronged any, has not taken anything to pledge, neither has taken by robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;
- Neh 8:10Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for today is holy to our Lord. Don’t be grieved, for the joy of Yahweh is your strength.”
- 1 Jn 3:17But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and closes his heart of compassion against him, how does God’s love remain in him?
- Deut 15:14You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your wine press. As Yahweh your God has blessed you, you shall give to him.
- Ezek 18:7and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;
- Jas 1:27Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
- Job 22:7You haven’t given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
- John 13:29For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus said to him, “Buy what things we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor.
- Rom 12:13contributing to the needs of the saints; given to hospitality.
- Job 29:12–16Because I delivered the poor who cried, and the fatherless also, who had no one to help him,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 31:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.