if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless because I saw that I had support in the gate,
Parallel translations
- WEB if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate,
- KJV If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate:
- NKJV If I have raised my hand against the fatherless, When I saw I had help in the gate;
- NASB If I have lifted up my hand against the orphan, Because I saw I had support in the gate,
- NLT “If I raised my hand against an orphan, knowing the judges would take my side,
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 swears he never raised his hand against the fatherless, even when he had influence in the court. He refused to abuse his power against the weak.
Overview
Job denies ever exploiting his standing among the elders at the city gate to oppress the orphan. The gate was where justice was administered, so this affirms that he never perverted justice for personal advantage against the vulnerable. His refusal to misuse power reflects God's justice and anticipates Christ, who never abused his authority but used it to defend and save the weak.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Job 22:9You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.
- Job 29:12because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.
- Job 24:9The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized for a debt.
- Job 6:27You would even cast lots for an orphan and barter away your friend.
- Ezek 22:7Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed.
- Mic 2:1–2Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.
- Jer 5:28They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.
- Mic 7:3Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.
- Prov 23:10–11Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
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 31:21 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
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