Job 31:16
If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,
BSB
ASV
If I have withheld the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
KJV
If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;
If I have withheld the poor from their desire,.... Their reasonable desires, and which it was in his power to grant; as when they desired a piece of bread, being hungry, or clothes to cover them, being naked; but not unreasonable desires, seeking and asking great things for themselves, or unlimited and unbounded ones, such as the two sons of Zebedee desired of Christ, Mar 10:35; or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail; through long waiting for, and expecting help and succour from him, and at last disappointed.
If a poor person begged a kindness of his, he was ready to gratify him; if he could but perceive by the widow's mournful craving look that she expected an alms from him, though she had not confidence enough to ask it, he had compassion enough to give it, and never caused the eyes of the widow to fail.
If I have withheld the poor from their desire - Job now turns to another class of virtues, regarded also as of great importance in the patriarchal ages, kindness to the poor and the afflicted; to the fatherless and the widow. He appeals to his former life on this subject; affirms that he had a good conscience in the recollection of his dealings with them, and impliedly declares that it could not have been for any deficiency in the exercise of these virtues that his calamities had come upon him.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Psalms 112:9He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor.
leads to
And do not neglect to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
“All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous will be exalted.”
As it is written: “He has scattered abroad His gifts to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.”
Through
Galatians 2:10They only asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
leads to
Now about the collection for the saints, you are to do as I directed the churches of Galatia:
Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
After several years, then, I returned to Jerusalem to bring alms to my people and to present offerings.
If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?
Through
Isaiah 38:14I chirp like a swallow or crane; I moan like a dove. My eyes grow weak as I look upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.”
leads to
We all growl like bears and moan like doves. We hope for justice, but find none, for salvation, but it is far from us.
I am weary from my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.