Job 31:18
in Job 31though from my youth I reared him as would a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow—
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
(Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, And her have I guided from my mother’s womb);
KJV
(For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother’s womb;)
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This verse in Job 31
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThis is a very difficult verse, and is variously translated. Take the following instances: - For from his youth he (the male orphan) was brought up with me as a father. Yea, I have guided her (the female orphan) from her mother’s womb - Heath.
This site's exposition
If I have denied the desires of the poor
on Job 31:16-18
“If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail” turns the rescues in chapter 29 into oath form. It was a lifelong practice, and Gill reads the verse as evidence that Job raised orphans in his own household from his earliest years.
This site's exposition
I reared him as would a father
Clarke calls this a very difficult verse. Heath reads him as an orphan boy reared with Job, and the one guided from her mother's womb as an orphan girl. Henry adds that Job gave the fatherless education along with their keep.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
He shows why he was merciful in this way in two ways: first, from long-studied habit he began in childhood, and so he says, "Since mercy has increased in me from my infancy." As he grew in years, so he practiced the works of mercy …
For from my infancy compassion grew up with me, and from my mother's womb it came forth with me. For though commiseration was a thing at his own command, that it should gain growth with himself, yet it is plain that it was not a thing at his own command that it should 'come forth from the womb along with himself.' Therefore it is plain that he attributes nothing to his own goodness, in that surely he bears witness that he received this same by the gift of his creation.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He was a father to the fatherless, took care of orphans, brought them up with him under his own eye, and gave them, not only maintenance, but education. He was a guide to the widow, who had lost the guide of her youth; he advised her in her affairs, took cognizance of them, and undertook the management of them.
For from my youth he was brought up with me as with a father,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Parenthetical: asserting that he did the contrary to the things in Job 31:16, 17. he--the orphan. guided her--namely, the widow, by advice and protection. On this and "a father," see Job 29:16.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For from my youth he was brought up with me - This verse is usually regarded as a parenthesis, though very various expositions have been given of it. Some have understood it as denying that he had in any way neglected the widow and the fatherless, and affirming that the orphan had always, even from his youth, found a father in him, and the widow a guide. Others, as our translators, suppose that it is a parenthesis thrown in to indicate his general course of life, although the imprecation which he makes on himself, if he had neglected the widow and the orphan, is found in Job 31:22. Luther reads the two previous verses as questions, and this as an answer to them, and so also do Rosenmuller and Noyes. Umbreit regards this verse as a parenthesis. This is probably to be considered as the correct interpretation, for this better agrees with the Hebrew than the other proposed. It implies a denial of having neglected the widow and the orphan, but the full expression of his abhorrence of a charge of having done so, is to be found in the strong language in Job 31:22. The unusual Hebrew word גדלני gâdalniy probably stands for עמי גדל gâdal ‛imy - “he was brought up with me.” This form of the word does not occur elsewhere. As with a father - That is, he always found in me one who treated him as a father. The meaning is, that he had always had under his care those who were orphans; that from his very youth they had been accustomed to look up to him as a father; and that they had never been disappointed in him. It is the language of one who seems to have been born to rank, and who had the means of benefiting others, and who had done it all his life. […]
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מִ֭נְּעוּרַי | mineurai | since youth<s> my | H5271 → | |
| גְּדֵלַ֣נִי | gedelani | he grew up with me | H1431 → | 117 times |
| כְאָ֑ב | kheav | like a father | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וּמִבֶּ֖טֶן | umibeten | and from [the] womb of | H990 → | 72 times |
| אִמִּ֣י | ʾimi | mother my | H517 → | 220 times |
| אַנְחֶֽנָּה׃ | ʾanchenah | I guided her | H5148 → | 39 times |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
מִ֭נְּעוּרַיsince youth<s> my
mineuraiH5271 →
גְּדֵלַ֣נִיhe grew up with me
gedelaniH1431 →117 times
כְאָ֑בlike a father
kheavH1 →1212 times
וּמִבֶּ֖טֶןand from [the] womb of
umibetenH990 →72 times
אִמִּ֣יmother my
ʾimiH517 →220 times
אַנְחֶֽנָּה׃I guided her
ʾanchenahH5148 →39 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXI; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.