Bible Strands
Job 29:12
because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job speaks in a retrospective monologue about his former days of public honor and practical aid, addressing his former community and himself as he contrasts past righteousness with present suffering.
The words — אֲ֭מַלֵּט ('A.ma.let) translates literally as "I rescued," and עֹזֵ֥ר ('o.Zer) means "a helper." Job uses these terms to state directly that he intervened for the afflicted who cried out and the fatherless who lacked support.
The thread — The same rescue motif appears in Psalm 72:12, which notes deliverance for the needy who cry out and the afflicted with no helper. Proverbs 21:13 and Exodus 22:22 extend the pattern by warning against ignoring the poor and forbidding mistreatment of widows and orphans.
Why it lands — The text demands active intervention for those without advocacy, stating plainly that rescue requires responding to cries for help. It establishes that honoring God involves concrete aid for the vulnerable rather than passive sympathy.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.
Cross-references
- Psalms 72:12 For he will deliver the needy who cry out and the afflicted who have no helper.
- Proverbs 21:13 Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too shall cry out and receive no answer.
- Exodus 22:22 You must not mistreat any widow or orphan.
- James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
- Deuteronomy 10:18 He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.
- Psalms 68:5 A father of the fatherless and a defender of widows is God in His holy habitation.
- Psalms 82:2 “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
- Proverbs 24:11 Rescue those being led away to death, and restrain those stumbling toward the slaughter.
- Nehemiah 5:2 Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous. We must get grain in order to eat and stay alive.”
- Job 22:5 Is not your wickedness great? Are not your iniquities endless?