Bible Strands
Job 29:16
I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job delivers this statement in a retrospective monologue addressing his former community and himself, recounting his time of prosperity before his afflictions began. He describes his past role as a local protector and advocate for vulnerable individuals.
The words — The Hebrew אָב ('av) translates literally to "father," and רִב (riv) means a "legal case" or dispute. Job asserts he functioned as a paternal guardian and personally investigated the grievances of those he did not previously know.
The thread — This advocacy mirrors the description of God in Psalms 68:5 as a father to the fatherless and defender of widows. The practical concern for the poor also corresponds to the righteous conduct outlined in Proverbs 29:7.
Why it lands — The text requires direct, personal investigation of unfamiliar claims rather than passive charity. It demands that authority be exercised to shield the vulnerable from exploitation.
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
I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 29:7 The righteous consider the cause of the poor, but the wicked have no regard for such concerns.
- Psalms 68:5 A father of the fatherless and a defender of widows is God in His holy habitation.
- Esther 2:7 And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, because she did not have a father or mother. The young woman was lovely in form and appearance, and when her father and mother had died, Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter.
- Job 24:4 They push the needy off the road and force all the poor of the land into hiding.
- Job 31:18 though from my youth I reared him as would a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow—
- Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to search it out.
- Exodus 18:26 And they judged the people at all times; they would bring the difficult cases to Moses, but any minor issue they would judge themselves.
- Deuteronomy 13:14 then you must inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly. And if it is established with certainty that this abomination has been committed among you,
- Deuteronomy 17:8 If a case is too difficult for you to judge, whether the controversy within your gates is regarding bloodshed, lawsuits, or assaults, you must go up to the place the LORD your God will choose.
- 1 Kings 3:16 At that time two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.