Job 29:12

12 For I deliver the afflicted who is crying, And the fatherless who hath no helper.

Job 29:12 Meaning and Commentary

Job 29:12

Because I delivered the poor that cried
This honour and esteem he had not because of his grandeur and riches, because of his worldly wealth and substance, but because of the goodness of his disposition, and because of the good he did to men, his acts of pity and compassion to the poor, and of the justice he did to all men; the poor and the afflicted, when they cried to him for help, he delivered them out of the hands of their oppressors:

and the fatherless;
the care and defence of which belongs to judges and civil magistrates, see ( Psalms 82:1-4 ) ;

[and him that] had none to help him;
as the poor and fatherless seldom have; there is power on the side of the oppressors of them, but they have few or none to take their parts, and to be their comforters, ( Ecclesiastes 4:1 ) ; in these instances Job imitated God, and was a follower of him, as a dear child of his; who, when this and the other poor man cries unto him, he hears, saves, and delivers out of all their troubles; he is the helper, yea, the father of the fatherless, and the judge of the widow; and, when there is no help from men, he is a present help in times of need.

Job 29:12 In-Context

10 The voice of leaders hath been hidden, And their tongue to the palate hath cleaved.
11 For the ear heard, and declareth me happy, And the eye hath seen, and testifieth [to] me.
12 For I deliver the afflicted who is crying, And the fatherless who hath no helper.
13 The blessing of the perishing cometh on me, And the heart of the widow I cause to sing.
14 Righteousness I have put on, and it clotheth me, As a robe and a diadem my justice.
Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain.