Job 31:20

20 if his body has not 1blessed me,[a] and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,

Job 31:20 Meaning and Commentary

Job 31:20

If his loins have not blessed me
Which were girded and covered with garments he gave him; which, as often as he put on and girded his loins with, put him in mind of his generous benefactor, and this put him upon sending up an ejaculatory wish to heaven, that all happiness and blessedness might attend him, who had so comfortably clothed him; see ( Job 29:13 ) ;

and [if] he were [not] warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
not with a fleece of wool as taken off the back of the sheep, or with a sheep's skin, having the wool on it, but with it, as made up into cloth; with a woollen garment, which was a kind of clothing that very early obtained, and is what is warm and comfortable, see ( Deuteronomy 22:11 ) . Job clothed the naked, not with gay apparel, which was not necessary, but with decent and useful raiment, and not with the fleece of other men's sheep, but with the fleece of his own sheep, or with cloth made of the wool of his own flock, giving what was his own and not others; which always should be observed in acts of charity; see ( 2 Samuel 12:4 ) . Thus Christ, the antitype of Job, feeds the poor and the fatherless whom he finds, though he does not leave them so; it is at his own table, and with his own bread, with provisions of his own making; and clothes them with the robe of his righteousness, and garments of salvation, which is a clothing and a covering to them, and secures them from perishing, and causes joy and gladness in them, ( Isaiah 61:10 ) .

Job 31:20 In-Context

18 (for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father, and from my mother's womb I guided the widow),
19 if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or the needy without covering,
20 if his body has not blessed me, and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
21 if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate,
22 then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket.

Cross References 1

  • 1. Job 29:13; Deuteronomy 24:13

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Hebrew if his loins have not blessed me
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.