Job 31:17

17 Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the fatherless has not eaten of it

Job 31:17 Meaning and Commentary

Job 31:17

Or have eaten my morsel myself alone
Though he had kept no doubt a plentiful table in the time of his prosperity suitable to his circumstances, yet had been no luxurious person, and therefore calls provisions a "morsel"; however, be it what it would, more or less, he did not eat it alone; what he had for himself the poor had a share of it with him, and the same he ate himself he gave to them:

and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof:
meaning the poor fatherless: for as to the rich fatherless, it was no charity to feed them: this verse contradicts the charge exhibited against him, ( Job 22:7 ) .

Job 31:17 In-Context

15 Didn't he who made me in the womb make him? Didn't one fashion us in the womb?

16 "If I have withheld the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

17 Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the fatherless has not eaten of it

18 (No, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, Her have I guided from my mother's womb);

19 If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering;