Job 31:17

17 And if too I ate my morsel alone, and did not impart to the orphan;

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 Were not they too formed as I also was formed in the womb? yea, we were formed in the same womb.

16 But the helpless missed not whatever need they had, and I did not cause the eye of the widow to fail.

17 And if too I ate my morsel alone, and did not impart to the orphan;

18 (for I nourished as a father from my youth and guided from my mother's womb.)

19 And if too I overlooked the naked as he was perishing, and did not clothe him;