Job 31:17

17 And I do eat my morsel by myself, And the orphan hath not eat 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 Did not He that made me in the womb make him? Yea, prepare us in the womb doth One.

16 If I withhold from pleasure the poor, And the eyes of the widow do consume,

17 And I do eat my morsel by myself, And the orphan hath not eat of it,

18 (But from my youth He grew up with me as [with] a father, And from the belly of my mother I am led.)

19 If I see [any] perishing without clothing, And there is no covering to the needy,