Job 31:16 - Exposition

If I have withheld the poor from their desire . As Eliphaz had maintained ( Job 22:6 , Job 22:7 ), and as Job had already denied ( Job 29:12 , Job 29:16 ). The duty of relieving the poor, solemnly enjoined upon the people of Israel in the Law ( Deuteronomy 15:7-11 ), was generally admitted by the civilized nations of antiquity. In Egypt it was especially insisted on. "The Egyptian's duties to mankind," says Dr. Birch, "were comprised in giving bread to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, oil to the wounded, and burial to the dead". Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail . "Thou hast sent widows away empty," was one of the accusations of Eliphaz ( Job 22:9 ). "I caused the widow's heart," replied Job, "to sing for joy" ( Job 29:13 ). The widow's weakness has always been felt to give her a special claim on man's benevolence (see Exodus 22:22 ; Deuteronomy 14:29 ; Deuteronomy 16:11 , Deuteronomy 16:14 ; Deuteronomy 24:19 ; Deuteronomy 26:12 , Deuteronomy 26:13 ; Psalms 146:9 ; Proverbs 15:25 ; Isaiah 1:17 ; Jeremiah 7:6 ; Malachi 3:5 ; 1 Timothy 5:16 ; James 1:27 ).