Job 31:16
New International Version
“If I have denied the desires of the poor or let the eyes of the widow grow weary,

New Living Translation
“Have I refused to help the poor, or crushed the hopes of widows?

English Standard Version
“If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

Berean Standard Bible
If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,

King James Bible
If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;

New King James Version
“If I have kept the poor from their desire, Or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

New American Standard Bible
“If I have kept the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

NASB 1995
“If I have kept the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

NASB 1977
“If I have kept the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

Legacy Standard Bible
“If I have held back the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

Amplified Bible
“If I have withheld from the poor what they desired, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to look in vain [for relief],

Christian Standard Bible
If I have refused the wishes of the poor or let the widow’s eyes go blind,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
If I have refused the wishes of the poor or let the widow’s eyes go blind,

American Standard Version
If I have withheld the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
If I have withheld from the poor a thing that he desired, or if I have darkened the eyes of a widow

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

Contemporary English Version
I have never cheated widows or others in need,

Douay-Rheims Bible
If I have denied to the poor what they desired, and have made the eyes of the widow wait:

English Revised Version
If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"If I have refused the requests of the poor or made a widow's eyes stop [looking for help],

Good News Translation
I have never refused to help the poor; never have I let widows live in despair

International Standard Version
"If I refused to grant the desire of the poor or exhausted the eyes of the widow,

JPS Tanakh 1917
If I have withheld aught that the poor desired, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;

Literal Standard Version
If I withhold the poor from pleasure, | And consume the eyes of the widow,

Majority Standard Bible
If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,

New American Bible
If I have denied anything that the poor desired, or allowed the eyes of the widow to languish

NET Bible
If I have refused to give the poor what they desired, or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

New Revised Standard Version
“If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

New Heart English Bible
"If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

Webster's Bible Translation
If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;

World English Bible
“If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

Young's Literal Translation
If I withhold from pleasure the poor, And the eyes of the widow do consume,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Job's Final Appeal
15Did not He who made me in the womb also make them? Did not the same One form us in the womb? 16If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail, 17if I have eaten my morsel alone, not sharing it with the fatherless—…

Cross References
James 1:27
Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Exodus 22:22
You must not mistreat any widow or orphan.

Job 5:16
So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.

Job 20:19
For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor; he has seized houses he did not build.

Job 22:7
You gave no water to the weary and withheld food from the famished,

Job 22:9
You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.

Proverbs 22:22
Do not rob a poor man because he is poor, and do not crush the afflicted at the gate,


Treasury of Scripture

If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;

withheld

Job 22:7-9
Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry…

Deuteronomy 15:7-10
If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: …

Psalm 112:9
He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour.

the eyes

Deuteronomy 28:32
Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand.

Psalm 69:3
I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.

Psalm 119:82,123
Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me? …

Jump to Previous
Aught Caused Consume Denied Desire Desired Desires Eye Eyes Fail Grow Help Kept Pleasure Poor Purpose Weary Widow Widow's Withheld Withhold
Jump to Next
Aught Caused Consume Denied Desire Desired Desires Eye Eyes Fail Grow Help Kept Pleasure Poor Purpose Weary Widow Widow's Withheld Withhold
Job 31
1. Job makes a solemn protestation of his integrity in several duties














Verse 16. - If I have withheld the poor from their desire. As Eliphaz had maintained (Job 22:6, 7), and as Job had already denied (Job 29:12, 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" ('Egypt from the Earliest Times,' p. 46). 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, 14; Deuteronomy 24:19; Deuteronomy 26:12, 13; Psalm 146:9; Proverbs 15:25; Isaiah 1:17; Jeremiah 7:6; Malachi 3:5; 1 Timothy 5:16; James 1:27).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
If
אִם־ (’im-)
Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

I have denied
אֶ֭מְנַע (’em·na‘)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 4513: To debar, from benefit, injury

the desires
מֵחֵ֣פֶץ (mê·ḥê·p̄eṣ)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 2656: Pleasure, desire, a valuable thing, a matter

of the poor
דַּלִּ֑ים (dal·lîm)
Adjective - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1800: Dangling, weak, thin

or allowed the widow’s
אַלְמָנָ֣ה (’al·mā·nāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 490: A widow, a desolate place

eyes
וְעֵינֵ֖י (wə·‘ê·nê)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - cdc
Strong's 5869: An eye, a fountain

to fail,
אֲכַלֶּֽה׃ (’ă·ḵal·leh)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 3615: To be complete, at an end, finished, accomplished, or spent


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OT Poetry: Job 31:16 If I have withheld the poor (Jb)
Job 31:15
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