properly · verb, piel active participle, masculine singular absolute
fatherless
וְ֝יָת֗וֹםve.ya.Tom
H3490
a bereaved person · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
help
עֹזֵ֥ר'o.Zer
H5826
to surround · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 72:12 For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.
Proverbs 21:13 Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
Exodus 22:22-24 Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.
James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself u…
Deuteronomy 10:18 He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.
Psalms 68:5 A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.
Psalms 82:2-4 How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
Proverbs 24:11-12 If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain;
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 29:7-17
We have here Job in a post of honour and power. Though he had comfort enough in his own house, yet he did not confine himself to that. We are not born for ourselves, but for the public. When any business was to be done in the gate, the place of judgment, Job went out to it through the city (Job 29:7), not in an affectation of pomp, but in an affection to justice. Observe, Judgment was administered in the gate, in the street, in the places of concourse, to which every man might have a free access, that every one who would might be a witness to all that was said and done, and that when judgment was given against the guilty others might hear and fear. Job being a prince, a judge, a magistrate,…
The grounds on which Job was praised (Job 29:11), his helping the afflicted (Psa 72:12) who cried to him for help, as a judge, or as one possessed of means of charity. Translate: "The fatherless who had none to help him."
John Gill on Job 29:12
Because I delivered the poor that cried,.... This honour and esteem he had not because of his grandeur and riches, because of his worldly wealth and substance, but because of the goodness of his disposition, and because of the good he did to men, his acts of pity and compassion to the poor, and of the justice he did to all men; the poor and the afflicted, when they cried to him for help, he delivered them out of the hands of their oppressors:
and the fatherless; the care and defence of which belongs to judges and civil magistrates, see Psalm 82:1;
and him that had none to help him; as the poor and fatherless seldom have; there is power on the side of the oppressors of them, but they have f…
11 For an ear heard, and called me happy;
And an eye saw, and bear witness to me:
12 For I rescued the sufferer who cried for help,
And the orphan, and him that had no helper.
13 The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me,
And I made the widow's heart rejoice.
14 I put on justice, and it put me on;
As a robe and turban was my integrity.
Thus imposing was the impression of his personal appearance wherever he appeared; for (כּי explic.) the fulness of the blessing of the possession of power and of prosperity which he enjoyed was so extraordinary, that one had only to hear of it to call him happy, and that, especially if any one saw it with his own eyes, he was obliged to bear la…
The Church Fathers
Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I comforted the widow's heart. [HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION] Great mercifulness these deeds are proofs of, to 'deliver the poor that crieth,' to minister aid to the 'fatherless,' to rescue one on the point to perish, to 'cheer the heart of the widow.' For above it was said what he put forth in respect of instruction. For he says; The ear hearing blessed me; but now he relates what he rendered in respect of mercifulness, saying, Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. Since the voice along with the deed of necessity accords with itself. [ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION] These things blessed Job both exhibited to those under him, and thus notwithstanding represented them as destined to be exhibited by Holy Church. Who doth now unceasingly enact both one and the other, that is to say, that her children she should at once feed by speaking, and protect by shielding, so that she should at once by words replenish the good, and by her patronage defend them from the evil. Now it is well written; Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind. Which really and truly happened in such a way, that it was a sign of something really and truly to happen. For by 'the earth' the Church is represented, which both regales us with the provender of the word, and keeps us safe by the shadow of her patronage; which both by speaking feeds and by aiding protects, so that she should not only bring forth the herb of refreshment, but also along with the fruit of the deed, the tree of protection. [HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION] I see that it also deserves to be well considered by those who head the governments of the common herds, that in saying above, The young men saw me and hid themselves; he now affirms, I comforted the widow's heart. What great discipline of rule, that before his presence 'the young men' should 'hide themselves!' What great mildness of pitying that by him 'the widows' hearts should be cheered!' For there are some persons so severe that they lose even all gentleness of kindly affection, and there are some so mild, that they part with the lights of strict rule. Whence by all rulers both are with all diligence…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Beneficence · .Job — .Job
Fatherless · Blessedness of taking care of — Blessedness of taking care of
Magistrates · Should: Defend the poor — Should: Defend the poor
Orphan · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Poor · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Poor, The · Regard for — Exemplified: Job — Regard for — Exemplified: Job
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
