Job 31:17

King James Version

Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;

Parallel Translations

New Living Translation
Have I been stingy with my food and refused to share it with orphans?

English Revised Version
Or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;

Update Bible Version
Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the fatherless has not eaten thereof

New Century Version
I have not kept my food to myself but have given it to the orphans.

New English Translation
If I ate my morsel of bread myself, and did not share any of it with orphans—

Webster's Bible Translation
Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten of it;

World English Bible
Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the fatherless has not eaten of it

Amplified Bible
Or have eaten my morsel [of food] alone, And did not share it with the orphan

English Standard Version
or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
if Y aloone eet my mussel, and a faderles child eet not therof;

Berean Standard Bible
if I have eaten my morsel alone, not sharing it with the fatherless-

Contemporary English Version
and I have always shared my food with orphans.

American Standard Version
Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof

Bible in Basic English
If I kept my food for myself, and did not give some of it to the child with no father;

Complete Jewish Bible
or ate my portion of food by myself, without letting the orphan eat any of it —

Darby Translation
Or have eaten my morsel alone, so that the fatherless ate not thereof,

Easy-to-Read Version
I have never been selfish with my food. I shared what I had with orphans.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof--

King James Version (1611)
Or haue eaten my morsell my selfe alone, and the fatherlesse hath not eaten thereof:

New Life Bible
if I have eaten my food alone without sharing it with the child who has no parents,

New Revised Standard
or have eaten my morsel alone, and the orphan has not eaten from it—

Geneva Bible (1587)
Or haue eaten my morsels alone, and the fatherles hath not eaten thereof,

George Lamsa Translation
Or have eaten my bread alone, and the orphans did not eat of it

Good News Translation
or let orphans go hungry while I ate.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Or, used to eat my morsel alone, so that the fatherless did not eat thereof;

Douay-Rheims Bible
If I have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof:

Revised Standard Version
or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it

Bishop's Bible (1568)
If I haue eaten my morsell alone, that ye fatherlesse hath not eaten therof:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And if too I ate my morsel alone, and did not impart of it to the orphan;

Christian Standard Bible®
if I have eaten my few crumbs alonewithout letting the fatherless eat any of it—

Hebrew Names Version
Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the fatherless has not eaten of it

Lexham English Bible
or I have eaten my morsel alone, and the orphan has not eaten from it

Literal Translation
or have eaten my bit alone, and the orphan has not eaten it,

Young's Literal Translation
And I do eat my morsel by myself, And the orphan hath not eat of it,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Haue I eaten my porcion alone, that the fatherles hath had no parte with me?

New American Standard Bible
Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the orphan has not shared it

New King James Version
Or eaten my morsel by myself, So that the fatherless could not eat of it

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the orphan has not shared it

Legacy Standard Bible
Or have eaten my morsel alone,And the orphan has not eaten from it

Contextual Overview

¹⁶ If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail; ¹⁷ Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof; ¹⁸ (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother's womb;) ¹⁹ If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering; ²⁰ If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; ²¹ If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate: ²² Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone. ²³ For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

have: Deuteronomy 15:11, Deuteronomy 15:14, Nehemiah 8:10, Luke 11:41, John 13:29, Acts 4:32

the fatherless: Job 29:13-16, Ezekiel 18:7, Ezekiel 18:16, Romans 12:13, James 1:27, 1 John 3:17

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 25:11 - Shall I then Job 6:27 - the fatherless Job 22:7 - not given Job 24:3 - drive Job 31:32 - The stranger Psalms 68:5 - A father Matthew 14:16 - they

Cross-References

Genesis 24:10
And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.

Genesis 24:61
And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.

1 Samuel 30:17
And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Or have eaten my morsel myself alone - If I have not imparted what I had though ever so small, to others. This was in accordance with the Oriental laws of hospitality. It is regarded as a fixed law among the Arabians, that the guest shall always be helped first, and to that which is best; and no matter how needy the family may be, or how much distressed with hunger, the settled laws of hospitality demand that the stranger-guest shall have the first and best portion. Dr. Robinson, in his “Biblical Researches,” gives an amusing instance of the extent to which this law is carried, and the sternness with which it is executed among the Arabs. In the journey from Suez to Mount Sinai, intending to furnish a supper for the Arabs in their employ, he and his fellow-travelers had bought a kid, and led it along to the place of their encampment. At night the kid was killed and roasted, and the Arabs were anticipating a savory supper.

But those of whom they had bought the kid, learned in some way that they were to encamp near, and naturally concluded that the kid was bought to be eaten, and followed them to the place of encampment, to the number of five or six persons. “Now the stern law of Arabian hospitality demands, that whenever a guest is present at a meal, whether there be much or little, the first and best portion must be laid before the stranger. In this instance the five or six guests attained their object, and had not only the selling of the kid, but also the eating of it, while our poor Arabs, whose mouths had long been watering with expectation, were forced to take up with the fragments.” Vol. 1:118. There is often, indeed, much ostentation in the hospitality of the Orientals, but the law is stern and inflexible. “No sooner,” says Shaw (Travels, vol. 1:p. 20), “was our food prepared, than one of the Arabs, having placed himself on the highest spot of ground in the neighborhood, called out thrice with a loud voice to all their brethren, the sons of the faithful, to come and partake of it; though none of them were in view, or perhaps within a hundred miles of them.” The great law of hospitality Job says he had carefully observed, and had not withheld what he had from the poor and the fatherless.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 31:17. Or have eaten my morsel myself alone — Hospitality was a very prominent virtue among the ancients in almost all nations: friends and strangers were equally welcome to the board of the affluent. The supper was their grand meal: it was then that they saw their friends; the business and fatigues of the day being over, they could then enjoy themselves comfortably together. The supper was called coena on this account; or, as Plutarch says, Το μεν γαρ δειπνον φασι κοινα δια την κοινωνιαν καλεισθαι· καθ' ἑαυτους γαρ ηριστων επιεικως οἱ παλαι ρωμαιοι, συνδειπνουντες τοις φιλοις. "The ancient Romans named supper COENA, (κοινα,) which signifies communion (κοινωνια) or fellowship; for although they dined alone, they supped with their friends." - PLUT. Symp. lib. viii., prob. 6, p. 687. But Job speaks here of dividing his bread with the hungry: Or have eaten my morsel myself alone. And he is a poor despicable caitiff who would eat it alone, while there was another at hand, full as hungry as himself.