“If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;”
If I have seen anyone perishing without clothing or the needy without covering, establishing Job's claim that he has not observed the destitute without responding to their nakedness. The seeing of the perishing in rags and the needy without covering suggests observation of visible deprivation. The implication is that when Job sees such deprivation, he acts to remedy it. The verse establishes Job's claim of responsive compassion.
Church Fathers on Job 31:19
If I despised any passing by, because he had no covering, and a poor man without clothing, if his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep. Because he did not despise the poor, he displayed the virtue of humility; and because he covered him, of pitifulness. For these two virtues ought to be so linked together, as to be even supported by reciprocal practice; that so neither humility, when it reverences a fellow-creature, should abandon…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!