“If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;”
If his loins have not blessed me and he has not been warmed by the fleece of my sheep, extending the depiction by specifying that Job's provision has been concrete and warm—sheep's wool providing protection from cold. The blessing of loins suggests gratitude for physical provision that protects and warms. The warming by fleece of Job's own sheep suggests that Job has given up his own possessions to warm others. The verse emphasizes concrete, personal sacrifice for others' welfare.
Church Fathers on Job 31:20
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
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