Job 31:17

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

If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me; Job affirms his freedom from unfairness toward his servants: from harshness and oppression toward the needy.

Eaten my morsel myself alone; without communicating part of my provisions or estate to the poor, as it follows. The fatherless: this one kind of necessitous persons is put for all the rest.

Job 31:17 Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;Ver. 17. Or have eaten my morsel myself alone] As that churl Nabal did, and therefore merited the title of Pamphagus. Many rich wretches are like little children, who, though they have their mouths full of food and both their hands full, yet will part with none to another, but rather mar it. The richer they are the harder, as Dives; whom, to upbraid, Lazarus was laid in the bosom of liberal Abraham, of whom it is recorded, that he sat in the door of his tent in the heat of the day (the usual time of repose and repast) purposely to invite passengers, Genesis 18:1. He pursued hospitality, as the apostle’ s expression is, Romans 12:13, and a very hearty householder he was. Think the same of Job, whose cup overflowed into other men’ s lesser vessels, as Psalms 23:5, neither did anything he eat do him good without some good company to take part with him. Charity is no churl. Of a certan bishop of Lincoln the story is told, that he never thought he had that thing which he did not give, Quod nondum dederit, nondum se credit habere. Hoc habeo quodcunque dedi, saith Seneca; and another (Martial), Quas dederis solas, semper habebis, opes. And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof] These were his fellow commoners; and the like is reported of Charles the Great, and of Bishop Hooper, who had his board of beggars, widows, and orphans sent for to his palace in Worcester, and served every day with whole and wholesome meats ere himself sat down to dinner. Neither were these any losers by their liberality. The flowers hurt not their own fruit, though they yield honey to the painful bee. The sun loseth not light, though it lend it to the moon. But as the moon, the fuller she is of light the farther she gets from the sun, and as the sun moveth slowest when he is highest in the zodiac; so are those farthest off from bounty, for the most part, who abound most in plenty. Your fattest men have the least blood, and your richest men do the least good. Whereas those that are rich in this world should be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate to widows and fatherless especially, sith those are God’ s own clients, 1 Timothy 6:17.

Verse 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, Τομενγαρδειπνονφασικοιναδιατηνκοινωνιανκαλεισθαι·καθ' ἑαυτουςγαρηριστωνεπιεικωςοἱπαλαιρωμαιοι, συνδειπνουντεςτοιςφιλοις. "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.

13–23. Job repudiates all misuse of the power which his rank gave him, denying (1) that he treated contemptuously his servants when they had a cause against him, Job 31:13-15; (2) that he was indifferent to the wants of the unprotected, or refused to bestow on them of his own bread and raiment, Job 31:16-20; (3) that he violently wronged any, even though he could have secured a judgment favourable to him before the tribunal, Job 31:21; after which follows the imprecation, Job 31:22-23.

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.