What is the meaning of Job 31:17?

if I have eaten

– Job frames a conditional statement, inviting God’s judgment if he has been selfish.

– He is in the midst of a series of oaths (Job 31:5-40) declaring his innocence; here he specifically focuses on compassion.

– Scripture repeatedly shows God examining motives (1 Samuel 16:7; Psalm 139:23-24) and rewarding integrity (Proverbs 11:3).

– Job’s stance mirrors the call to righteous self-examination found in 1 Corinthians 11:28 and 2 Corinthians 13:5.

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my morsel alone

– “Morsel” highlights everyday provision; Job is talking about ordinary meals, not extraordinary banquets.

– The law commanded open-handedness even in daily life (Leviticus 19:9-10; Deuteronomy 8:10-11).

– Refusing to hoard echoes the wisdom that “one who refreshes others will himself be refreshed” (Proverbs 11:25).

– Ezekiel 16:49 points to selfish ease and neglect of the needy as marks of societal sin.

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not sharing it

• Sharing is presented as a covenant responsibility, not an optional courtesy.

• Isaiah 58:7 links true fasting with “dividing your bread with the hungry.”

• In the New Testament, believers break bread “from house to house” and distribute to anyone who had need (Acts 2:46-47; 4:34-35).

• 1 John 3:17 asks, “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no compassion on him, how can the love of God be in him?” Job anticipates this standard centuries earlier.

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with the fatherless

– Orphans were among the most vulnerable; God identifies Himself as their defender (Psalm 68:5; Exodus 22:22-24).

– Deuteronomy 14:29 commands that tithes support the fatherless, the widow, and the stranger.

– James 1:27 reinforces the same heart: “to care for orphans and widows in their distress.”

– Job’s willingness to be judged if he ever failed this duty shows he understood God’s character of steadfast mercy (Psalm 146:9).

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summary

Job stakes his integrity on everyday generosity. If he ever kept even a single meal to himself while an orphan went hungry, he invites divine penalty. Scripture from Moses to the apostles echoes the same principle: God’s people must open their tables, wallets, and lives to those who cannot repay. True righteousness is proven not in grand gestures but in consistent, compassionate sharing of “our morsel” with the fatherless and all in need.