(for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father, and from my mother's womb I guided the widow ),
Job's last speech is a sworn defence of his whole life, listed sin by sin before God. Verse 18 breaks in with a memory of an orphan and a widow, and it raises two questions: who is the father here, and can a good record settle anything before God?
Inside a list of things Job never did
The verses around it list kindnesses Job never withheld — and the curse he calls down on himself if he is lying:
Leslie M. GrantIn verses 16-21 he speaks of sins of omission also. Suppose he had not helped the poor. Suppose he had ignored the plight of the widow, and had kept all he had for himself, so that the fatherless were left hungry. Then, he says, "let my arm fall from my shoulder, let my arm be torn from the socket" (v.22). In contrast to this, notice his words in parenthesis (v.18), "But from my youth I reared him (the fatherless) as a father, and from my mother's womb I guided the widow."
Father to the orphan, son to the widow
An orphan has no father. A widow has no husband. Job did not just send help. He stepped into the empty place:
Samuel RidoutReaching out to the poor in need, he shared his food with the fatherless and the widow, and he warmed them with his clothing. In short, he was as a father to the orphan, and as a son to the widow. Surely we have here an illustration of religion that is "pure and undefiled" (James 1:27).
Not a mood, but a lifetime
"From my youth" is the key phrase. It turns single acts of kindness into a settled way of living. And that way of living reached far beyond Job's own household:
William KellyIt was not only a strong sense of kinship inside his own household. His compassion always went out to suffering people — the widow and the fatherless, the needy and the naked. He did not help them now and then. He cared for them as a father does, with care that was constant and never tired. And he kept watch over himself, so that he never used his influence with others to take the least advantage.
A second reading of the same words
The phrase "from my mother's womb" pushes the claim back to birth, and translations and commentators handle it in two ways. The writers above read Job as the one who raised the orphan. On the other reading, God is the father here, caring for Job from before his birth. That makes the end of the book sharper still:
The Bible TreasuryThe book of Job records God's lovingkindness in His dealings with this patient man from his earliest days (Job 31:18, amended). "He brought me up as a father, and guided me from my mother's womb." Yet Job is brought to confess, despite all that God had been to him, "I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes." In the end his sufferings set him free from himself, and even greater blessing marks the close of his story.
The record is true — and still not enough
So Job's conscience was clear. Why did that not settle his case?
William KellyHe had a completely good conscience, but that is not enough. There is the great principle of self-judgment. There is also the grand principle of full submission to God, and of vindicating Him. He is right and wise in all of it — not only in what He does, but in what He allows.
So the chapter ends in exhaustion, not peace:
Charles StanleyIf any man could have justified himself by good works, Job was the man... As to his kindness to the poor, he was the very opposite of the lying charges brought against him. So he lets his memory count up every good act of his life, but it all fails to give rest to his troubled spirit. I, I, I, I did this, I did not do that. But it is all of no use.
Summary
- Parenthesis — The verse breaks into a list of things Job never did. His answer to the charge is a memory: he raised the orphan and guided the widow.
- Substitute — Job did more than give. He took the missing place: a father to the orphan, a son to the widow. That is religion pure and undefiled.
- Lifelong — "From my youth" marks care that was constant and never tired. It reached past his own household, and he never used his influence to take the least advantage.
- Reversed — On the other reading it is God who fathers Job from the womb. Job still ends by saying he despises himself and repents in dust and ashes.
- Not enough — The record is true, but a clear conscience toward people is not enough. "I, I, I did this" gives no rest. Job must still bow to God.