Job 31:17

17 or have eaten my morsel alone and the fatherless has not eaten thereof;

Job 31:17 Meaning and Commentary

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 calls provisions a "morsel"; however, be it what it would, more or less, he did not eat it alone; what he had for himself the poor had a share of it with him, and the same he ate himself he gave to them:

and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof:
meaning the poor fatherless: for as to the rich fatherless, it was no charity to feed them: this verse contradicts the charge exhibited against him, ( Job 22:7 ) .

Job 31:17 In-Context

15 Did not he that made me in the belly also make him? And did not the same one fashion us in the womb?

16 If I have disturbed the desire of the poor or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;

17 or have eaten my morsel alone and the fatherless has not eaten thereof;

18 (for from my youth the fatherless was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided the widow from my mother’s womb)

19 if I have seen any perish for want of clothing or any needy without a covering;