Hebrew Bible Study
Hebrew Bible Study

Commentary for Job 31:18

כִּ֣י מִ֭נְּעוּרַי גְּדֵלַ֣נִי כְאָ֑ב וּמִבֶּ֖טֶן אִמִּ֣י אַנְחֶֽנָּה׃

Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, And I have been her guide from my mother’s womb.

Rashi on Job

For, from my youth it raised me This virtue [raised me] as a father who raises me and teaches me. So did the uprightness of my heart teach me from my youth.
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Malbim on Job

The meaning of this verse - כי מנעורי גדלני כאב ומבטן אמי אנחנה - presents many problems. Noting that biblical commentators have difficulties with this verse, Malbim posits that Job was a fatherless orphan who was cared for and brought up by God and that he in turn had cared for his widowed mother from childhood. The suggestion that Job was orphaned at an early age is totally original.
Intriguingly, the interpretation Malbim gives to the verse is reminiscent of his own personal experiences. An only son, his father died when he was just six years old. His mother subsequently married the local Rabbi, who was probably also his teacher. His devotion to both of them is recorded in the Preface to his first book - ארצות החיים - The Lands of the Living, (Breslau, 1836).
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Rashi on Job

and from my mother’s womb I led it This trait.
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