Job 29:16

“I [was] a father to the poor, etc.] Not in a literal sense; for his children were rich as well as himself, while he had them; but in a civil sense, he was the patron of the poor; he was an advocate for them, he took their part, he pleaded their cause, defended their persons, and secured the little property they had; he had the pity and compassion of a father for them, and supplied their wants; he fed them and clothed them; he did not eat his morsel alone, but gave them part of it, and warmed them with the fleece of his flock: and the cause [which] I knew not I searched out; any cause that was brought before him, he knew thing of before, and which, upon the opening of it, did not appear plain…”

“So far was I from "breaking the arms of the fatherless," as Eliphaz asserts (Job 22:9), I was a "father" to such. the cause which I knew not--rather, "of him whom I knew not," the stranger (Pro 29:7 [UMBREIT]; contrast Luk 18:1, &c.). Applicable to almsgiving (Psa 41:1); but here primarily, judicial conscientiousness (Job 31:13).”

“I was a father to the poor - I took them under my protection, and treated them as if they were my own children. And the cause which I knew not I searched out - This is according to the interpretation of Jerome. But the more probable meaning is, “the cause of him who was unknown to me, that is, of the stranger, I searched out.” So Rosenmuller, Herder, Umbreit, and Good. According to this, the sense is, that, as a magistrate, he gave particular attention to the cause of the stranger, and investigated it with care. It is possible that Job here designs specifically to reply to the charge brought against him by Eliphaz in Job 22:6 ff. The duty of showing particular attention to the stranger is…”

“29:16 Job actively searched out and assisted strangers who needed help.”

“a father: Job 31:18; Est 2:7; Psa 68:5; Eph 5:1; Jam 1:27 the cause: Exo 18:26; Deu 13:14, Deu 17:8-10; Kg1 3:16-28; Pro 25:2, Pro 29:7 Job 29:17”