Job 31:18

This verse is sometimes misinterpreted as Job boasting about his biological children or literal adoption practices, ignoring the proverbial language describing his habitual fatherly role toward orphans ('he') and widows or maidservants ('her') in a culture where such care exemplified righteousness; others wrongly spiritualize it solely as divine guidance for Job himself, disconnecting it from the surrounding context of social ethics and generosity toward the poor.

Job affirms his lifelong commitment to compassionate justice by treating orphans and widows with paternal care, having raised the fatherless as his own from youth and guided the needy from earliest days, reflecting a deep-seated integrity in providing for the vulnerable rather than exploiting them.