Bible Commentaries
Job 31

Introduction

CHAPTER 31

:-.

Verse 1

1-4. He asserts his guarding against being allured to sin by his senses.

think—rather, "cast a (lustful) look." He not merely did not so, but put it out of the question by covenanting with his eyes against leading him into temptation (Proverbs 6:25; Matthew 5:28).

Verse 2

2. Had I let my senses tempt me to sin, "what portion (would there have been to me, that is, must I have expected) from (literally, of) God above, and what inheritance from (literally, of) the Almighty," c. [MAURER] (Job 20:29 Job 27:13).

Verse 3

3. Answer to the question in :-.

strange—extraordinary.

Verse 4

4. Doth not he see? &c.—Knowing this, I could only have expected "destruction" ( :-), had I committed this sin ( :-).

Verse 5

5. Job's abstinence from evil deeds.

vanity—that is, falsehood (Psalms 12:2).

Verse 6

6. Parenthetical. Translate: "Oh, that God would weigh me . . . then would He know," &c.

Verse 7

7. Connected with :-.

the way—of God (Job 23:11; Jeremiah 5:5). A godly life.

heart . . . after . . . eyes—if my heart coveted, what my eyes beheld (Ecclesiastes 11:9; Joshua 7:21).

hands— (Joshua 7:21- :).

Verse 8

8. Apodosis to Job 31:5; Job 31:7; the curses which he imprecates on himself, if he had done these things (Leviticus 26:16; Amos 9:14; Psalms 128:2).

offspring—rather, "what I plant," my harvests.

Verse 9

9-12. Job asserts his innocence of adultery.

deceived—hath let itself be seduced (Proverbs 7:8; Genesis 39:7-12).

laid wait—until the husband went out.

Verse 10

10. grind—turn the handmill. Be the most abject slave and concubine (Isaiah 47:2; 2 Samuel 12:11).

Verse 11

11. In the earliest times punished with death (Genesis 38:24). So in later times (Deuteronomy 22:22). Heretofore he had spoken only of sins against conscience; now, one against the community, needing the cognizance of the judge.

Verse 12

12. (Proverbs 6:27-35; Proverbs 8:6-23; Proverbs 8:26; Proverbs 8:27). No crime more provokes God to send destruction as a consuming fire; none so desolates the soul.

Verse 13

13-23. Job affirms his freedom from unfairness towards his servants, from harshness and oppression towards the needy.

despise the cause—refused to do them justice.

Verse 14

14, 15. Parenthetical; the reason why Job did not despise the cause of his servants. Translate: What then (had I done so) could I have done, when God arose (to call me to account); and when He visited (came to enquire), what could I have answered Him?

Verse 15

15. Slaveholders try to defend themselves by maintaining the original inferiority of the slave. But Malachi 2:10; Acts 17:26; Ephesians 6:9 make the common origin of masters and servants the argument for brotherly love being shown by the former to the latter.

Verse 16

16. fail—in the vain expectation of relief (Job 11:20).

Verse 17

17. Arabian rules of hospitality require the stranger to be helped first, and to the best.

Verse 18

18. Parenthetical: asserting that he did the contrary to the things in Job 31:16; Job 31:17.

he—the orphan.

guided her—namely, the widow, by advice and protection. On this and "a father," see Job 29:16.

Verse 19

19. perish—that is, ready to perish (Job 29:13).

Verse 20

20. loins—The parts of the body benefited by Job are poetically described as thanking him; the loins before naked, when clad by me, wished me every blessing.

Verse 21

21. when—that is, "because."

I saw—that I might calculate on the "help" of a powerful party in the court of justice—("gate"), if I should be summoned by the injured fatherless.

Verse 22

22. Apodosis to Job 31:13; Job 31:16; Job 31:17; Job 31:19; Job 31:20; Job 31:21. If I had done those crimes, I should have made a bad use of my influence ("my arm," figuratively, Job 31:21): therefore, if I have done them let my arm (literally) suffer. Job alludes to Eliphaz' charge (Job 31:21- :). The first "arm" is rather the shoulder. The second "arm" is the forearm.

from the bone—literally, "a reed"; hence the upper arm, above the elbow.

Verse 23

23. For—that is, the reason why Job guarded against such sins. Fear of God, though he could escape man's judgment ( :-). UMBREIT more spiritedly translates, Yea, destruction and terror from God might have befallen me (had I done so): mere fear not being the motive.

highness—majestic might.

endure—I could have availed nothing against it.

Verse 24

24, 25. Job asserts his freedom from trust in money (1 Timothy 6:17). Here he turns to his duty towards God, as before he had spoken of his duty towards himself and his neighbor. Covetousness is covert idolatry, as it transfers the heart from the Creator to the creature (Colossians 3:5). In Job 31:26; Job 31:27 he passes to overt idolatry.

Verse 26

26. If I looked unto the sun (as an object of worship) because he shined; or to the moon because she walked, c. Sabaism (from tsaba, "the heavenly hosts") was the earliest form of false worship. God is hence called in contradistinction, "Lord of Sabaoth." The sun, moon, and stars, the brightest objects in nature, and seen everywhere, were supposed to be visible representatives of the invisible God. They had no temples, but were worshipped on high places and roofs of houses (Ezekiel 8:16 Deuteronomy 4:19; 2 Kings 23:5; 2 Kings 23:11). The Hebrew here for "sun" is light. Probably light was worshipped as the emanation from God, before its embodiments, the sun, c. This worship prevailed in Chaldea wherefore Job's exemption from the idolatry of his neighbors was the more exemplary. Our "Sun-day," "Mon-day," or Moon-day, bear traces of Sabaism.

Verse 27

27. enticed—away from God to idolatry.

kissed . . . hand—"adoration," literally means this. In worshipping they used to kiss the hand, and then throw the kiss, as it were, towards the object of worship (1 Kings 19:18; Hosea 13:2).

Verse 28

28. The Mosaic law embodied subsequently the feeling of the godly from the earliest times against idolatry, as deserving judicial penalties: being treason against the Supreme King (Deuteronomy 13:9; Deuteronomy 17:2-7; Ezekiel 8:14-18). This passage therefore does not prove Job to have been subsequent to Moses.

Verse 29

29. lifted up myself—in malicious triumph (Proverbs 17:5; Proverbs 24:17; Psalms 7:4).

Verse 30

30. mouth—literally, "palate." (See on Job 6:30).

wishing—literally, "so as to demand his (my enemy's) soul," that is, "life by a curse." This verse parenthetically confirms Job 6:30- :. Job in the patriarchal age of the promise, anterior to the law, realizes the Gospel spirit, which was the end of the law (compare Leviticus 19:18; Deuteronomy 23:6; Matthew 5:43; Matthew 5:44).

Verse 31

31. That is, Job's household said, Oh, that we had Job's enemy to devour, we cannot rest satisfied till we have! But Job refrained from even wishing revenge (1 Samuel 26:8; 2 Samuel 16:9; 2 Samuel 16:10). So Jesus Christ (Luke 9:54; Luke 9:55). But, better (see Luke 9:55- :), translated, "Who can show (literally, give) the man who was not satisfied with the flesh (meat) provided by Job?" He never let a poor man leave his gate without giving him enough to eat.

Verse 32

32. traveller—literally, "way," that is, wayfarers; so expressed to include all of every kind (2 Samuel 12:4).

Verse 33

33. Adam—translated by UMBREIT, "as men do" (Hosea 6:7, where see Margin). But English Version is more natural. The very same word for "hiding" is used in Genesis 3:8; Genesis 3:10, of Adam hiding himself from God. Job elsewhere alludes to the flood. So he might easily know of the fall, through the two links which connect Adam and Abraham (about Job's time), namely, Methuselah and Shem. Adam is representative of fallen man's propensity to concealment (Genesis 3:10- :). It was from God that Job did not "hide his iniquity in his bosom," as on the contrary it was from God that "Adam" hid in his lurking-place. This disproves the translation, "as men"; for it is from their fellow men that "men" are chiefly anxious to hide their real character as guilty. MAGEE, to make the comparison with Adam more exact, for my "bosom" translates, "lurking-place."

Verse 34

34. Rather, the apodosis to :-, "Then let me be fear-stricken before a great multitude, let the contempt, c., let me keep silence (the greatest disgrace to a patriot, heretofore so prominent in assemblies), and not go out," &c. A just retribution that he who hides his sin from God, should have it exposed before man ( :-). But Job had not been so exposed, but on the contrary was esteemed in the assemblies of the "tribes"—("families") a proof, he implies, that God does not hold him guilty of hiding sin (Job 24:16, contrast with Job 24:16- :).

Verse 35

35. Job returns to his wish (Job 13:22; Job 19:23). Omit "is"; "Behold my sign," that is, my mark of subscription to the statements just given in my defense: the mark of signature was originally a cross; and hence the letter Tau or T. Translate, also "Oh, that the Almighty," &c. He marks "God" as the "One" meant in the first clause.

adversary—that is, he who contends with me, refers also to God. The vagueness is designed to express "whoever it be that judicially opposes me"—the Almighty if it be He.

had written a book—rather, "would write down his charge."

Verse 36

36. So far from hiding the adversary's "answer" or "charge" through fear,

I would take it on my shoulders—as a public honor ( :-).

a crown—not a mark of shame, but of distinction ( :-).

Verse 37

37. A good conscience imparts a princely dignity before man and free assurance in approaching God. This can be realized, not in Job's way (Job 42:5; Job 42:6); but only through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:22).

Verse 38

38. Personification. The complaints of the unjustly ousted proprietors are transferred to the lands themselves (Job 31:20; Genesis 4:10; Habakkuk 2:11). If I have unjustly acquired lands (Job 24:2; Isaiah 5:8).

furrows—The specification of these makes it likely, he implies in this, "If I paid not the laborer for tillage"; as Isaiah 5:8- :, "If I paid him not for gathering in the fruits." Thus of the four clauses in Job 31:38; Job 31:39, the first refers to the same subject as the fourth, the second is connected with the third by introverted parallelism. Compare Job 31:39- :, which plainly alludes to this passage: compare "Lord of Sabaoth" with Job 31:26 here.

Verse 39

39. lose . . . life—not literally, but "harassed to death"; until he gave me up his land gratis [MAURER]; as in Judges 16:16; "suffered him to languish" by taking away his means of living [UMBREIT] (1 Kings 21:19).

Verse 40

40. thistles—or brambles, thorns.

cockle—literally, "noxious weeds."

The words . . . ended—that is, in the controversy with the friends. He spoke in the book afterwards, but not to them. At :- would be the regular conclusion in strict art. But :- are naturally added by one whose mind in agitation recurs to its sense of innocence, even after it has come to the usual stopping point; this takes away the appearance of rhetorical artifice. Hence the transposition by EICHORN of Job 31:38-40 to follow Job 31:25 is quite unwarranted.