Job 31:28

Complete Jewish Bible

then this too would be a criminal offense, for I would have been lying to God on high.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
this would also be an iniquity deserving punishment,for I would have denied God above.

Hebrew Names Version
This also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; For I should have denied the God who is above.

King James Version
This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.

English Standard Version
this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have been false to God above.

New Century Version
If I had, these also would have been sins to be punished, because I would have been unfaithful to God.

New English Translation
then this also would be iniquity to be judged, for I would have been false to God above.

Amplified Bible
This also would have been [a heinous] sin calling for judgment, For I would have denied God above.

New American Standard Bible
That too would have been a guilty deed calling for judgment, For I would have denied God above.

World English Bible
This also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; For I should have denied the God who is above.

Geneva Bible (1587)
(This also had bene an iniquitie to be condemned: for I had denied the God aboue)

Legacy Standard Bible
That too would have been an iniquity calling for judgment,For I would have denied God above.

Berean Standard Bible
this would also be an iniquity to be judged, for I would have denied God on high.

Contemporary English Version
Such horrible sins would have deserved punishment from God.

Darby Translation
This also would be an iniquity for the judge, for I should have denied the God who is above.

Easy-to-Read Version
This is also a sin that must be punished. If I had worshiped them, I would have been unfaithful to God All-Powerful.

George Lamsa Translation
Then God has seen my crafty ways, and I have lied before him.

Good News Translation
Such a sin should be punished by death; it denies Almighty God.

Lexham English Bible
this also is an iniquity to be judged, for I have deceived God above.

Literal Translation
this also would be an iniquity for the judges; for I would have denied God above.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
(that were a wickednesse worthy to be punyshed, for then shulde I haue denyed the God that is aboue.)

American Standard Version
This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges; For I should have denied the God that is above.

Bible in Basic English
That would have been another sin to be rewarded with punishment by the judges; for I would have been false to God on high.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges; for I should have lied to God that is above.

King James Version (1611)
This also were an iniquitie to be punished by the Iudge: For I should haue denied the God that is aboue.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
(That were a wickednesse worthy to be punished: for then shoulde I haue denyed the God that is aboue.)

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
let this also then be reckoned to me as the greatest iniquity: for I should have lied against the Lord Most High.

English Revised Version
This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges: for I should have lied to God that is above.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
which is the moost wickidnesse, and deniyng ayens hiyeste God;

Update Bible Version
This also was an iniquity to be punished by the judges; For I should have denied the God that is above.

Webster's Bible Translation
This also [were] an iniquity [to be punished by] the judge: for I should have denied the God [that is] above.

New King James Version
This also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment, For I would have denied God who is above.

New Living Translation
If so, I should be punished by the judges, for it would mean I had denied the God of heaven.

New Life Bible
these also would be sins to be judged. It would say I did not know the God above.

New Revised Standard
this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I should have been false to God above.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
That too, had been a judicial iniquity, For I should have been false to GOD, above.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Which is a very great iniquity, and a denial against the most high God.

Revised Standard Version
this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I should have been false to God above.

Young's Literal Translation
It also [is] a judicial iniquity, For I had lied to God above.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
That too would have been an iniquity calling for judgment, For I would have denied God above.

Contextual Overview

²⁴ "If I made gold my hope, if I said to fine gold, ‘You are my security,' ²⁵ if I took joy in my great wealth, in my having acquired so much; ²⁶ or if, on seeing the shining sun or the full moon as it moved through the sky, ²⁷ my heart was secretly seduced, so that I would wave them a kiss with my hand; ²⁸ then this too would be a criminal offense, for I would have been lying to God on high. ²⁹ "Did I rejoice at the destruction of him who hated me? Was I filled with glee when disaster overtook him? ³⁰ No, I did not allow my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse. ³¹ "Was there anyone in my tent who didn't say, ‘No one can find a single person whom he has not filled with his meat'? ³² No stranger had to sleep in the street; I kept my house open to the traveler.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

an: Job 31:11, Job 9:15, Job 23:7, Genesis 18:25, Deuteronomy 17:2-7, Deuteronomy 17:9, Judges 11:27, Psalms 50:6, Hebrews 12:23

for: Joshua 24:23, Joshua 24:27, Proverbs 30:9, Titus 1:16, 2 Peter 2:1, 1 John 2:23, Jude 1:4

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 3:32 - lifted

Cross-References

Genesis 29:13
When Lavan heard the news of Ya‘akov his sister's son, he ran to meet him, hugged him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Ya‘akov told Lavan all that had happened.

Genesis 31:3
Adonai said to Ya‘akov, "Return to the land of your ancestors, to your kinsmen; I will be with you."

Genesis 31:13
I am the God of Beit-El, where you anointed a standing-stone with oil, where you vowed your vow to me. Now get up, get out of this land, and return to the land where you were born.'"

Genesis 31:24
But God came to Lavan the Arami in a dream that night and said to him, "Be careful that you don't say anything to Ya‘akov, either good or bad."

Genesis 31:55
But then he heard what Lavan's sons were saying: "Ya‘akov has taken away everything that our father once had. It's from what used to belong to our father that he has gotten so rich." He also saw that Lavan regarded him differently than before. Adonai said to Ya‘akov, "Return to the land of your ancestors, to your kinsmen; I will be with you." So Ya‘akov sent for Rachel and Le'ah and had them come to the field where his flock was. He said to them, "I see by the way your father looks that he feels differently toward me than before; but the God of my father has been with me. You know that I have served your father with all my strength, and that your father has belittled me and has changed my wages ten times; but God did not allow him to do me any damage. If he said, ‘The speckled will be your wages,' then all the animals gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, ‘The streaked will be your wages,' then all the animals gave birth to streaked young. This is how God has taken away your father's animals and given them to me. Once, when the animals were mating, I had a dream: I looked up and there in front of me the male goats which mated with the females were streaked, speckled and mottled. Then, in the dream, the angel of God said to me, ‘Ya‘akov!' and I replied, ‘Here I am.' He continued, ‘Raise your eyes now, and look: all the male goats mating with the females are streaked, speckled and mottled; for I have seen everything Lavan has been doing to you. I am the God of Beit-El, where you anointed a standing-stone with oil, where you vowed your vow to me. Now get up, get out of this land, and return to the land where you were born.'" Rachel and Le'ah answered him, "We no longer have any inheritance from our father's possessions; and he considers us foreigners, since he has sold us; moreover, he has consumed everything he received in exchange for us. Nevertheless, the wealth which God has taken away from our father has become ours and our children's anyway; so whatever God has told you to do, do." (vi) Then Ya‘akov got up, put his sons and wives on the camels, and carried off all his livestock, along with all the riches he had accumulated, the livestock in his possession which he had acquired in Paddan-Aram, to go to Yitz'chak his father in the land of Kena‘an. Now Lavan had gone to shear his sheep, so Rachel stole the household idols that belonged to her father, and Ya‘akov outwitted Lavan the Arami by not telling him of his intended flight. So he fled with everything he had: he departed, crossed the [Euphrates] River and set out for the hill-country of Gil‘ad. Not until the third day was Lavan told that Ya‘akov had fled. Lavan took his kinsmen with him and spent the next seven days pursuing Ya‘akov, overtaking him in the hill-country of Gil‘ad. But God came to Lavan the Arami in a dream that night and said to him, "Be careful that you don't say anything to Ya‘akov, either good or bad." When Lavan caught up with Ya‘akov, Ya‘akov had set up camp in the hill-country; so Lavan and his kinsmen set up camp in the hill-country of Gil‘ad. Lavan said to Ya‘akov, "What do you mean by deceiving me and carrying off my daughters as if they were captives taken in war? Why did you flee in secret and deceive me and not tell me? I would have sent you off with joy and singing to the music of tambourines and lyres. You didn't even let me kiss my sons and daughters good-bye! What a stupid thing to do! I have it in my power to do you harm; but the God of your father spoke to me last night and said, ‘Be careful that you don't say anything to Ya‘akov, either good or bad.' Granted that you had to leave, because you longed so deeply for your father's house; but why did you steal my gods?" Ya‘akov answered Lavan, "Because I was afraid. I said, ‘Suppose you take your daughters away from me by force?' But if you find your gods with someone, that person will not remain alive. So with our kinsmen to witness, if you spot anything that I have which belongs to you, take it back." Ya‘akov did not know that Rachel had stolen them. Lavan went into Ya‘akov's tent, then into Le'ah's tent and into the tent of the two slave-girls; but he did not find them. He left Le'ah's tent and entered Rachel's tent. Now Rachel had taken the household gods, put them in the saddle of the camel and was sitting on them. Lavan felt all around the tent but did not find them. She said to her father, "Please don't be angry that I'm not getting up in your presence, but it's the time of my period." So he searched, but he didn't find the household gods. Then Ya‘akov became angry and started arguing with Lavan. "What have I done wrong?" he demanded. "What is my offense, that you have come after me in hot pursuit? You have felt around in all my stuff, but what have you found of all your household goods? Put it here, in front of my kinsmen and yours, so that they can render judgment between the two of us! I have been with you for these twenty years! Your female sheep and goats haven't aborted their young, and I haven't eaten the male animals in your flocks. If one of your flock was destroyed by a wild animal, I didn't bring the carcass to you but bore the loss myself. You demanded that I compensate you for any animal stolen, whether by day or by night. Here's how it was for me: during the day thirst consumed me, and at night the cold — my sleep fled from my eyes. These twenty years I've been in your house — I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock; and you changed my wages ten times! If the God of my father, the God of Avraham, the one whom Yitz'chak fears, had not been on my side, by now you would certainly have already sent me away with nothing! God has seen how distressed I've been and how hard I've worked, and last night he passed judgment in my favor." (vii) Lavan answered Ya‘akov, "The daughters are mine, the children are mine, the flocks are mine, and everything you see is mine! But what can I do today about these daughters of mine or the children they have borne? So now, come, let's make a covenant, I and you; and let it stand as a testimony between me and you." Ya‘akov took a stone and set it upright as a standing-stone. Then Ya‘akov said to his kinsmen, "Gather some stones"; and they took stones, made a pile of them and ate there by the pile of stones. Lavan called it Y'gar-Sahaduta ["pile of witness" in Aramaic], while Ya‘akov called it Gal-‘Ed ["pile of witness" in Hebrew]. Lavan said, "This pile witnesses between me and you today." This is why it is called Gal-‘Ed and also HaMitzpah [the watchtower], because he said, "May Adonai watch between me and you when we are apart from each other. If you cause pain to my daughters, or if you take wives in addition to my daughters, then, even if no one is there with us, still God is witness between me and you." Lavan also said to Ya‘akov, "Here is this pile, and here is this standing-stone, which I have set up between me and you. May this pile be a witness, and may the standing-stone be a witness, that I will not pass beyond this pile to you, and you will not pass beyond this pile and this standing-stone to me, to cause harm. May the God of Avraham and also the god of Nachor, the god of their father, judge between us." But Ya‘akov swore by the One his father Yitz'chak feared. Ya‘akov offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his kinsmen to the meal. They ate the food and spent the whole night on the mountain.

Exodus 4:27
Adonai said to Aharon, "Go into the desert to meet Moshe." He went, met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.

Ruth 1:9
May Adonai grant you security in the home of a new husband." Then she kissed them, but they began weeping aloud.

Ruth 1:14
Again they wept aloud. Then ‘Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Rut stuck with her.

1 Samuel 13:13
Sh'mu'el said to Sha'ul, "You did a foolish thing. You didn't observe the mitzvah of Adonai , which he gave you. If you had, Adonai would have set up your kingship over Isra'el forever.

1 Kings 19:20
He left the oxen, ran after Eliyahu and said, "Please let me kiss my father and mother good-bye; then I will follow you." He answered, "Go; but return, because of what I did to you."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

This also [were] an iniquity [to be punished by] the judge,.... As well as adultery, Job 31:11; by the civil magistrates and judges of the earth, who are God's vicegerents, and therefore it behooves them to take cognizance of such an iniquity, and to punish for it, which affects in so peculiar a manner the honour and worship of the true God; this by the law of Moses was punished by stoning to death,

Deuteronomy 13:9; however this will be taken notice of and punished by God the Judge of all, whose law is broken hereby, and who will visit this iniquity more especially on those who commit it, and their posterity after them. Idolaters of every sort shall have their part and portion in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, Exodus 20:3; the consideration of its being such a heinous sin, and so deserving of punishment, deterred Job from it; the Targum paraphrases it, a most amazing iniquity, it being, as follows, a denial of the true God:

for I should have denied the God [that is] above; that is, had he worshipped the sun and moon secretly or openly; for, as the atheist denies him in words, the idolater denies him in facts, worshipping the creature besides the Creator, and giving his glory to another, and his praise to idols; which is a virtual denial of him, even of him who is above the sun and moon in place, being higher than the heavens; and in nature, excellency, and glory, being the Creator of them, and they his creatures; and in power and authority, who commands the sun, and it rises not, and has appointed the moon for seasons, Job 9:7.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judqe - Note Job 31:11. Among the Hebrews idolatry was an offence punishable by death by stoning; Deuteronomy 17:2-7. It is possible, also, that this might have been elsewhere in the patriarchal times a crime punishable in this manner. At all events, Job regarded it as a heinous offence, and one of which the magistrate ought to take cognizance.

For I should have denied the God that is above - The worship of the heavenly bodies would have been in fact the denial of the existence of any Superior Being. This, in fact, always occurs, for idolaters have no knowledge of the true God.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 31:28. For I should have denied the God that is above. — Had I paid Divine adoration to them, I should have thereby denied the God that made them.