Job 31:10

NETBible

then let my wife turn the millstone 1  for another man, and may other men have sexual relations with her. 2 

NIV ©

then may my wife grind another man’s grain, and may other men sleep with her.

NASB ©

May my wife grind for another, And let others kneel down over her.

NLT ©

then may my wife belong to another man; may other men sleep with her.

MSG ©

Fine, my wife has every right to go ahead and sleep with anyone she wants to.

BBE ©

Then let my wife give pleasure to another man and let others make use of her body.

NRSV ©

then let my wife grind for another, and let other men kneel over her.

NKJV ©

Then let my wife grind for another, And let others bow down over her.

KJV
[Then] let my wife
<0802>
grind
<02912> (8799)
unto another
<0312>_,
and let others
<0312>
bow down
<03766> (8799)
upon her.
NASB ©
May my wife
<802>
grind
<2912>
for another
<312>
, And let others
<312>
kneel
<3766>
down
<3766>
over
<5921>
her.
LXXM
aresai
<700> 
V-AAO-3S
ara
<685> 
PRT
kai
<2532> 
CONJ
h
<3588> 
T-NSF
gunh
<1135> 
N-NSF
mou
<1473> 
P-GS
eterw
<2087> 
A-DSM
ta
<3588> 
T-NPN
de
<1161> 
PRT
nhpia
<3516> 
A-NPN
mou
<1473> 
P-GS
tapeinwyeih
<5013> 
V-APO-3S
NET [draft] ITL
then let my wife
<0802>
turn the millstone
<02912>
for another
<0312>
man, and may other
<0312>
men have sexual relations
<03766>
with
<05921>
her.
HEBREW
Nyrxa
<0312>
Nwerky
<03766>
hylew
<05921>
ytsa
<0802>
rxal
<0312>
Nxjt (31:10)
<02912>
NETBible

then let my wife turn the millstone 1  for another man, and may other men have sexual relations with her. 2 

NET Notes

1 tn Targum Job interpreted the verb טָחַן (takhan, “grind”) in a sexual sense, and this has influenced other versions and commentaries. But the literal sense fits well in this line. The idea is that she would be a slave for someone else. The second line of the verse then might build on this to explain what kind of a slave – a concubine (see A. B. Davidson, Job, 215).

2 tn Heb “bow down over her,” an idiom for sexual relations.

2 sn The idea is that if Job were guilty of adultery it would be an offense against the other woman’s husband, and so by talionic justice another man’s adultery with Job’s wife would be an offense against him. He is not wishing something on his wife; rather, he is simply looking at what would be offenses in kind.