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Text -- Job 31:1-35 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
Job Vindicates Himself
31:1 “I made a covenant with my eyes ; how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin ?
31:2 What then would be one’s lot from God above , one’s heritage from the Almighty on high ?
31:3 Is it not misfortune for the unjust , and disaster for those who work iniquity ?
31:4 Does he not see my ways and count all my steps ?
31:5 If I have walked in falsehood , and if my foot has hastened to deceit –
31:6 let him weigh me with honest scales ; then God will discover my integrity .
31:7 If my footsteps have strayed from the way , if my heart has gone after my eyes , or if anything has defiled my hands ,
31:8 then let me sow and let another eat , and let my crops be uprooted .
31:9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman , and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door ,
31:10 then let my wife turn the millstone for another man, and may other men have sexual relations with her.
31:11 For I would have committed a shameful act , an iniquity to be judged .
31:12 For it is a fire that devours even to Destruction , and it would uproot all my harvest .
31:13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants or my female servants when they disputed with me ,
31:14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment; when he intervenes , how will I respond to him?
31:15 Did not the one who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us in the womb ?
31:16 If I have refused to give the poor what they desired , or caused the eyes of the widow to fail ,
31:17 If I ate my morsel of bread myself , and did not share any of it with orphans –
31:18 but from my youth I raised the orphan like a father , and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow!
31:19 If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing , or a poor man without a coat ,
31:20 whose heart did not bless me as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep ,
31:21 if I have raised my hand to vote against the orphan , when I saw my support in the court ,
31:22 then let my arm fall from the shoulder , let my arm be broken off at the socket .
31:23 For the calamity from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his majesty I was powerless .
31:24 “If I have put my confidence in gold or said to pure gold , ‘You are my security !’
31:25 if I have rejoiced because of the extent of my wealth, or because of the great wealth my hand had gained ,
31:26 if I looked at the sun when it was shining , and the moon advancing as a precious thing,
31:27 so that my heart was secretly enticed , and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth ,
31:28 then this also would be iniquity to be judged , for I would have been false to God above .
31:29 If I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy or exulted because calamity found him–
31:30 I have not even permitted my mouth to sin by asking for his life through a curse –
31:31 if the members of my household have never said , ‘If only there were someone who has not been satisfied from Job’s meat !’–
31:32 But no stranger had to spend the night outside , for I opened my doors to the traveler –
31:33 if I have covered my transgressions as men do, by hiding iniquity in my heart ,
31:34 because I was terrified of the great multitude , and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I remained silent and would not go outdoors –
Job’s Appeal
31:35 “If only I had someone to hear me! Here is my signature – let the Almighty answer me! If only I had an indictment that my accuser had written .
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Integrity |
CHARM |
JOB, BOOK OF |
Job |
Temptation |
Idolatry |
PSALMS, BOOK OF |
Poor |
Fear of God |
Beneficence |
Adultery |
Moon |
Sun |
WISDOM |
Afflictions and Adversities |
Lust |
God |
ADORATION |
Orphan |
Lies and Deceits |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Job 31:1; Job 31:1; Job 31:2; Job 31:5; Job 31:5; Job 31:5; Job 31:6; Job 31:6; Job 31:6; Job 31:7; Job 31:7; Job 31:8; Job 31:8; Job 31:9; Job 31:10; Job 31:10; Job 31:10; Job 31:11; Job 31:11; Job 31:11; Job 31:11; Job 31:12; Job 31:12; Job 31:13; Job 31:14; Job 31:14; Job 31:15; Job 31:16; Job 31:17; Job 31:18; Job 31:18; Job 31:18; Job 31:20; Job 31:20; Job 31:21; Job 31:21; Job 31:22; Job 31:22; Job 31:22; Job 31:23; Job 31:23; Job 31:26; Job 31:27; Job 31:28; Job 31:28; Job 31:28; Job 31:29; Job 31:29; Job 31:29; Job 31:29; Job 31:30; Job 31:30; Job 31:30; Job 31:31; Job 31:31; Job 31:31; Job 31:31; Job 31:31; Job 31:32; Job 31:32; Job 31:33; Job 31:33; Job 31:33; Job 31:33; Job 31:34; Job 31:34; Job 31:34; Job 31:35; Job 31:35; Job 31:35; Job 31:35
NET Notes: Job 31:1 This half-verse is the effect of the covenant. The interrogative מָה (mah) may have the force of the negative, and so be translated ...
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NET Notes: Job 31:2 Heb “lot of Shaddai,” which must mean “the lot from Shaddai,” a genitive of source.
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NET Notes: Job 31:5 The verbs “walk” and “hasten” (referring in the verse to the foot) are used metaphorically for the manner of life Job lived.
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NET Notes: Job 31:6 The verb is וְיֵדַע (vÿyeda’, “and [then] he [God] will know”). The verb could also b...
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NET Notes: Job 31:7 The word מֻאוּם (mu’um) could be taken in one of two ways. One reading is to represent מוּ...
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NET Notes: Job 31:8 The word means “what sprouts up” (from יָצָא [yatsa’] with the sense of “sprout forth”). I...
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NET Notes: Job 31:9 Gordis notes that the word פֶּתַח (petakh, “door”) has sexual connotations in rabbinic literature, bas...
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NET Notes: Job 31:10 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...
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NET Notes: Job 31:12 The verb means “to root out,” but this does not fit the parallelism with fire. Wright changed two letters and the vowels in the verb to ge...
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NET Notes: Job 31:13 This construction is an adverbial clause using the temporal preposition, the infinitive from רִיב (riv, “contend”)...
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NET Notes: Job 31:14 The verb פָקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” but with God as the subject it means any divine intervention for bl...
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NET Notes: Job 31:15 Heb “him,” but the plural pronoun has been used in the translation to indicate that the referent is the servants mentioned in v. 13 (since...
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NET Notes: Job 31:20 This clause is interpreted here as a subordinate clause to the first half of the verse. It could also be a separate clause: “was he not warmed...
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NET Notes: Job 31:21 Heb “gate,” referring to the city gate where judicial decisions were rendered in the culture of the time. The translation uses the word ...
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NET Notes: Job 31:22 The word קָנֶה (qaneh) is “reed; shaft; beam,” and here “shoulder joint.” All the commentaries t...
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NET Notes: Job 31:26 Heb “light”; but parallel to the moon it is the sun. This section speaks of false worship of the sun and the moon.
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NET Notes: Job 31:27 Heb “and my hand kissed my mouth.” The idea should be that of “my mouth kissed my hand.” H. H. Rowley suggests that the hand w...
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NET Notes: Job 31:28 The verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the Piel means “to deny.” The root meaning is “to deceive; t...
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NET Notes: Job 31:29 The word is רָע (ra’, “evil”) in the sense of anything that harms, interrupts, or destroys life.
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NET Notes: Job 31:30 The infinitive construct with the ל (lamed) preposition (“by asking”) serves in an epexegetical capacity here, explaining the verb o...
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NET Notes: Job 31:31 Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
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NET Notes: Job 31:33 The MT has “in my bosom.” This is the only place in the OT where this word is found. But its meaning is well attested from Aramaic.
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NET Notes: Job 31:34 There is no clear apodosis for all these clauses. Some commentators transfer the verses around to make them fit the constructions. But the better view...
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