Job 31:1-28

Job Vindicates Himself

31:1 “I made a covenant with ¹  my eyes;

how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin? ² 

31:2 What then would be one’s lot from God above,

one’s heritage from the Almighty ³  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 ⁴  I have walked in falsehood,

and if ⁵  my foot has hastened ⁶  to deceit –

31:6 let him ⁷  weigh me with honest ⁸  scales;

then God will discover ⁹  my integrity.

31:7 If my footsteps have strayed from the way,

if my heart has gone after my eyes, ¹⁰ 

or if anything ¹¹  has defiled my hands,

31:8 then let me sow ¹²  and let another eat,

and let my crops ¹³  be uprooted.

31:9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman,

and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door, ¹⁴ 

31:10 then let my wife turn the millstone ¹⁵  for another man,

and may other men have sexual relations with her. ¹⁶ 

31:11 For I would have committed ¹⁷  a shameful act, ¹⁸ 

an iniquity to be judged. ¹⁹ 

31:12 For it is a fire that devours even to Destruction, ²⁰ 

and it would uproot ²¹  all my harvest.

31:13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants

or my female servants

when they disputed ²²  with me,

31:14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment; ²³ 

when he intervenes, ²⁴ 

how will I respond to him?

31:15 Did not the one who made me in the womb make them? ²⁵ 

Did not the same one form us in the womb?

31:16 If I have refused to give the poor what they desired, ²⁶ 

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 ²⁷  –

31:18 but from my youth I raised the orphan ²⁸  like a father,

and from my mother’s womb ²⁹ 

I guided the widow! ³⁰ 

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 ³¹ 

as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep, ³² 

31:21 if I have raised my hand ³³  to vote against the orphan,

when I saw my support in the court, ³⁴ 

31:22 then ³⁵  let my arm fall from the shoulder, ³⁶ 

let my arm be broken off at the socket. ³⁷ 

31:23 For the calamity from God was a terror to me, ³⁸ 

and by reason of his majesty ³⁹  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 ⁴⁰  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, ⁴¹ 

31:28 then this ⁴²  also would be iniquity to be judged, ⁴³ 

for I would have been false ⁴⁴  to God above.

[31:1]  ¹ tn The idea of cutting a covenant for something may suggest a covenant that is imposed, except that this construction elsewhere argues against it (see 2 Chr 29:10).

[31:1]  ² tn This half-verse is the effect of the covenant. The interrogative מָה (mah) may have the force of the negative, and so be translated “not to pay attention.”

[31:2]  ³ tn Heb “lot of Shaddai,” which must mean “the lot from Shaddai,” a genitive of source.

[31:5]  ⁴ tn The normal approach is to take this as the protasis, and then have it resumed in v. 7 after a parenthesis in v. 6. But some take v. 6 as the apodosis and a new protasis in v. 7.

[31:5]  ⁵ tn The “if” is understood by the use of the consecutive verb.

[31:5]  ⁶ sn The verbs “walk” and “hasten” (referring in the verse to the foot) are used metaphorically for the manner of life Job lived.

[31:6]  ⁷ tn “God” is undoubtedly the understood subject of this jussive. However, “him” is retained in the translation at this point to avoid redundancy since “God” occurs in the second half of the verse.

[31:6]  ⁸ tn The word צֶדֶךְ (tsedeq, “righteousness”) forms a fitting genitive for the scales used in trade or justice. The “scales of righteousness” are scales that conform to the standard (see the illustration in Deut 25:13-15). They must be honest scales to make just decisions.

[31:6]  ⁹ tn The verb is וְיֵדַע (vÿyeda’, “and [then] he [God] will know”). The verb could also be subordinated to the preceding jussive, “so that God may know.” The meaning of “to know” here has more the idea of “to come to know; to discover.”

[31:7]  ¹⁰ sn The meaning is “been led by what my eyes see.”

[31:7]  ¹¹ tc The word מֻאוּם (mu’um) could be taken in one of two ways. One reading is to represent מוּם (mum, “blemish,” see the Masorah); the other is for מְאוּמָה (mÿ’umah, “anything,” see the versions and the Kethib). Either reading fits the passage.

[31:8]  ¹² tn The cohortative is often found in the apodosis of the conditional clause (see GKC 320 §108.f).

[31:8]  ¹³ tn The word means “what sprouts up” (from יָצָא [yatsa’] with the sense of “sprout forth”). It could refer metaphorically to children (and so Kissane and Pope), as well as in its literal sense of crops. The latter fits here perfectly.

[31:9]  ¹⁴ tn Gordis notes that the word פֶּתַח (petakh, “door”) has sexual connotations in rabbinic literature, based on Prov 7:6ff. (see b. Ketubbot 9b). See also the use in Song 4:12 using a synonym.

[31:10]  ¹⁵ 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).

[31:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “bow down over her,” an idiom for sexual relations.

[31:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “for that [would be].” In order to clarify the referent of “that,” which refers to v. 9 rather than v. 10, the words “I have committed” have been supplied in the translation.

[31:11]  ¹⁸ tn The word for “shameful act” is used especially for sexual offenses (cf. Lev 18:27).

[31:11]  ¹⁹ tc Some have deleted this verse as being short and irrelevant, not to mention problematic. But the difficulties are not insurmountable, and there is no reason to delete it. There is a Kethib-Qere reading in each half verse; in the first the Kethib is masculine for the subject but the Qere is feminine going with “shameless deed.” In the second colon the Kethib is the feminine agreeing with the preceding noun, but the Qere is masculine agreeing with “iniquity.”

[31:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to Abaddon.”

[31:12]  ²¹ tn 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 get the root צָרַף (tsaraf, “to burn”). The NRSV has “burn to the root.”

[31:13]  ²² tn This construction is an adverbial clause using the temporal preposition, the infinitive from רִיב (riv, “contend”), and the suffix which is the subjective genitive.

[31:14]  ²³ tn Heb “arises.” The LXX reads “takes vengeance,” an interpretation that is somewhat correct but unnecessary. The verb “to rise” would mean “to confront in judgment.”

[31:14]  ²⁴ tn The verb פָקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” but with God as the subject it means any divine intervention for blessing or cursing, anything God does that changes a person’s life. Here it is “visit to judge.”

[31:15]  ²⁵ tn 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 the previous “him” in v. 14 refers to God).

[31:16]  ²⁶ tn Heb “kept the poor from [their] desire.”

[31:17]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and an orphan did not eat from it.”

[31:18]  ²⁸ tn Heb “he grew up with me.” Several commentators have decided to change the pronoun to “I,” and make it causative.

[31:18]  ²⁹ tn The expression “from my mother’s womb” is obviously hyperbolic. It is a way of saying “all his life.”

[31:18]  ³⁰ tn Heb “I guided her,” referring to the widow mentioned in v. 16.

[31:20]  ³¹ tn The MT has simply “if his loins did not bless me.” In the conditional clause this is another protasis. It means, “if I saw someone dying and if he did not thank me for clothing them.” It is Job’s way of saying that whenever he saw a need he met it, and he received his share of thanks – which prove his kindness. G. R. Driver has it “without his loins having blessed me,” taking “If…not” as an Aramaism, meaning “except” (AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 164f.).

[31:20]  ³² tn 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…?”

[31:21]  ³³ tn The expression “raised my hand” refers to a threatening manner or gesture in the court rather than a threat of physical violence in the street. Thus the words “to vote” are supplied in the translation to indicate the setting.

[31:21]  ³⁴ tn Heb “gate,” referring to the city gate where judicial decisions were rendered in the culture of the time. The translation uses the word “court” to indicate this to the modern reader, who might not associate a city gate complex with judicial functions.

[31:22]  ³⁵ sn Here is the apodosis, the imprecation Job pronounces on himself if he has done any of these things just listed.

[31:22]  ³⁶ tn The point is that if he has raised his arm against the oppressed it should be ripped off at the joint. The MT has “let fall my shoulder [כְּתֵפִי, kÿtefi] from the nape of the neck [or shoulder blade (מִשִּׁכְמָה, mishikhmah)].”

[31:22]  ³⁷ tn The word קָנֶה (qaneh) is “reed; shaft; beam,” and here “shoulder joint.” All the commentaries try to explain how “reed” became “socket; joint.” This is the only place that it is used in such a sense. Whatever the exact explanation – and there seems to be no convincing view – the point of the verse is nonetheless clear.

[31:23]  ³⁸ tc The LXX has “For the terror of God restrained me.” Several commentators changed it to “came upon me.” Driver had “The fear of God was burdensome.” I. Eitan suggested “The terror of God was mighty upon me” (“Two unknown verbs: etymological studies,” JBL 42 [1923]: 22-28). But the MT makes clear sense as it stands.

[31:23]  ³⁹ tn The form is וּמִשְּׂאֵתוֹ (umissÿ’eto); the preposition is causal. The form, from the verb נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to raise; to lift high”), refers to God’s exalted person, his majesty (see Job 13:11).

[31:26]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “light”; but parallel to the moon it is the sun. This section speaks of false worship of the sun and the moon.

[31:27]  ⁴¹ tn 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 was important in waving or throwing the kisses of homage to the sun and the moon, and so it receives the focus. This is the only place in the OT that refers to such a custom. Outside the Bible it was known, however.

[31:28]  ⁴² tn Heb “it.”

[31:28]  ⁴³ tn See v. 11 for the construction. In Deut 17:2ff. false worship of heavenly bodies is a capital offense. In this passage, Job is talking about just a momentary glance at the sun or moon and the brief lapse into a pagan thought. But it is still sin.

[31:28]  ⁴⁴ tn The verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the Piel means “to deny.” The root meaning is “to deceive; to disappoint; to grow lean.” Here it means that he would have failed or proven unfaithful because his act would have been a denial of God.