Job 31:16-40

31:16 If I have refused to give the poor what they desired, ¹ 

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 ²  –

31:18 but from my youth I raised the orphan ³  like a father,

and from my mother’s womb ⁴ 

I guided the widow! ⁵ 

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 ⁶ 

as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep, ⁷ 

31:21 if I have raised my hand ⁸  to vote against the orphan,

when I saw my support in the court, ⁹ 

31:22 then ¹⁰  let my arm fall from the shoulder, ¹¹ 

let my arm be broken off at the socket. ¹² 

31:23 For the calamity from God was a terror to me, ¹³ 

and by reason of his majesty ¹⁴  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 ¹⁵  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, ¹⁶ 

31:28 then this ¹⁷  also would be iniquity to be judged, ¹⁸ 

for I would have been false ¹⁹  to God above.

31:29 If ²⁰  I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy ²¹ 

or exulted ²²  because calamity ²³  found him –

31:30 I ²⁴  have not even permitted my mouth ²⁵  to sin

by asking ²⁶  for his life through a curse –

31:31 if ²⁷  the members of my household ²⁸  have never said, ²⁹ 

‘If only there were ³⁰  someone

who has not been satisfied from Job’s ³¹  meat!’ –

31:32 But ³²  no stranger had to spend the night outside,

for I opened my doors to the traveler ³³  –

31:33 if ³⁴  I have covered my transgressions as men do, ³⁵ 

by hiding ³⁶  iniquity in my heart, ³⁷ 

31:34 because I was terrified ³⁸  of the great multitude, ³⁹ 

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I remained silent

and would not go outdoors – ⁴⁰ 

Job’s Appeal

31:35 “If only I had ⁴¹  someone to hear me!

Here is my signature – ⁴² 

let the Almighty answer me!

If only I had an indictment ⁴³ 

that my accuser had written. ⁴⁴ 

31:36 Surely ⁴⁵  I would wear it proudly ⁴⁶  on my shoulder,

I would bind ⁴⁷  it on me like a crown;

31:37 I would give him an accounting of my steps;

like a prince I would approach him.

Job’s Final Solemn Oath ⁴⁸ 

31:38 “If my land cried out against me ⁴⁹ 

and all its furrows wept together,

31:39 if I have eaten its produce without paying, ⁵⁰ 

or caused the death ⁵¹  of its owners, ⁵² 

31:40 then let thorns sprout up in place of wheat,

and in place of barley, weeds!” ⁵³ 

The words of Job are ended.

[31:16]  ¹ tn Heb “kept the poor from [their] desire.”

[31:17]  ² tn Heb “and an orphan did not eat from it.”

[31:18]  ³ tn Heb “he grew up with me.” Several commentators have decided to change the pronoun to “I,” and make it causative.

[31:18]  ⁴ tn The expression “from my mother’s womb” is obviously hyperbolic. It is a way of saying “all his life.”

[31:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “I guided her,” referring to the widow mentioned in v. 16.

[31:20]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ sn Here is the apodosis, the imprecation Job pronounces on himself if he has done any of these things just listed.

[31:22]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “it.”

[31:28]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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.

[31:29]  ²⁰ tn The problem with taking this as “if,” introducing a conditional clause, is finding the apodosis, if there is one. It may be that the apodosis is understood, or summed up at the end. This is the view taken here. But R. Gordis (Job, 352) wishes to take this word as the indication of the interrogative, forming the rhetorical question to affirm he has never done this. However, in that case the parenthetical verses inserted become redundant.

[31:29]  ²¹ sn The law required people to help their enemies if they could (Exod 23:4; also Prov 20:22). But often in the difficulties that ensued, they did exult over their enemies’ misfortune (Pss 54:7; 59:10 [11], etc.). But Job lived on a level of purity that few ever reach. Duhm said, “If chapter 31 is the crown of all ethical developments of the O.T., verse 29 is the jewel in that crown.”

[31:29]  ²² tn The Hitpael of עוּר (’ur) has the idea of “exult.”

[31:29]  ²³ tn The word is רָע (ra’, “evil”) in the sense of anything that harms, interrupts, or destroys life.

[31:30]  ²⁴ tn This verse would then be a parenthesis in which he stops to claim his innocence.

[31:30]  ²⁵ tn Heb “I have not given my palate.”

[31:30]  ²⁶ tn The infinitive construct with the ל (lamed) preposition (“by asking”) serves in an epexegetical capacity here, explaining the verb of the first colon (“permitted…to sin”). To seek a curse on anyone would be a sin.

[31:31]  ²⁷ tn Now Job picks up the series of clauses serving as the protasis.

[31:31]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the men of my tent.” In context this refers to members of Job’s household.

[31:31]  ²⁹ sn The line is difficult to sort out. Job is saying it is sinful “if his men have never said, ‘O that there was one who has not been satisfied from his food.’” If they never said that, it would mean there were people out there who needed to be satisfied with his food.

[31:31]  ³⁰ tn The optative is again expressed with “who will give?”

[31:31]  ³¹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[31:32]  ³² tn This verse forms another parenthesis. Job stops almost at every point now in the conditional clauses to affirm his purity and integrity.

[31:32]  ³³ tn The word in the MT, אֹרחַ (’orakh, “way”), is a contraction from אֹרֵחַ (’oreakh, “wayfarer”); thus, “traveler.” The same parallelism is found in Jer 14:8. The reading here “on/to the road” is meaningless otherwise.

[31:33]  ³⁴ tn Now the protasis continues again.

[31:33]  ³⁵ sn Some commentators suggest taking the meaning here to be “as Adam,” referring to the Paradise story of the sin and denial.

[31:33]  ³⁶ tn The infinitive is epexegetical, explaining the first line.

[31:33]  ³⁷ tn 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.

[31:34]  ³⁸ tn Here too the verb will be the customary imperfect – it explains what he continually did in past time.

[31:34]  ³⁹ tn Heb “the great multitude.” But some commentators take רַבָּה (rabbah) adverbially: “greatly” (see RSV).

[31:34]  ⁴⁰ sn 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 is that there is no apodosis – that Job broke off here, feeling it was useless to go further. Now he will address God and not men. But in vv. 38-40b he does return to a self-imprecation. However, there is not sufficient reason to start rearranging all the verses.

[31:35]  ⁴¹ tn The optative is again introduced with “who will give to me hearing me? – O that someone would listen to me!”

[31:35]  ⁴² tn Heb “here is my ‘tav’” (הֵן תָּוִי, hen tavi). The letter ת (tav) is the last letter of the alphabet in Hebrew. In paleo-Hebrew the letter was in the form of a cross or an “X,” and so used for one making a mark or a signature. In this case Job has signed his statement and delivered it to the court – but he has yet to be charged. Kissane thought that this being the last letter of the alphabet, Job was saying, “This is my last word.” Others take the word to mean “desire” – “this is my desire, that God would answer me” (see E. F. Sutcliffe, “Notes on Job, textual and exegetical,” Bib 30 [1949]: 71-72; G. R. Driver, AJSL 3 [1935/36]: 166; P. P. Saydon, “Philological and Textual Notes to the Maltese Translation of the Old Testament,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 252). R. Gordis (Job, 355) also argues strongly for this view.

[31:35]  ⁴³ tn Heb “a scroll,” in the context referring to a scroll containing the accusations of Job’s legal adversary (see the next line).

[31:35]  ⁴⁴ tn The last line is very difficult; it simply says, “a scroll [that] my [legal] adversary had written.” The simplest way to handle this is to see it as a continuation of the optative (RSV).

[31:36]  ⁴⁵ tn The clause begins with the positive oath formula, אִם־לֹא (’im-lo’).

[31:36]  ⁴⁶ tn The word “proudly” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied (note the following line).

[31:36]  ⁴⁷ tn This verb is only found in Prov 6:21. But E. Dhorme (Job, 470) suggests that (with metathesis) we have a derivative מַעֲדַנּוֹת (ma’adannot, “bonds; ties”) in 38:31.

[31:38]  ⁴⁸ sn Many commentators place vv. 38-40b at the end of v. 34, so that there is no return to these conditional clauses after his final appeal.

[31:38]  ⁴⁹ sn Some commentators have suggested that the meaning behind this is that Job might not have kept the year of release (Deut 15:1), and the law against mixing seed (Lev 19:19). But the context will make clear that the case considered is obtaining the land without paying for it and causing the death of its lawful owner (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 206). Similar to this would be the case of Naboth’s vineyard.

[31:39]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “without silver.”

[31:39]  ⁵¹ tc The versions have the verb “grieved” here. The Hebrew verb means “to breathe,” but the form is Hiphil. This verb in that stem could mean something of a contemptuous gesture, like “sniff” in Mal 1:13. But with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) in Job 11:20 it means “to cause death,” i.e., “to cause to breathe out; to expire.” This is likely the meaning here, although it is possible that it only meant “to cause suffering” to the people.

[31:39]  ⁵² tn There is some debate over the meaning of בְּעָלֶיהָ (bÿ’aleyha), usually translated “its owners.” Dahood, following others (although without their emendations), thought it referred to “laborers” (see M. Dahood, Bib 41 [1960]: 303; idem, Bib 43 [1962]: 362).

[31:40]  ⁵³ tn The word בָּאְשָׁה (bo’shah, from בָּאַשׁ [ba’as, “to have a foul smell”]) must refer to foul smelling weeds.