Job 31:24-34

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 ¹  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, ² 

31:28 then this ³  also would be iniquity to be judged, ⁴ 

for I would have been false ⁵  to God above.

31:29 If ⁶  I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy ⁷ 

or exulted ⁸  because calamity ⁹  found him –

31:30 I ¹⁰  have not even permitted my mouth ¹¹  to sin

by asking ¹²  for his life through a curse –

31:31 if ¹³  the members of my household ¹⁴  have never said, ¹⁵ 

‘If only there were ¹⁶  someone

who has not been satisfied from Job’s ¹⁷  meat!’ –

31:32 But ¹⁸  no stranger had to spend the night outside,

for I opened my doors to the traveler ¹⁹  –

31:33 if ²⁰  I have covered my transgressions as men do, ²¹ 

by hiding ²²  iniquity in my heart, ²³ 

31:34 because I was terrified ²⁴  of the great multitude, ²⁵ 

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I remained silent

and would not go outdoors – ²⁶ 

[31:26]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “it.”

[31:28]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn The Hitpael of עוּר (’ur) has the idea of “exult.”

[31:29]  ⁹ tn The word is רָע (ra’, “evil”) in the sense of anything that harms, interrupts, or destroys life.

[31:30]  ¹⁰ tn This verse would then be a parenthesis in which he stops to claim his innocence.

[31:30]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I have not given my palate.”

[31:30]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Now Job picks up the series of clauses serving as the protasis.

[31:31]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the men of my tent.” In context this refers to members of Job’s household.

[31:31]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn The optative is again expressed with “who will give?”

[31:31]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[31:32]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Now the protasis continues again.

[31:33]  ²¹ sn Some commentators suggest taking the meaning here to be “as Adam,” referring to the Paradise story of the sin and denial.

[31:33]  ²² tn The infinitive is epexegetical, explaining the first line.

[31:33]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Here too the verb will be the customary imperfect – it explains what he continually did in past time.

[31:34]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the great multitude.” But some commentators take רַבָּה (rabbah) adverbially: “greatly” (see RSV).

[31:34]  ²⁶ 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.