Job 31:31-40

31:31 if ¹  the members of my household ²  have never said, ³ 

‘If only there were ⁴  someone

who has not been satisfied from Job’s ⁵  meat!’ –

31:32 But ⁶  no stranger had to spend the night outside,

for I opened my doors to the traveler ⁷  –

31:33 if ⁸  I have covered my transgressions as men do, ⁹ 

by hiding ¹⁰  iniquity in my heart, ¹¹ 

31:34 because I was terrified ¹²  of the great multitude, ¹³ 

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I remained silent

and would not go outdoors – ¹⁴ 

Job’s Appeal

31:35 “If only I had ¹⁵  someone to hear me!

Here is my signature – ¹⁶ 

let the Almighty answer me!

If only I had an indictment ¹⁷ 

that my accuser had written. ¹⁸ 

31:36 Surely ¹⁹  I would wear it proudly ²⁰  on my shoulder,

I would bind ²¹  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 ²² 

31:38 “If my land cried out against me ²³ 

and all its furrows wept together,

31:39 if I have eaten its produce without paying, ²⁴ 

or caused the death ²⁵  of its owners, ²⁶ 

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

and in place of barley, weeds!” ²⁷ 

The words of Job are ended.

[31:31]  ¹ tn Now Job picks up the series of clauses serving as the protasis.

[31:31]  ² tn Heb “the men of my tent.” In context this refers to members of Job’s household.

[31:31]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn The optative is again expressed with “who will give?”

[31:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[31:32]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Now the protasis continues again.

[31:33]  ⁹ sn Some commentators suggest taking the meaning here to be “as Adam,” referring to the Paradise story of the sin and denial.

[31:33]  ¹⁰ tn The infinitive is epexegetical, explaining the first line.

[31:33]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Here too the verb will be the customary imperfect – it explains what he continually did in past time.

[31:34]  ¹³ tn Heb “the great multitude.” But some commentators take רַבָּה (rabbah) adverbially: “greatly” (see RSV).

[31:34]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn The optative is again introduced with “who will give to me hearing me? – O that someone would listen to me!”

[31:35]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn The clause begins with the positive oath formula, אִם־לֹא (’im-lo’).

[31:36]  ²⁰ tn The word “proudly” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied (note the following line).

[31:36]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Heb “without silver.”

[31:39]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ tn The word בָּאְשָׁה (bo’shah, from בָּאַשׁ [ba’as, “to have a foul smell”]) must refer to foul smelling weeds.