---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Job 31"
description: "CHAPTER 31   :-. 1-4. He asserts his guarding
against being allured to sin by his senses. think—rather, \"cast
a (lustful) look.\" He not merely did not so,"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/job/31"
---

CHAPTER 31

.

**1-4.** He asserts his guarding
against being allured to sin by his senses.
**think**—rather, "cast
a (lustful) look." He not merely did not so, but put it out of
the question by covenanting with his eyes against leading him into
temptation ([Proverbs 6:25](../../../kjv/proverbs/6/25); [Matthew 5:28](../../../kjv/matthew/5/28)).

**2.** Had I let my senses tempt me
to sin, "what portion (would there have been to me, that is,
must I have expected) from (literally, of) God above, and what
inheritance from (literally, of) the Almighty," c. [MAURER]
([Job 20:29](../../../kjv/job/20/29) [Job 27:13](../../../kjv/job/27/13)).

**3.** Answer to the question in .
**strange**—extraordinary.

**4. Doth not he see?** &c.—Knowing
this, I could only have expected "destruction" (), had I committed this sin ().

**5.** Job's abstinence from evil
deeds.
**vanity**—that is,
falsehood ([Psalms 12:2](../../../kjv/psalms/12/2)).

**6.** Parenthetical. Translate:
"Oh, that God would weigh me . . . *then* would He know,"
&c.

**7.** Connected with .
**the way**—of God ([Job 23:11](../../../kjv/job/23/11);
[Jeremiah 5:5](../../../kjv/jeremiah/5/5)). A godly life.
**heart . . . after . . .
eyes**—if my heart coveted, what my eyes beheld ([Ecclesiastes 11:9](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/11/9);
[Joshua 7:21](../../../kjv/joshua/7/21)).
**hands**— ([Joshua 7:21](../../../kjv/joshua/7/21)).

**8.** Apodosis to [Job 31:5](../../../kjv/job/31/5);
[Job 31:7](../../../kjv/job/31/7); the curses which he
imprecates on himself, if he had done these things ([Leviticus 26:16](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/16);
[Amos 9:14](../../../kjv/amos/9/14); [Psalms 128:2](../../../kjv/psalms/128/2)).
**offspring**—rather, "what
I plant," my harvests.

**9-12.** Job asserts his innocence
of adultery.
**deceived**—hath let
itself be seduced ([Proverbs 7:8](../../../kjv/proverbs/7/8);
[Genesis 39:7-12](../../../kjv/genesis/39/7-12)).
**laid wait**—until the
husband went out.

**10. grind**—turn the handmill.
Be the most abject slave and concubine ([Isaiah 47:2](../../../kjv/isaiah/47/2);
[2 Samuel 12:11](../../../kjv/2-samuel/12/11)).

**11.** In the earliest times
punished with death ([Genesis 38:24](../../../kjv/genesis/38/24)).
So in later times ([Deuteronomy 22:22](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/22/22)).
Heretofore he had spoken only of sins against conscience; now, one
against the community, needing the cognizance of the judge.

**12.** ([Proverbs 6:27-35](../../../kjv/proverbs/6/27-35);
[Proverbs 8:6-23](../../../kjv/proverbs/8/6-23); [Proverbs 8:26](../../../kjv/proverbs/8/26);
[Proverbs 8:27](../../../kjv/proverbs/8/27)). No crime more provokes
God to send *destruction as a consuming fire;* none so desolates
the soul.

**13-23.** Job affirms his freedom
from unfairness towards his servants, from harshness and oppression
towards the needy.
**despise the cause**—refused
to do them justice.

**14, 15.** Parenthetical; the
reason why Job did not despise the cause of his servants. Translate:
What then (had I done so) could I have done, when God arose (to call
me to account); and when He visited (came to enquire), what could I
have answered Him?

**15.** Slaveholders try to defend
themselves by maintaining the *original* inferiority of the
slave. But [Malachi 2:10](../../../kjv/malachi/2/10); [Acts 17:26](../../../kjv/acts/17/26);
[Ephesians 6:9](../../../kjv/ephesians/6/9) make the common origin of
masters and servants the argument for brotherly love being shown by
the former to the latter.

**16. fail**—in the vain
expectation of relief ([Job 11:20](../../../kjv/job/11/20)).

**17.** Arabian rules of hospitality
require the stranger to be helped first, and to the best.

**18.** Parenthetical: asserting
that he did the contrary to the things in [Job 31:16](../../../kjv/job/31/16);
[Job 31:17](../../../kjv/job/31/17).
**he**—the orphan.
**guided her**—namely, the
widow, by advice and protection. On this and "a father,"
see [Job 29:16](../../../kjv/job/29/16).

**19. perish**—that is, ready to
perish ([Job 29:13](../../../kjv/job/29/13)).

**20. loins**—The parts of the
body benefited by Job are poetically described as thanking him; the
loins before naked, when clad by me, wished me every blessing.

**21. when**—that is, "because."
**I saw**—that I might
calculate on the "help" of a powerful party in the court of
justice—("gate"), if I should be summoned by the injured
fatherless.

**22.** Apodosis to [Job 31:13](../../../kjv/job/31/13);
[Job 31:16](../../../kjv/job/31/16); [Job 31:17](../../../kjv/job/31/17);
[Job 31:19](../../../kjv/job/31/19); [Job 31:20](../../../kjv/job/31/20);
[Job 31:21](../../../kjv/job/31/21). If I had done those
crimes, I should have made a bad use of my influence ("my arm,"
figuratively, [Job 31:21](../../../kjv/job/31/21)):
therefore, if I have done them let my arm (literally) suffer. Job
alludes to Eliphaz' charge ([Job 31:21](../../../kjv/job/31/21)). The first "arm" is rather the *shoulder.*
The second "arm" is the *forearm.*
**from the bone**—literally,
"a reed"; hence the upper arm, above the elbow.

**23. For**—that is, the reason
why Job guarded against such sins. *Fear of God,* though he
could escape man's judgment (). UMBREIT more
spiritedly translates, Yea, destruction and terror from God might
have befallen me (had I done so): mere *fear* not being the
motive.
**highness**—majestic
might.
**endure**—I could have
availed nothing against it.

**24, 25.** Job asserts his freedom
from trust in money ([1 Timothy 6:17](../../../kjv/1-timothy/6/17)).
Here he turns to his duty towards God, as before he had spoken of his
duty towards *himself* and his *neighbor.* Covetousness is
covert idolatry, as it transfers the heart from the Creator to the
creature ([Colossians 3:5](../../../kjv/colossians/3/5)). In [Job 31:26](../../../kjv/job/31/26);
[Job 31:27](../../../kjv/job/31/27) he passes to overt
idolatry.

**26.** If I looked unto the sun (as
an object of worship) *because* he shined; or to the moon
*because* she walked, c. Sabaism (from *tsaba,* "the
heavenly hosts") was the earliest form of false worship. God is
hence called in contradistinction, "Lord of Sabaoth." The
sun, moon, and stars, the brightest objects in nature, and seen
everywhere, were supposed to be visible representatives of the
invisible God. They had no temples, but were worshipped on high
places and roofs of houses ([Ezekiel 8:16](../../../kjv/ezekiel/8/16)
[Deuteronomy 4:19](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/4/19); [2 Kings 23:5](../../../kjv/2-kings/23/5);
[2 Kings 23:11](../../../kjv/2-kings/23/11)). The *Hebrew*
here for "sun" is *light.* Probably light was
worshipped as the emanation from God, before its embodiments, the
sun, c. This worship prevailed in Chaldea wherefore Job's exemption
from the idolatry of his neighbors was the more exemplary. Our
"Sun-day," "Mon-day," or Moon-day, bear traces of
Sabaism.

**27. enticed**—away from God to
idolatry.
**kissed . . .
hand**—"adoration," literally means this. In
worshipping they used to kiss the hand, and then throw the kiss, as
it were, towards the object of worship ([1 Kings 19:18](../../../kjv/1-kings/19/18);
[Hosea 13:2](../../../kjv/hosea/13/2)).

**28.** The Mosaic law embodied
subsequently the feeling of the godly from the earliest times against
idolatry, as deserving judicial penalties: being treason against the
Supreme King ([Deuteronomy 13:9](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/13/9); [Deuteronomy 17:2-7](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/17/2-7);
[Ezekiel 8:14-18](../../../kjv/ezekiel/8/14-18)). This passage
therefore does not prove Job to have been subsequent to Moses.

**29. lifted up myself**—in
malicious triumph ([Proverbs 17:5](../../../kjv/proverbs/17/5);
[Proverbs 24:17](../../../kjv/proverbs/24/17); [Psalms 7:4](../../../kjv/psalms/7/4)).

**30. mouth**—literally, "palate."
(See on [Job 6:30](../../../kjv/job/6/30)).
**wishing**—literally, "so
as to demand his (my enemy's) soul," that is, "life by a
curse." This verse parenthetically confirms [Job 6:30](../../../kjv/job/6/30). Job in the patriarchal age of the promise, anterior to the
law, realizes the Gospel spirit, which was the end of the law
(compare [Leviticus 19:18](../../../kjv/leviticus/19/18); [Deuteronomy 23:6](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/23/6);
[Matthew 5:43](../../../kjv/matthew/5/43); [Matthew 5:44](../../../kjv/matthew/5/44)).

**31.** That is, Job's household
said, Oh, that we had Job's enemy to devour, we cannot rest satisfied
till we have! But Job refrained from even wishing revenge ([1 Samuel 26:8](../../../kjv/1-samuel/26/8);
[2 Samuel 16:9](../../../kjv/2-samuel/16/9); [2 Samuel 16:10](../../../kjv/2-samuel/16/10)).
So Jesus Christ ([Luke 9:54](../../../kjv/luke/9/54);
[Luke 9:55](../../../kjv/luke/9/55)). But, better (see [Luke 9:55](../../../kjv/luke/9/55)), translated, "Who can show (literally, give) the man
who was not satisfied with the flesh (meat) provided by Job?" He
never let a poor man leave his gate without giving him enough to eat.

**32. traveller**—literally,
"way," that is, wayfarers; so expressed to include all of
every kind ([2 Samuel 12:4](../../../kjv/2-samuel/12/4)).

**33. Adam**—translated by
UMBREIT, "as men do"
([Hosea 6:7](../../../kjv/hosea/6/7), where see *Margin*).
But *English Version* is more natural. The very same word for
"hiding" is used in [Genesis 3:8](../../../kjv/genesis/3/8);
[Genesis 3:10](../../../kjv/genesis/3/10), of Adam *hiding*
himself from God. Job elsewhere alludes to the flood. So he might
easily know of the fall, through the two links which connect Adam and
Abraham (about Job's time), namely, Methuselah and Shem. Adam is
representative of fallen man's propensity to concealment ([Genesis 3:10](../../../kjv/genesis/3/10)). It was *from God* that Job did not "hide his
iniquity in his bosom," as on the contrary it was from God that
"Adam" hid in his lurking-place. This disproves the
translation, "as men"; for it is *from their fellow men*
that "men" are chiefly anxious to hide their real character
as guilty. MAGEE, to make
the comparison with Adam more exact, for my "bosom"
translates, "lurking-place."

**34.** Rather, the apodosis to , "Then let me be fear-stricken before a great
multitude, let the contempt, c., let me keep silence (the greatest
disgrace to a patriot, heretofore so prominent in assemblies), and
not go out," &c. A just retribution that he who hides his
sin from God, should have it exposed before man (). But Job had not been so exposed, but on the contrary was
esteemed in the assemblies of the "tribes"—("families")
a proof, he implies, that God does not hold him guilty of hiding sin
([Job 24:16](../../../kjv/job/24/16), contrast with [Job 24:16](../../../kjv/job/24/16)).

**35.** Job returns to his wish
([Job 13:22](../../../kjv/job/13/22); [Job 19:23](../../../kjv/job/19/23)).
Omit "is"; "Behold my *sign,*" that is, my
mark of subscription to the statements just given in my defense: the
*mark* of signature was originally a *cross;* and hence the
letter Tau or T. Translate, also "Oh, *that* the Almighty,"
&c. He marks "God" as the "One" meant in the
first *clause.*
**adversary**—that is, he
who contends with me, refers also to God. The vagueness is designed
to express "whoever it be that judicially opposes me"—the
Almighty if it be He.
**had written a book**—rather,
"would write down his charge."

**36.** So far from hiding the
adversary's "answer" or "charge" through fear,
**I would take it on my
shoulders**—as a public honor ().
**a crown**—not a mark of
shame, but of distinction ().

**37.** A good conscience imparts a
princely dignity before man and free assurance in approaching God.
This can be realized, not in Job's way ([Job 42:5](../../../kjv/job/42/5);
[Job 42:6](../../../kjv/job/42/6)); but only through Jesus
Christ ([Hebrews 10:22](../../../kjv/hebrews/10/22)).

**38.** Personification. The
complaints of the unjustly ousted proprietors are transferred to the
lands themselves ([Job 31:20](../../../kjv/job/31/20);
[Genesis 4:10](../../../kjv/genesis/4/10); [Habakkuk 2:11](../../../kjv/habakkuk/2/11)).
If I have unjustly acquired lands ([Job 24:2](../../../kjv/job/24/2);
[Isaiah 5:8](../../../kjv/isaiah/5/8)).
**furrows**—The
specification of these makes it likely, he implies in this, "If
I paid not the laborer for *tillage*"; as [Isaiah 5:8](../../../kjv/isaiah/5/8), "If I paid him not for gathering in the fruits."
Thus of the four clauses in [Job 31:38](../../../kjv/job/31/38);
[Job 31:39](../../../kjv/job/31/39), the first refers to
the same subject as the fourth, the second is connected with the
third by introverted parallelism. Compare [Job 31:39](../../../kjv/job/31/39), which plainly alludes to this passage: compare "Lord of
Sabaoth" with [Job 31:26](../../../kjv/job/31/26)
here.

**39. lose . . . life**—not
literally, but "harassed to death"; until he gave me up his
land gratis [MAURER]; as
in [Judges 16:16](../../../kjv/judges/16/16); "suffered
him to languish" by taking away his means of living [UMBREIT]
([1 Kings 21:19](../../../kjv/1-kings/21/19)).

**40. thistles**—or brambles,
thorns.
**cockle**—literally,
"noxious weeds."
**The words . . . ended**—that
is, in the controversy with the friends. He spoke in the book
afterwards, but not to *them.* At would be the regular conclusion in strict art. But are naturally added by one whose mind in agitation
recurs to its sense of innocence, even after it has come to the usual
stopping point; this takes away the appearance of rhetorical
artifice. Hence the transposition by EICHORN
of [Job 31:38-40](../../../kjv/job/31/38-40) to
follow [Job 31:25](../../../kjv/job/31/25) is quite
unwarranted.

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