Leviticus 20:10(v11)“ ‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, even he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the…
1 Kings 11:4(v9)When Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with Yahweh his God, as the heart of…
Proverbs 6:27(v12)Can a man scoop fire into his lap, and his clothes not be burned?
Jeremiah 8:10(v10)Therefore I will give their wives to others and their fields to those who will possess them. For everyone from the least even to the…
Deuteronomy 22:22-24(v11)If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both die, the man who lay with the woman and the woman. So you…
Show all 37 cross-references
Judges 16:5(v9)The lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and see in which his great strength lies, and by what means we…
2 Samuel 12:11(v10)“This is what Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes,…
Job 31:28(v11)this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; for I should have denied the God who is above.
Ecclesiastes 7:26(v9)I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and traps, whose hands are chains. Whoever pleases God shall escape from her;…
Isaiah 47:2(v10)Take the millstones and grind flour. Remove your veil, lift up your skirt, uncover your legs, and wade through the rivers.
Genesis 38:24(v11)About three months later, Judah was told, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has played the prostitute. Moreover, behold, she is with child by…
Exodus 11:5(v10)and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the…
Deuteronomy 28:30(v10)You will betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her. You will build a house, and you won’t dwell in it. You will plant a vineyard,…
Nehemiah 13:26(v9)Didn’t Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God…
Job 24:15-16(v9)The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me.’ He disguises his face. In the dark they dig through…
Proverbs 2:16-19(v9)to deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words, who forsakes the friend of her youth, and…
Proverbs 6:25(v9)Don’t lust after her beauty in your heart, neither let her captivate you with her eyelids.
Proverbs 22:14(v9)The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit. He who is under Yahweh’s wrath will fall into it.
Jeremiah 5:7-9(v12)“How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me, and sworn by what are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed…
Jeremiah 5:8(v9)They were as fed horses roaming at large. Everyone neighed after his neighbor’s wife.
Hosea 7:4(v9)They are all adulterers. They are burning like an oven that the baker stops stirring, from the kneading of the dough, until it is leavened.
Genesis 20:9(v11)Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and…
Genesis 26:10(v11)Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought…
Job 15:30(v12)He will not depart out of darkness. The flame will dry up his branches. He will go away by the breath of God’s mouth.
Job 20:28(v12)The increase of his house will depart. They will rush away in the day of his wrath.
Job 26:6(v12)Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.
Proverbs 3:33(v12)Yahweh’s curse is in the house of the wicked, but he blesses the habitation of the righteous.
Proverbs 5:3-23(v9)For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil, but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a…
Proverbs 6:29-33(v11)So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife. Whoever touches her will not be unpunished. Men don’t despise a thief if he steals to satisfy…
Proverbs 7:21(v9)With persuasive words, she led him astray. With the flattering of her lips, she seduced him.
Ezekiel 16:38(v11)I will judge you, as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy.
Hosea 4:13-14(v10)They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and burn incense on the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, because its shade is…
Malachi 3:5(v12)I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the…
Matthew 24:41(v10)Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and one will be left.
Hebrews 13:4(v12)Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled; but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
Genesis 39:9(v11)No one is greater in this house than I am, and he has not kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv10, 12Let her be made a slave.
Let her be made a slave.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv9–12Job 31:9 If mine heart have been deceived by…
Job 31:9 If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or [if] I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door;
Ver. 9. If my heart hath been deceived by a woman] By a female sinner, as they call such, a strange woman (as the Scripture), whose lips are snares, whose hands are bands, whose words are cords to draw a man in, as an ox to the slaughter, Pro 7:21, whose face is as a glass, wherein while larks gaze they are taken in a day net ( פחה, Hinc πειθω, persuadeo). Here Job disavoweth and disclaimeth the sin of adultery, purging himself, as it were, by oath, as before he had done of fornication, and of wrong dealing. These sins he reckoneth up, either as they came to mind, or else in such order as men are many times tempted to them. Young people are prone to fornication; Job, when young, had kept himself clear from that iniquity. When men have got some years over their heads, and are entered into the world, as they call it, they usually grow greedy and gripple; they are set upon it, and will be rich, however they come by it. Job was none such either, Job 31:5; Job 31:7. Afterwards, when married, they are sick of a pleurisy; and as the devil, who sets them to work, they long to be sowing another man’s ground, Mat 13:25. The temptation to fornication is strong, but to adultery stronger, Adulterium quasi ad alterius torum. God doth often punish fornication, unrepented of, with strong and vexing honings and hankerings after strange flesh. But Job either was never troubled in this way; or else, when the temptation came, he was sure to be ever out of the way. The devil’s fire fell upon wet tinder; and if he knocked at Job’s door, there was no one at home to look out at the window and let him in; for he considered the punishment both human, Job 31:11, and divine, Job 31:12, due to this great wickedness.
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Or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door] Either as waiting the opportunity of his absence, as Pro 7:19, or as insinuating myself into her familiarity, while she was standing in her door. Of the Italian women one giveth this character, That though witty in speech, and modest in outward appearance, yet they are magpies at the door, goats in the garden, devils in the house, angels in the streets, and syrens in the windows. Job’s heart was not deceived by any such; neither sought he to defraud his brother in any such matter, 1Th 4:5-6. {See Trapp on "Joh 8:4"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv9–12By a woman, to wit, by a strange woman,…
By a woman, to wit, by a strange woman, or rather by my neighbour’s wife, as the next words limit it; for of a maid he spoke before, Job 31:1, and this cannot be meant of his own wife. He saith, by a woman, i.e. either by gazing upon her beauty, so as to be enamoured with it, and to lust after her; or by her persuasions or allurements. Or, concerning a woman, i.e. concerning impure conversation with a forbidden woman. The phrase is very emphatical, taking from himself and others the vain excuses wherewith men use to palliate their sins, by pretending that they did not design the wickedness, but were merely drawn in and seduced by the strong enticements and provocations of others; all which Job supposeth, and yet nevertheless owns the great guilt of such practices even in that case, as well knowing that temptation to sin is no justification of it.
Laid wait at my neighbour’s door; watching for a fit opportunity to defile his wife. Compare Pr 7; Pr 9.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry1710 · Public DomainOn v9Two more instances we have here of Job's integrity:…
Two more instances we have here of Job's integrity: -
I. That he had a very great abhorrence of the sin of adultery. As he did not wrong his own marriage bed by keeping a concubine (he did not so much as think upon a maid, v. 1), so he was careful not to offer any injury to his neighbour's marriage bed. Let us see here, 1. How clear he was from this sin, Job 31:9. (1.) He did not so much as covet his neighbour's wife; for even his heart was not deceived by a woman. The beauty of another man's wife did not kindle in him any unchaste desires, nor was he ever moved by the allurements of an adulterous woman, such as is described, Pro 7:6, etc. See the original of all the defilements of the life; they come from a deceived heart. Every sin is deceitful, and none more so than the sin of uncleanness. (2.) He never compassed or imagined any unchaste design. He never laid wait at his neighbour's door, to get an opportunity to debauch his wife in his absence, when the good man was not at home, Pro 7:19. See Job 24:15. 2. What a dread he had of this sin, and what frightful apprehensions he had concerning the malignity of it - that it was a heinous crime (Job 31:11), one of the greatest vilest sins a man can be guilty of, highly provoking to God, and destructive to the prosperity of the soul. With respect to the mischievousness of it, and the punishment it deserved, he owns that, if he were guilty of that heinous crime, (1.) His family might justly be made infamous in the highest degree (Job 31:10): Let my wife grind to another. Let her be a slave (so some), a harlot, so others. God often punishes the sins of one with the sin of another, the adultery of the husband with the adultery of the wife, as in David's case (Sa2 12:11), which does not in the least excuse the treachery of the adulterous wife; but, how unrighteous soever she is, God is righteous. See Hos 4:13, Your spouses shall commit adultery. Note, Those who are not just and faithful to their relations must not think it strange if their relations be unjust and unfaithful to them. (2.) He himself might justly be made a public example: For it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges; yea, though those who are guilty of it are themselves judges, as Job was. Note, Adultery is a crime which the civil magistrate ought to take cognizance of and punish: so it was adjudged even in the patriarchal age, before the law of Moses made it capital. It is an evil work, to which the sword of justice ought to be a terror. (3.) It might justly become the ruin of his estate; nay, he knew it would be so (Job 31:12): It is a fire. Lust is a fire in the soul: those that indulge it are said to burn. It consumes all that is good there (the convictions, the comforts), and lays the conscience waste. It kindles the fire of God's wrath, which, if not extinguished by the blood of Christ, will burn to the lowest hell. It will consume even to that eternal destruction. It consumes the body, Pro 5:11. It consumes the substance; it roots out all the increase. Burning lusts bring burning judgments. Perhaps it alludes to the burning of Sodom, which was intended for an example to those who should afterwards, in like manner, live ungodly.
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II. That he had a very great tenderness for his servants and ruled them with a gentle hand. He had a great household and he managed it well. By this he evidenced his sincerity that he had grace to govern his passion as well as his appetite; and he that in these two things has the rule of his own spirit is better than the mighty, Pro 16:32. Here observe, 1. What were Job's condescensions to his servants (Job 31:13): He did not despise the cause of his man-servant, no, nor of his maid-servant, when they contended with him. If they contradicted him in any thing, he was willing to hear their reasons. If they had offended him, or were accused to him, he would patiently hear what they had to say for themselves, in their own vindication or excuse. Nay, if they complained of any hardship he put upon them, he did not browbeat them, and bid them hold their tongues, but gave them leave to tell their story, and redressed their grievances as far as it appeared they had right on their side. He was tender of them, not only when they served and pleased him, but even when they contended with him. Herein he was a great example to masters, to give to their servants that which is just and equal; nay, to do the same things to them that they expect from them (Col 4:1, Eph 6:9), and not to rule them with rigour, and carry it with a high hand. Many of Job's servants were slain in his service (Job 1:15-17); the rest were unkind and undutiful to him, and despised his cause, though he never despised theirs (Job 19:15, Job 19:16); but he had this comfort that in his prosperity he had behaved well towards them. Note, When relations are either removed from us or embittered to us the testimony of our consciences that we have done our duty to them will be a great support and comfort to us. 2. What were the considerations that moved him to treat his servants thus kindly. He had, herein, an eye to God, both as his Judge and their Maker. (1.) As his Judge. He considered, "If I should be imperious and severe with my servants, what then shall I do when God riseth up?" He considered that he had a Master in heaven, to whom he was accountable, who will rise up and will visit; and we are concerned to consider what we shall do in the day of his visitation (Isa 10:3), and, considering that we should be undone if God should then be strict and severe with us, we ought to be very mild and gentle towards all with whom we have to do. Consider what would become of us if God should be extreme to mark what we do amiss, should take all advantages against us and insist upon all his just demands from us - if he should visit every offence, and take every forfeiture - if he should always chide, and keep his anger for ever. And let not us be rigorous with our inferiors. Consider what will become of us if we be cruel and unmerciful to our brethren. The cries of the injured will be heard; the sins of the injurious will be punished. Those that showed no mercy shall find none; and what shall we do then? (2.) As his and his servants' Creator, Job 31:15. When he was tempted to be harsh with his servants, to deny them their right and turn a deaf ear to their reasonings, this thought came very seasonably into his mind, "Did not he that made me in the womb make him? I am a creature as well as he, and my being is derived and depending as well as his. He partakes of the same nature that I do and is the work of the same hand: Have we not all one Father?" Note, Whatever difference there is among men in their outward condition, in their capacity of mind, or strength of body, or place in the world, he that made the one made the other also, which is a good reason why we should not mock at men's natural infirmities, nor trample upon those that are in any way our inferiors, but, in every thing, do as we would be done by. It is a rule of justice, Parium par sit ratio - Let equals be equally estimated and treated; and therefore since there is so great a parity among men, they being all made of the same mould, by the same power, for the same end, notwithstanding the disparity of our outward condition, we are bound so far to set ourselves upon the level with those we deal with as to do to them, in all respects, as we would they should do to us.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv9–12Then let my wife grind unto another,.... Which some…
Then let my wife grind unto another,.... Which some understand literally, of her being put to the worst of drudgery and slavery, to work at a mill, and grind corn for the service of a stranger, and be exposed to the company of the meanest of persons, and to their insults and abuses; as we find such as were taken captives and made prisoners by an enemy were put unto, as Samson, Jdg 16:21; and it may be observed, that to grind in a mill was also the work of women, Exo 11:5; as it was in early times; Homer (c) speaks of it as in times before him; but others take the words in a figurative sense, as if he imprecated that she lie with another man, and be defiled by him, as the Targum, Aben Ezra, and others (d); see Isa 47:1; and in like manner the following clause:
and let others bow down upon her; both which phrases are euphemisms, or clean and decent expressions, signifying what otherwise is not to be named; the Scriptures hereby directing, as to avoid unchaste thoughts, inclinations, and desires, and impure actions, so obscene words and filthy talking, as becometh saints: but there is some difficulty in Job's imprecating or wishing such a thing might befall his wife; it could not be lawful, if he had sinned, to wish his wife might sin also; or, if he was an adulterer, that she should be an adulteress; the sense is not, that Job really wished such a thing; but he uses such a way of speaking, to show how remote he was from the sin of uncleanness, there being nothing more disagreeable to a man than for his wife to defile his bed; it is the last thing he would wish for: and moreover Job suggests hereby, that had he been guilty of this sin, he must own and acknowledge that he would be righteously served, and it would be a just retaliation upon him, should his wife use him, or she be used, in such a manner; likewise, though a man may not wish nor commit a sin for the punishment of another; yet God sometimes punishes sin with sin, and even with the same kind of sin, and with this; so David's sin with Bathsheba was punished with Absalom lying with his wives and concubines before the sun, Sa2 12:11; see Deu 28:30.
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(c) Odyss. 7. v. 107. & Odyss. 20. v. 109. (d) So T. Bab Sotah, fol. 10. 1. & Luther, Schmidt apud Stockium, p. 414.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv10–12Then - Not as if Job desired this; but…
Then - Not as if Job desired this; but that if God should give up his wife to such wickedness, he should acknowledge his justice in it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv9–12Verse 9. If mine heart have been deceived by…
Verse 9. If mine heart have been deceived by a woman] The Septuagint add, ανδρος ετερου, another man's wife.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv9, 11Job 31:9-10. If my heart have been deceived by…
Job 31:9-10. If my heart have been deceived by a woman — Namely, by a strange woman, or rather, by my neighbour’s wife, as the next words limit the clause; for of a maid he had spoken before. If I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door — Watching for his absence, or some fair opportunity to enter his house and defile his bed. Then let my wife grind unto another — Let another take away my wife from me, make her the vilest slave, and use her at his pleasure. Not as if Job desired this, but that if God should give up his wife to such wickedness, he would acknowledge his justice in it.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv9–12If mine heart have been deceived by a woman…
If mine heart have been deceived by a woman - If I have been enticed by her beauty. The word rendered “deceived” פתה pâthâh means to open, to expand. It is then applied to that which is open or ingenuous; to that which is unsuspicious - like a youth; and thence is used in the sense of being deceived, or enticed; Deu 11:16; Exo 22:16; Pro 1:10; Pro 16:29. The word “woman” here probably means a married woman, and stands opposed to “virgin” in ver. 1. The crime which he here disclaims is adultery, and he says that his heart had never been allured from conjugal fidelity by the charms or the arts of a woman.
Or if I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door - That is, to watch when he would be absent from home. This was a common practice with those who were guilty of the crime referred to here; compare Pro 7:8-9.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv9–12Door, to seduce his wife. (Calmet) (Menochius)
Door, to seduce his wife. (Calmet) (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv9–12Job asserts his innocence of adultery.
Job asserts his innocence of adultery.
deceived--hath let itself be seduced (Pro 7:8; Gen 39:7-12).
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laid wait--until the husband went out.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv9–12Second strophe — Job affirms that he has practised…
Second strophe — Job affirms that he has practised righteousness in all the relationships of DOMESTIC life; and at the same time protests, first, with contempt and detestation, that he had never been be-fooled by a woman, and thus led away into adultery; and again, that he had never despised the cause of his servant, whose rights were co-equal with his own in the sight of God, Job_31:9-15.
9. Deceived — Enticed or befooled. At the root of the Hebrew lies the idea of simplicity. Compare Job_31:27; Pro_7:7; Pro_9:4. He now declares himself guiltless of adultery, as he had before of fornication, (Job_31:1.)
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv9–129–12. The grossest sensual sin, adultery.
9–12. The grossest sensual sin, adultery.
heart have been deceived] Or, befooled, infatuated.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn v10(10) Then let my wife grind—i.e., perform all menial…
(10) Then let my wife grind—i.e., perform all menial offices, like a slave.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv9–12If mine heart have been deceived by a woman;…
If mine heart have been deceived by a woman; rather, enticed, or allured unto a woman. If, that is, I have suffered myself at any time to be enticed by the wiles of a "strange woman", (Pro_5:3 Pro_6:24, etc.) and have so far yielded as to go after her; and if I have laid wait at my neighbour"s door watching for an opportunity to enter unseen, while the goodman is away (Pro_7:19) Job is not speaking of what he has done, but of what men may suspect him of having done.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv9, 11General Information:
General Information:
Job continues describing situations in which he would deserve God's punishment, but he knows they are not true. (See: Hypothetical Situations)
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If my heart has been deceived by a woman
Here "my heart" represents Job. Here the word "deceived" expresses the idea of "enticed." The word "woman" expresses the idea of "another man's wife." This can be stated in active form. AT: "If another man's wife has enticed me" or "If I have desired another man's wife" (See: Synecdoche and Active or Passive)
if I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door
It can be stated clearly why he was waiting at his neighbor's door. AT: "if I have waited at my neighbor's door so I could sleep with his wife" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
then let my wife grind grain for another
Possible meanings are 1) this is an euphemism which means Job is saying may his wife sleep with another man or 2) it means she will become a slave and work for another man. (See: Euphemism)
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv9, 11, 1231:9-10 Whether she seduced him or he waited for…
31:9-10 Whether she seduced him or he waited for her (24:15-16), if Job lusted for his neighbor’s wife he would break the seventh (Deut 5:18, Matt 5:27-28) and tenth (Deut 5:21) commandments. • serve: Literally grind for. This might refer to servitude (Exod 11:5) or to sexual intercourse.
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv10, 12 Let her be made a slave.
Let her be made a slave.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv9–12 Job 31:9 If mine heart have been deceived by…
Job 31:9 If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or [if] I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door;
Ver. 9. If my heart hath been deceived by a woman] By a female sinner, as they call such, a strange woman (as the Scripture), whose lips are snares, whose hands are bands, whose words are cords to draw a man in, as an ox to the slaughter, Pro 7:21, whose face is as a glass, wherein while larks gaze they are taken in a day net ( פחה, Hinc πειθω, persuadeo). Here Job disavoweth and disclaimeth the sin of adultery, purging himself, as it were, by oath, as before he had done of fornication, and of wrong dealing. These sins he reckoneth up, either as they came to mind, or else in such order as men are many times tempted to them. Young people are prone to fornication; Job, when young, had kept himself clear from that iniquity. When men have got some years over their heads, and are entered into the world, as they call it, they usually grow greedy and gripple; they are set upon it, and will be rich, however they come by it. Job was none such either, Job 31:5; Job 31:7. Afterwards, when married, they are sick of a pleurisy; and as the devil, who sets them to work, they long to be sowing another man’s ground, Mat 13:25. The temptation to fornication is strong, but to adultery stronger, Adulterium quasi ad alterius torum. God doth often punish fornication, unrepented of, with strong and vexing honings and hankerings after strange flesh. But Job either was never troubled in this way; or else, when the temptation came, he was sure to be ever out of the way. The devil’s fire fell upon wet tinder; and if he knocked at Job’s door, there was no one at home to look out at the window and let him in; for he considered the punishment both human, Job 31:11, and divine, Job 31:12, due to this great wickedness.
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Or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door] Either as waiting the opportunity of his absence, as Pro 7:19, or as insinuating myself into her familiarity, while she was standing in her door. Of the Italian women one giveth this character, That though witty in speech, and modest in outward appearance, yet they are magpies at the door, goats in the garden, devils in the house, angels in the streets, and syrens in the windows. Job’s heart was not deceived by any such; neither sought he to defraud his brother in any such matter, 1Th 4:5-6. {See Trapp on "Joh 8:4"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv9–12 By a woman, to wit, by a strange woman,…
By a woman, to wit, by a strange woman, or rather by my neighbour’s wife, as the next words limit it; for of a maid he spoke before, Job 31:1, and this cannot be meant of his own wife. He saith, by a woman, i.e. either by gazing upon her beauty, so as to be enamoured with it, and to lust after her; or by her persuasions or allurements. Or, concerning a woman, i.e. concerning impure conversation with a forbidden woman. The phrase is very emphatical, taking from himself and others the vain excuses wherewith men use to palliate their sins, by pretending that they did not design the wickedness, but were merely drawn in and seduced by the strong enticements and provocations of others; all which Job supposeth, and yet nevertheless owns the great guilt of such practices even in that case, as well knowing that temptation to sin is no justification of it.
Laid wait at my neighbour’s door; watching for a fit opportunity to defile his wife. Compare Pr 7; Pr 9.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v9 Two more instances we have here of Job's integrity:…
Two more instances we have here of Job's integrity: -
I. That he had a very great abhorrence of the sin of adultery. As he did not wrong his own marriage bed by keeping a concubine (he did not so much as think upon a maid, v. 1), so he was careful not to offer any injury to his neighbour's marriage bed. Let us see here, 1. How clear he was from this sin, Job 31:9. (1.) He did not so much as covet his neighbour's wife; for even his heart was not deceived by a woman. The beauty of another man's wife did not kindle in him any unchaste desires, nor was he ever moved by the allurements of an adulterous woman, such as is described, Pro 7:6, etc. See the original of all the defilements of the life; they come from a deceived heart. Every sin is deceitful, and none more so than the sin of uncleanness. (2.) He never compassed or imagined any unchaste design. He never laid wait at his neighbour's door, to get an opportunity to debauch his wife in his absence, when the good man was not at home, Pro 7:19. See Job 24:15. 2. What a dread he had of this sin, and what frightful apprehensions he had concerning the malignity of it - that it was a heinous crime (Job 31:11), one of the greatest vilest sins a man can be guilty of, highly provoking to God, and destructive to the prosperity of the soul. With respect to the mischievousness of it, and the punishment it deserved, he owns that, if he were guilty of that heinous crime, (1.) His family might justly be made infamous in the highest degree (Job 31:10): Let my wife grind to another. Let her be a slave (so some), a harlot, so others. God often punishes the sins of one with the sin of another, the adultery of the husband with the adultery of the wife, as in David's case (Sa2 12:11), which does not in the least excuse the treachery of the adulterous wife; but, how unrighteous soever she is, God is righteous. See Hos 4:13, Your spouses shall commit adultery. Note, Those who are not just and faithful to their relations must not think it strange if their relations be unjust and unfaithful to them. (2.) He himself might justly be made a public example: For it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges; yea, though those who are guilty of it are themselves judges, as Job was. Note, Adultery is a crime which the civil magistrate ought to take cognizance of and punish: so it was adjudged even in the patriarchal age, before the law of Moses made it capital. It is an evil work, to which the sword of justice ought to be a terror. (3.) It might justly become the ruin of his estate; nay, he knew it would be so (Job 31:12): It is a fire. Lust is a fire in the soul: those that indulge it are said to burn. It consumes all that is good there (the convictions, the comforts), and lays the conscience waste. It kindles the fire of God's wrath, which, if not extinguished by the blood of Christ, will burn to the lowest hell. It will consume even to that eternal destruction. It consumes the body, Pro 5:11. It consumes the substance; it roots out all the increase. Burning lusts bring burning judgments. Perhaps it alludes to the burning of Sodom, which was intended for an example to those who should afterwards, in like manner, live ungodly.
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II. That he had a very great tenderness for his servants and ruled them with a gentle hand. He had a great household and he managed it well. By this he evidenced his sincerity that he had grace to govern his passion as well as his appetite; and he that in these two things has the rule of his own spirit is better than the mighty, Pro 16:32. Here observe, 1. What were Job's condescensions to his servants (Job 31:13): He did not despise the cause of his man-servant, no, nor of his maid-servant, when they contended with him. If they contradicted him in any thing, he was willing to hear their reasons. If they had offended him, or were accused to him, he would patiently hear what they had to say for themselves, in their own vindication or excuse. Nay, if they complained of any hardship he put upon them, he did not browbeat them, and bid them hold their tongues, but gave them leave to tell their story, and redressed their grievances as far as it appeared they had right on their side. He was tender of them, not only when they served and pleased him, but even when they contended with him. Herein he was a great example to masters, to give to their servants that which is just and equal; nay, to do the same things to them that they expect from them (Col 4:1, Eph 6:9), and not to rule them with rigour, and carry it with a high hand. Many of Job's servants were slain in his service (Job 1:15-17); the rest were unkind and undutiful to him, and despised his cause, though he never despised theirs (Job 19:15, Job 19:16); but he had this comfort that in his prosperity he had behaved well towards them. Note, When relations are either removed from us or embittered to us the testimony of our consciences that we have done our duty to them will be a great support and comfort to us. 2. What were the considerations that moved him to treat his servants thus kindly. He had, herein, an eye to God, both as his Judge and their Maker. (1.) As his Judge. He considered, "If I should be imperious and severe with my servants, what then shall I do when God riseth up?" He considered that he had a Master in heaven, to whom he was accountable, who will rise up and will visit; and we are concerned to consider what we shall do in the day of his visitation (Isa 10:3), and, considering that we should be undone if God should then be strict and severe with us, we ought to be very mild and gentle towards all with whom we have to do. Consider what would become of us if God should be extreme to mark what we do amiss, should take all advantages against us and insist upon all his just demands from us - if he should visit every offence, and take every forfeiture - if he should always chide, and keep his anger for ever. And let not us be rigorous with our inferiors. Consider what will become of us if we be cruel and unmerciful to our brethren. The cries of the injured will be heard; the sins of the injurious will be punished. Those that showed no mercy shall find none; and what shall we do then? (2.) As his and his servants' Creator, Job 31:15. When he was tempted to be harsh with his servants, to deny them their right and turn a deaf ear to their reasonings, this thought came very seasonably into his mind, "Did not he that made me in the womb make him? I am a creature as well as he, and my being is derived and depending as well as his. He partakes of the same nature that I do and is the work of the same hand: Have we not all one Father?" Note, Whatever difference there is among men in their outward condition, in their capacity of mind, or strength of body, or place in the world, he that made the one made the other also, which is a good reason why we should not mock at men's natural infirmities, nor trample upon those that are in any way our inferiors, but, in every thing, do as we would be done by. It is a rule of justice, Parium par sit ratio - Let equals be equally estimated and treated; and therefore since there is so great a parity among men, they being all made of the same mould, by the same power, for the same end, notwithstanding the disparity of our outward condition, we are bound so far to set ourselves upon the level with those we deal with as to do to them, in all respects, as we would they should do to us.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv9–12 Then let my wife grind unto another,.... Which some…
Then let my wife grind unto another,.... Which some understand literally, of her being put to the worst of drudgery and slavery, to work at a mill, and grind corn for the service of a stranger, and be exposed to the company of the meanest of persons, and to their insults and abuses; as we find such as were taken captives and made prisoners by an enemy were put unto, as Samson, Jdg 16:21; and it may be observed, that to grind in a mill was also the work of women, Exo 11:5; as it was in early times; Homer (c) speaks of it as in times before him; but others take the words in a figurative sense, as if he imprecated that she lie with another man, and be defiled by him, as the Targum, Aben Ezra, and others (d); see Isa 47:1; and in like manner the following clause:
and let others bow down upon her; both which phrases are euphemisms, or clean and decent expressions, signifying what otherwise is not to be named; the Scriptures hereby directing, as to avoid unchaste thoughts, inclinations, and desires, and impure actions, so obscene words and filthy talking, as becometh saints: but there is some difficulty in Job's imprecating or wishing such a thing might befall his wife; it could not be lawful, if he had sinned, to wish his wife might sin also; or, if he was an adulterer, that she should be an adulteress; the sense is not, that Job really wished such a thing; but he uses such a way of speaking, to show how remote he was from the sin of uncleanness, there being nothing more disagreeable to a man than for his wife to defile his bed; it is the last thing he would wish for: and moreover Job suggests hereby, that had he been guilty of this sin, he must own and acknowledge that he would be righteously served, and it would be a just retaliation upon him, should his wife use him, or she be used, in such a manner; likewise, though a man may not wish nor commit a sin for the punishment of another; yet God sometimes punishes sin with sin, and even with the same kind of sin, and with this; so David's sin with Bathsheba was punished with Absalom lying with his wives and concubines before the sun, Sa2 12:11; see Deu 28:30.
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(c) Odyss. 7. v. 107. & Odyss. 20. v. 109. (d) So T. Bab Sotah, fol. 10. 1. & Luther, Schmidt apud Stockium, p. 414.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv10–12 Then - Not as if Job desired this; but…
Then - Not as if Job desired this; but that if God should give up his wife to such wickedness, he should acknowledge his justice in it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv9–12 Verse 9. If mine heart have been deceived by…
Verse 9. If mine heart have been deceived by a woman] The Septuagint add, ανδρος ετερου, another man's wife.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv9, 11 Job 31:9-10. If my heart have been deceived by…
Job 31:9-10. If my heart have been deceived by a woman — Namely, by a strange woman, or rather, by my neighbour’s wife, as the next words limit the clause; for of a maid he had spoken before. If I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door — Watching for his absence, or some fair opportunity to enter his house and defile his bed. Then let my wife grind unto another — Let another take away my wife from me, make her the vilest slave, and use her at his pleasure. Not as if Job desired this, but that if God should give up his wife to such wickedness, he would acknowledge his justice in it.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv9–12 If mine heart have been deceived by a woman…
If mine heart have been deceived by a woman - If I have been enticed by her beauty. The word rendered “deceived” פתה pâthâh means to open, to expand. It is then applied to that which is open or ingenuous; to that which is unsuspicious - like a youth; and thence is used in the sense of being deceived, or enticed; Deu 11:16; Exo 22:16; Pro 1:10; Pro 16:29. The word “woman” here probably means a married woman, and stands opposed to “virgin” in ver. 1. The crime which he here disclaims is adultery, and he says that his heart had never been allured from conjugal fidelity by the charms or the arts of a woman.
Or if I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door - That is, to watch when he would be absent from home. This was a common practice with those who were guilty of the crime referred to here; compare Pro 7:8-9.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv9–12 Door, to seduce his wife. (Calmet) (Menochius)
Door, to seduce his wife. (Calmet) (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv9–12 Job asserts his innocence of adultery.
Job asserts his innocence of adultery.
deceived--hath let itself be seduced (Pro 7:8; Gen 39:7-12).
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laid wait--until the husband went out.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv9–12 Second strophe — Job affirms that he has practised…
Second strophe — Job affirms that he has practised righteousness in all the relationships of DOMESTIC life; and at the same time protests, first, with contempt and detestation, that he had never been be-fooled by a woman, and thus led away into adultery; and again, that he had never despised the cause of his servant, whose rights were co-equal with his own in the sight of God, Job_31:9-15.
9. Deceived — Enticed or befooled. At the root of the Hebrew lies the idea of simplicity. Compare Job_31:27; Pro_7:7; Pro_9:4. He now declares himself guiltless of adultery, as he had before of fornication, (Job_31:1.)
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv9–12 9–12. The grossest sensual sin, adultery.
9–12. The grossest sensual sin, adultery.
heart have been deceived] Or, befooled, infatuated.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v10 (10) Then let my wife grind—i.e., perform all menial…
(10) Then let my wife grind—i.e., perform all menial offices, like a slave.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv9–12 If mine heart have been deceived by a woman;…
If mine heart have been deceived by a woman; rather, enticed, or allured unto a woman. If, that is, I have suffered myself at any time to be enticed by the wiles of a "strange woman", (Pro_5:3 Pro_6:24, etc.) and have so far yielded as to go after her; and if I have laid wait at my neighbour"s door watching for an opportunity to enter unseen, while the goodman is away (Pro_7:19) Job is not speaking of what he has done, but of what men may suspect him of having done.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv9, 11 General Information:
General Information:
Job continues describing situations in which he would deserve God's punishment, but he knows they are not true. (See: Hypothetical Situations)
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If my heart has been deceived by a woman
Here "my heart" represents Job. Here the word "deceived" expresses the idea of "enticed." The word "woman" expresses the idea of "another man's wife." This can be stated in active form. AT: "If another man's wife has enticed me" or "If I have desired another man's wife" (See: Synecdoche and Active or Passive)
if I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door
It can be stated clearly why he was waiting at his neighbor's door. AT: "if I have waited at my neighbor's door so I could sleep with his wife" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
then let my wife grind grain for another
Possible meanings are 1) this is an euphemism which means Job is saying may his wife sleep with another man or 2) it means she will become a slave and work for another man. (See: Euphemism)
translationWords
heart
grain
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv9, 11, 12 31:9-10 Whether she seduced him or he waited for…
31:9-10 Whether she seduced him or he waited for her (24:15-16), if Job lusted for his neighbor’s wife he would break the seventh (Deut 5:18, Matt 5:27-28) and tenth (Deut 5:21) commandments. • serve: Literally grind for. This might refer to servitude (Exod 11:5) or to sexual intercourse.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.