Job 31:6-16

6 (Let me be ¹weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity! )

7 if my step has turned aside from the way and ²my heart has gone after my eyes, and if any ³spot has stuck to my hands,

8 then let me ⁴sow, and another eat, and let what grows for me^[a] be rooted out.

9 “If my heart has been enticed toward a woman, and I have ⁵lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,

10 then let my wife ⁶grind for another, and let others ⁷bow down on her.

11 For that would be a heinous crime; that would be an iniquity ⁸to be punished by the judges;

12 for that would be a fire ⁹that consumes as far as Abaddon, and it would burn to the root all my increase.

13 “If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant, when they brought a complaint against me,

14 what then shall I do when God rises up? When he ¹⁰makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?

15 Did ¹¹not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?

16 “If I have ¹²withheld anything that the poor desired, or have ¹³caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

Job 31:6-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 31

In this chapter Job gives an account of himself in private life, of the integrity and uprightness of his life, and his holy walk and conversation, with this view, that it might be thought that the afflictions which were upon him were not on account of a vicious course of life he had indulged unto, as was suggested; and he clears himself from various crimes which it might be insinuated he was guilty of, as from unchastity; and he observes the method he took to prevent his falling into it, and the reasons that dissuaded him from it, Job 31:1-4; from injustice in his dealings with men, Job 31:5-8; from the sin of adultery, Job 31:9-12; from ill usage of his servants, Job 31:13-15; from unkindness to the poor, which he enlarges upon, and gives many instances of his charity to them, Job 31:16-23; from covetousness, and a vain confidence in wealth, Job 31:24,25; from idolatry, the worship of the sun and moon, Job 31:26-28; from a revengeful spirit, Job 31:29-31; and from inhospitality to strangers, Job 31:32; from covering his sin, Job 31:33; and fear of men, Job 31:34; and then wishes his cause might be heard before God, Job 31:35-37; and the chapter is closed with an imprecation on his head if guilty of any injustice, Job 31:38-40.

Cross References

• 1. 31:6 Dan. 5:27
• 2. 31:7 Num. 15:39; Eccles. 11:9
• 3. 31:7 [ch. 11:15]
• 4. 31:8 Lev. 26:16; Deut. 28:30, 38; [John 4:37]
• 5. 31:9 [ch. 24:15]
• 6. 31:10 [Ex. 11:5; Isa. 47:2]
• 7. 31:10 [2 Sam. 12:11; Jer. 8:10]
• 8. 31:11 ver. 28; [Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22]
• 9. 31:12 See Prov. 6:27-29
• 10. 31:14 Ps. 17:3
• 11. 31:15 ch. 34:19; Prov. 14:31; 22:2; [Eph. 6:9]
• 12. 31:16 [ch. 22:7]
• 13. 31:16 ch. 11:20; 17:5

Footnotes

• [a] 31:8 Or 'let my descendants'