Job 31:11

11 For the rage of anger is not to be controlled, of defiling man's wife.

Job 31:11 Meaning and Commentary

Job 31:11

For this [is] an heinous crime
Adultery; it is contrary to the light of nature, and is condemned by it as a great sin, ( Genesis 20:9 ) ( 26:10 ) ; as well as contrary to the express will and law of God, ( Exodus 20:14 ) ; and, though all sin is a transgression of the law of God, and deserving of death; yet there are some sins greater and more heinous than others, being attended with aggravating circumstances; and such is this sin, it is a breach of the marriage contract and covenant between man and wife; it is doing injury to a man's property, and to that which is the nearest and dearest to him, and is what introduces confusion into families, kingdoms, and states; and therefore it follows:

yea, it [is] an iniquity [to he punished by] the judges;
who might take cognizance of it, examine into it, and pass sentence for it, and execute it; and, if they neglect do their duty, God, the Judge of all the earth, will punish for it in the world to come, unless repented of: "for whoremongers and adulterers God will judge", ( Hebrews 13:4 ) ; the punishment of adultery was death by the law of God, and that by stoning, as appears from ( Leviticus 20:10 ) ( Deuteronomy 22:21 ) ( John 8:4 John 8:5 ) ; and it is remarkable, that the Heathens, who were ignorant of this law, enjoined the same punishment for it; so Homer ^F5 introduces Hector reproving Paris for this sin, and suggests to him, that if he had his deserved punishment, he would have been clothed with a "stone coat", as he beautifully expresses it; which Suidas ^F6 explains, by being overwhelmed with stones, or stoned; as Eustathius ^F7.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 Iliad. 3. v. 57.
F6 In voce (lainon) .
F7 In Homer. ibid.

Job 31:11 In-Context

9 If my heart has gone forth after another man's wife, and if I laid wait at her doors;

10 then let my wife also please another, and let my children be brought low.

11 For the rage of anger is not to be controlled, of defiling man's wife.

12 For it is a fire burning on every side, and whomsoever it attacks, it utterly destroys.

13 And if too I despised the judgment of my servant or handmaid, when they pleaded with me;