Job 31:33

33 if I have concealed my sin as people do,^[a]by hiding my guilt in my heart

Job 31:33 in Other Translations

33 If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:

33 if I have concealed my transgressions as others do by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,

33 “Have I tried to hide my sins like other people do, concealing my guilt in my heart?

33 Did I hide my sin the way Adam did, or conceal my guilt behind closed doors

33 Have I covered my transgressions as others do by hiding my guilt in my heart,

Job 31:33 Meaning and Commentary

Job 31:33

If I covered my transgressions as Adam
Job could not be understood, by this account he had given of the holiness of his life, that he thought himself quite free from sin; he had owned himself to be a sinner in several places before, and disclaimed perfection; and here he acknowledges he was guilty of transgressing the law of God, and that in many instances; for he speaks of his "transgressions" in the plural number; but then he did not seek to cover them from the of God or men, but frankly and ingenuously confessed them to both; he did not cover them, palliate, excuse, and extenuate them, as Adam did his, by laying the blame to his wife; and as she by charging it on the serpent; and those excuses they made are the inventions they found out, ( Ecclesiastes 7:29 ) ; or the meaning is, Job did not do "as men" ^F11 in common do; who, when they have sinned, either through fear or shame, endeavour to conceal it, and keep it out of the sight of others, unless they are very hardened and audacious sinners, such as the men of Sodom were, see ( Hosea 6:7 ) ;

by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom;
meaning perhaps some particular iniquity which his nature was most inclined to; this he did not attempt to hide in secret, as what is put into the bosom is; or that he did not spare it and cherish it, and, from an affection to it, keep it as persons and things beloved are, laid in the bosom; and so Mr. Broughton reads the words, "hiding my sin of a self-love"; either having a self-love to it, or hiding it of self-love, that is, from a principle of self-love, to preserve his honour, credit, and reputation among men.

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FOOTNOTES:

F11 (Mdak) "ut homo", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Beza, Bolducius, Mercerus, Drusius, Schmidt; "more hominum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; so Aben Ezra.

Job 31:33 In-Context

31 if those of my household have never said, ‘Who has not been filled with Job’s meat?’—

32 but no stranger had to spend the night in the street, for my door was always open to the traveler—

33 if I have concealed my sin as people do,by hiding my guilt in my heart

34 because I so feared the crowd and so dreaded the contempt of the clans that I kept silent and would not go outside—

35 (“Oh, that I had someone to hear me! I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser put his indictment in writing.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 32:5; Proverbs 28:13
• 2. S Genesis 3:8

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "as Adam did"