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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0;"/><title>Job 31 Matthew Poole's Commentary</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/poole/job/311.htm" /><link href='//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Cardo&subset=greek-ext' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/job/31.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/job/31-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="/commentaries/">Commentary</a> > <a href="../">Poole</a> > <a href="../job/">Job</a></div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../job/30.htm" title="Job 30">◄</a> Job 31 <a href="../job/32.htm" title="Job 32">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Matthew Poole's Commentary</div><div class="chap"> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-1.htm">Job 31:1</a></div><div class="verse">I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?</div>He protesteth his continency and chastity; God’s providence, presence, and judgments; his motives, <span class="bld"><a href="/context/job/31-1.htm" title="I made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I think on a maid?...">Job 31:1-4</a></span>. His just dealings, <span class="bld"><a href="/context/job/31-5.htm" title="If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot has hurried to deceit;...">Job 31:5-8</a></span>. Free from adultery, which ought to be punished by the magistrate, <span class="bld"><a href="/context/job/31-9.htm" title="If my heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbor's door;...">Job 31:9-12</a></span>. His just carriage to his servants, and the reason, <span class="bld"><a href="/context/job/31-13.htm" title="If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;...">Job 31:13-15</a></span>. His bounty to the poor, for fear of God, and his highness, <span class="bld"><a href="/context/job/31-6.htm" title="Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know my integrity....">Job 31:6-23</a></span>. Not covetous, nor idolatrous, which ought to be punished by the magistrate, <span class="bld"><a href="/context/job/31-24.htm" title="If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, You are my confidence;...">Job 31:24-28</a></span>. Not revengeful, <span class="bld"><a href="/job/31-29.htm" title="If I rejoice at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him:">Job 31:29</a>,30</span>. Hospitable to strangers, <span class="bld"><a href="/job/31-31.htm" title="If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.">Job 31:31</a>,32</span>. His repentance, <span class="bld"><a href="/job/31-33.htm" title="If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom:">Job 31:33</a></span>. He wisheth God would answer, and his words might be recorded, <span class="bld"><a href="/context/job/31-35.htm" title="Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that my adversary had written a book....">Job 31:35-37</a></span>. His imprecation against himself, if he spoke not the truth, <span class="bld"><a href="/context/job/31-38.htm" title="If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;...">Job 31:38-40</a></span>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> So far have I been from wallowing in the mire of uncleanness, or any gross wickedness, wherewith you charge me, that I have abstained even from the least occasions and appearances of evil, having made a solemn resolution within myself, and a solemn covenant and promise to God, that I would not wantonly or lustfully fix mine eyes or gaze upon a maid, lest mine eyes should affect my heart, and stir me up to further filthiness. Hereby we plainly see that that command of Christ. <span class="bld"><a href="/matthew/5-29.htm" title="And if your right eye offend you, pluck it out, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell.">Matthew 5:29</a></span>, was no new command peculiar to the gospel, as some would have it, but the very same which the law of God revealed in his word, and written in men’s hearts by nature, imposed upon men in the times of the Old Testament. See also <span class="bld"><a href="/2_peter/2-14.htm" title="Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:">2 Peter 2:14</a> <a href="/1_john/2-16.htm" title="For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.">1Jo 2:16</a></span>. <span class="ital">Should I think upon</span>, i.e. indulge myself in filthy and lustful thoughts? Seeing I was obliged, and accordingly took care, to guard mine eyes, I was upon the same reason obliged to restrain my imagination. Or, <span class="ital">why then should I consider</span>, or <span class="ital">contemplate</span>, or <span class="ital">look curiously</span>, or <span class="ital">thoughtfully</span>, or <span class="ital">diligently</span>? Since I had made such a covenant, why should I not keep it? <span class="ital">A maid</span>; which is emphatically added, to show that that circumstance which provokes the lust of others had no such power over him, and that he restrained himself from the very thoughts and desires of filthiness with such persons, wherewith the generality of men allowed themselves to commit gross fornication, as deeming it to be either none, or but a very little sin. Withal he insinuates with how much more caution he kept himself from uncleanness with any married person. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="2"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-2.htm">Job 31:2</a></div><div class="verse">For what portion of God <i>is there</i> from above? and <i>what</i> inheritance of the Almighty from on high?</div> The reason of my continency and chastity was, the consideration of God’s presence, and providence, and judgments. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">What portion of God; </span> what fruit or recompence might be expected from God for those who do such things? Nothing but destruction, as it follows, <span class="bld"><a href="/job/31-3.htm" title="Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?">Job 31:3</a></span>. I considered, that though these practices might at first please me, yet they would be bitterness in the latter end. <span class="ital">From above</span>; an emphatical phrase, to note, that how secretly and slily soever unchaste persons carry the matter, so as men cannot reprove or reproach them; yet there is one who stands upon a higher place, whence he hath the better prospect, who seeth both when, and in what manner, and with what design they do these things. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="3"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-3.htm">Job 31:3</a></div><div class="verse"><i>Is</i> not destruction to the wicked? and a strange <i>punishment</i> to the workers of iniquity?</div> Destruction is their portion, and a strange punishment, some extraordinary and dreadful judgment, which of right and course belongs to them, and only to such as they are, although it hath pleased God out of his sovereign power to inflict it upon me, who have lived in all good conscience before him. Heb. <span class="ital">an alienation or estrangement</span>, to wit, from God and from his favour. Had I been such a one, I neither could nor should have expected any kindness or mercy from God, as now I do. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="4"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-4.htm">Job 31:4</a></div><div class="verse">Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?</div> i.e. All my counsels and courses. This is another reason why he was so circumspect and exact in restraining his thoughts, and senses, and whole man from sinful practices, because he knew that God would discern them, and therefore punish them, as he said, <span class="bld"><a href="/job/31-3.htm" title="Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?">Job 31:3</a></span>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="5"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-5.htm">Job 31:5</a></div><div class="verse">If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;</div> <span class="bld">Walked, </span> i.e. conversed in the world, dealt with men. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">With vanity, </span> i.e. with lying, or falsehood, or hypocrisy, as this word is oft used, as <span class="bld"><a href="/psalms/4-2.htm" title="O you sons of men, how long will you turn my glory into shame? how long will you love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah.">Psalm 4:2</a> 12:3 36:3 <a href="/proverbs/30-8.htm" title="Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:">Proverbs 30:8</a></span>, and as the next words explain it. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">If my foot hath hasted to deceit; </span> if when I have had any temptation or opportunity of enriching myself, by defrauding or wronging others, I have readily and greedily complied with it, as hypocrites (such as you account me) use to do, and have not rejected and abhorred it; for more is here understood than is expressed. The sense is imperfect, and supposeth an imprecation, which is either understood, after the manner of the Hebrews, or expressed in the next verse. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="6"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-6.htm">Job 31:6</a></div><div class="verse">Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.</div> This is either, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>1. An imprecation; or rather, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>2. A submission to trial, as the following words show. The sense is, I am so far from being conscious to myself of any hypocrisy or secret wickedness, whereby I have brought these unusual judgments upon myself, as you traduce me, that I desire nothing more than to have my heart and life weighed in just balances, and searched out by the all-seeing God. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">That God may know, </span> Heb. <span class="ital">and let him know</span> (i.e. let him acknowledge and show that he knoweth and approveth); or let him make known to my friends and others, who censure or condemn me. Or, <span class="ital">and he will know</span>, (i.e. upon search he will find out; which is spoken of God after the manner of men) <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">mine integrity.</span> So this is an appeal to God to be witness of his sincerity, and to vindicate him from the imputation of hypocrisy. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="7"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-7.htm">Job 31:7</a></div><div class="verse">If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;</div> If I have wittingly, and willingly, and customarily (as you accuse me) swerved from the way of truth and justice which God hath prescribed to me; for otherwise no man here is so just, but he sometimes takes a wrong step, <span class="bld"><a href="/ecclesiastes/7-20.htm" title="For there is not a just man on earth, that does good, and sins not.">Ecclesiastes 7:20</a></span>. If I have let my heart loose to covet and seek after forbidden things, which mine eyes have seen; which may design either, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>1. The lust of uncleanness; but of that he had spoken <span class="bld"><a href="/job/31-1.htm" title="I made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I think on a maid?">Job 31:1</a></span>, and reneweth the discourse <span class="bld"><a href="/job/31-9.htm" title="If my heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbor's door;">Job 31:9</a></span>. Or rather, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>2. The lust of covetousness, which is called the lust of the eyes, <span class="bld"><a href="/1_john/2-16.htm" title="For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.">1Jo 2:16</a></span>, partly because it is oft caused by sight, as <span class="bld"><a href="/joshua/7-21.htm" title="When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the middle of my tent, and the silver under it.">Joshua 7:21</a></span>, and partly because ofttimes all the satisfaction it gives is to please the sight, <span class="bld"><a href="/ecclesiastes/5-11.htm" title="When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?">Ecclesiastes 5:11</a></span>. And this sin is most legible in the following punishment, <span class="bld"><a href="/job/31-8.htm" title="Then let me sow, and let another eat; yes, let my offspring be rooted out.">Job 31:8</a></span>, where his loss answers to this evil gain. The phrase notes the common method and progress of sin, which is to enter by the eye to the heart, <span class="bld"><a href="/genesis/3-6.htm" title="And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her; and he did eat.">Genesis 3:6</a> <a href="/numbers/15-39.htm" title="And it shall be to you for a fringe, that you may look on it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that you seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you use to go a whoring:">Numbers 15:39</a> <a href="/ecclesiastes/2-10.htm" title="And whatever my eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labor: and this was my portion of all my labor.">Ecclesiastes 2:10</a> 11:9</span>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">Any blot, </span> or <span class="ital">blemish</span>, to wit, any unjust gain. If I have in my hands or possession any goods gotten from others by fraud or violence, which would be a great scandal and a blot to my reputation. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="8"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-8.htm">Job 31:8</a></div><div class="verse"><i>Then</i> let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.</div> Let strangers enjoy the fruit of my labours, according to God’s curse, <span class="bld"><a href="/leviticus/26-16.htm" title="I also will do this to you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.">Leviticus 26:16</a> <a href="/deuteronomy/28-30.htm" title="You shall betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: you shall build an house, and you shall not dwell therein: you shall plant a vineyard, and shall not gather the grapes thereof.">Deu 28:30</a></span>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">My offspring; </span> as this word is used, <span class="bld"><a href="/job/5-25.htm" title="You shall know also that your seed shall be great, and your offspring as the grass of the earth.">Job 5:25</a> 27:14</span>. Or rather, <span class="ital">my increase</span>, or <span class="ital">growths</span>, or <span class="ital">sprouts</span>, i.e. all my plants, and fruits, and improvements. For, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>1. So the word properly signifies. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>2. So this latter branch of the verse explains the former, as is most frequent in this and some other books of Scripture. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>3. He had not now any children to be rooted out. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="9"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-9.htm">Job 31:9</a></div><div class="verse">If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or <i>if</i> I have laid wait at my neighbour's door;</div> <span class="bld">By a woman, </span> 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, <span class="bld"><a href="/job/31-1.htm" title="I made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I think on a maid?">Job 31:1</a></span>, and this cannot be meant of his own wife. He saith, <span class="ital">by a woman</span>, 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, <span class="ital">concerning a woman</span>, 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. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">Laid wait at my neighbour’s door; </span> watching for a fit opportunity to defile his wife. Compare <span class="bld">Pr 7 Pr 9</span>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="10"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-10.htm">Job 31:10</a></div><div class="verse"><i>Then</i> let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.</div> <span class="bld">Let my wife grind unto another; </span> either, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>1. Let her be taken captive, and made a slave to grind in other men’s mills; which was a sore and vile servitude, <span class="bld"><a href="/exodus/11-5.htm" title="And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first born of Pharaoh that sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.">Exodus 11:5</a> <a href="/judges/16-21.htm" title="But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.">Judges 16:21</a> <a href="/isaiah/47-2.htm" title="Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover your locks, make bore the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.">Isaiah 47:2</a> <a href="/matthew/24-41.htm" title="Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.">Matthew 24:41</a></span>. Or rather, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>2. Let her be defiled by another man, as the next words expound it, and as the Hebrews understand it, and as this very phrase is used by very ancient, both Greek and Latin, authors <span class="ital">of which see my Latin Synopsis on this place</span>. And this is to be cautiously understood, not as if Job desired or would permit a requital in the same kind, but only, that if in that case God should give up his wife to such a wickedness, he should acknowledge his justice in it, and (though with abhorrency of the sin) accept of that punishment of it. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">Let others bow down upon her; </span> another modest expression of a filthy action; whereby the Holy Ghost gives us a pattern and a precept to avoid not only unclean actions, but also all immodest expressions. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="11"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-11.htm">Job 31:11</a></div><div class="verse">For this <i>is</i> an heinous crime; yea, it <i>is</i> an iniquity <i>to be punished by</i> the judges.</div> To wit, adultery, whether committed by choice and design, or by the solicitation of the woman, <span class="bld"><a href="/job/31-9.htm" title="If my heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbor's door;">Job 31:9</a></span>. Heb. <span class="ital">an iniquity of the judges</span>, i.e. which belongs to them to take cognizance of, and to punish, and that with death; and that not only by the law of Moses, <span class="bld"><a href="/deuteronomy/22-22.htm" title="If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shall you put away evil from Israel.">Deu 22:22</a></span>, but even by the law of nature, as appears from the known laws and customs of heathen nations in that case. See also <span class="bld"><a href="/genesis/38-24.htm" title="And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar your daughter in law has played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by prostitution. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.">Genesis 38:24</a></span>. This is opposed to those secret and lesser sins, which are only known to and punished by God. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="12"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-12.htm">Job 31:12</a></div><div class="verse">For it <i>is</i> a fire <i>that</i> consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.</div> For this sin would be as a secret but consuming fire, wasting my estate and reputation, and body and soul too, provoking God and enraging the husband, and bringing down some extraordinary vengeance upon me; and therefore the fear of God kept me from this and such-like wickedness. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">All mine increase, </span> i.e. all my estate: compare <span class="bld"><a href="/proverbs/6-27.htm" title="Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?">Proverbs 6:27</a></span>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="13"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-13.htm">Job 31:13</a></div><div class="verse">If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;</div> <span class="bld">If I did despise the cause of my man-servant; </span> if I used my power over him to overthrow him or his just rights. And seeing it is known that I was so just and kind to them, over whom I had such unlimited power, it is not probable that I should be guilty of such cruelty to others, as you impute to me. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">When they contended with me; </span> either for imposing heavier burdens than they could bear; or for not providing for them those supports which their nature and necessity required, or for any other plausible cause. I heard them patiently and indifferently, and did them right even against myself, if by any misinformation or passion I had done them any injury. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="14"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-14.htm">Job 31:14</a></div><div class="verse">What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?</div> <span class="bld">When God riseth up, </span> to wit, to plead the cause of the oppressed against the oppressor, and to execute judgment, as this phrase is used, <span class="bld"><a href="/psalms/68-1.htm" title="Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.">Psalm 68:1</a> <a href="/zechariah/2-13.htm" title="Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.">Zechariah 2:13</a></span>, and elsewhere. I used my servant like one who was also myself a servant, and had a Master in heaven, <span class="bld"><a href="/colossians/4-1.htm" title=" Masters, give to your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.">Colossians 4:1</a></span>, to whom I was to give an account of my carriage to my servant and to all men. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">When he visiteth, </span> i.e. when he shall call me to his tribunal, and severely examine all my actions, and particularly the cause between me and my servant, what apology shall I make for myself? <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="15"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-15.htm">Job 31:15</a></div><div class="verse">Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?</div> I considered that he was, though my servant, yet my fellow creature, made by the same God, and therefore one of God’s subjects, whom I could not abuse without the injury of his supreme Lord. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">Did not one fashion us in the womb, </span> Heb. <span class="ital">did he not form us in one womb</span>? not in one individual womb, but in a womb of the same kind, in a human womb, with a body and soul of the same nature and quality, a reasonable and immortal creature, and made after God’s image, no less than myself, to whom therefore I owed some respect for God’s sake. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="16"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-16.htm">Job 31:16</a></div><div class="verse">If I have withheld the poor from <i>their</i> desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;</div> <span class="bld">Withheld the poor from their desire, </span> i.e. denied them what they desired of me, either in justice or from necessity; for he was not obliged to grant their vain or inordinate desires. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">Caused the eyes of the widow to fail, </span> to wit, with tedious expectation of my justice or charity. I durst neither deny nor delay my help when they required and needed it. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="17"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-17.htm">Job 31:17</a></div><div class="verse">Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;</div> <span class="bld">Eaten my morsel myself alone; </span> without communicating part of my provisions or estate to the poor, as it follows. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">The fatherless:</span> this one kind of necessitous persons is put for all the rest. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="18"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-18.htm">Job 31:18</a></div><div class="verse">(For from my youth he was brought up with me, as <i>with</i> a father, and I have guided her from my mother's womb;)</div> <span class="bld">From my youth; </span> as soon as I was capable of managing my own affairs, and of doing good to others. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">He was brought up with me, </span> in my family, or at least under my care and protection. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">As with a father, </span> i.e. with all the diligence and tenderness of a father. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">I have guided her, </span> i.e. the widow, mentioned <span class="bld"><a href="/job/31-16.htm" title="If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;">Job 31:16</a></span>, and commonly joined with the fatherless. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">From my mother’s womb, </span> i.e. from my tender years; ever since I was capable of discerning good and evil, I have made conscience of this duty; and this my continuance in well-doing is a good evidence of my sincerity therein. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="19"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-19.htm">Job 31:19</a></div><div class="verse">If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;</div> When it was in my power to clothe and arm them against cold and nakedness. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="20"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-20.htm">Job 31:20</a></div><div class="verse">If his loins have not blessed me, and <i>if</i> he were <i>not</i> warmed with the fleece of my sheep;</div> <span class="bld">Blessed me, </span> i.e. given him occasion to bless and praise me, and to pray to God to bless me for covering them; the loins being put synecdochically for the whole body: see the like expression <span class="bld"><a href="/deuteronomy/24-13.htm" title="In any case you shall deliver him the pledge again when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless you: and it shall be righteousness to you before the LORD your God.">Deu 24:13</a></span>, and compare <span class="bld"><a href="/genesis/4-10.htm" title="And he said, What have you done? the voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground.">Genesis 4:10</a> <a href="/luke/16-9.htm" title="And I say to you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when you fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.">Luke 16:9</a></span>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">With the fleece of my sheep; </span> with clothing made of my wool. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="21"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-21.htm">Job 31:21</a></div><div class="verse">If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate:</div> To smite him with the fist of wickedness, as the phrase is, <span class="bld"><a href="/isaiah/58-4.htm" title="Behold, you fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: you shall not fast as you do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.">Isaiah 58:4</a></span>; to bring him to the judgment-seat, that under colour of justice I might take away his right, as powerful oppressors use to do, or any ways to threaten, injure, or crush him. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">When I saw my help in the gate; </span> when I understood my advantage against him, and that I could influence the judges to do what I pleased. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="22"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-22.htm">Job 31:22</a></div><div class="verse"><i>Then</i> let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone.</div> I am contented that that arm which hath been so wickedly employed may either rot off, or fall out of joint, and so be useless and burdensome to me. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="23"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-23.htm">Job 31:23</a></div><div class="verse">For destruction <i>from</i> God <i>was</i> a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.</div> I was so far from denying or questioning God’s providence, wherewith you seem to charge me, that I always reverenced it; and when by reason of my great wealth, and power, and interest I had little reason to fear man, I stood in awe of God and of his judgments, and made it my care and business to please God. <span class="ital">His highness, or excellency, or majesty</span>, which is most glorious and terrible. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">I could not endure; </span> I found myself utterly unable either to oppose his power, or to bear his wrath, and therefore I durst not provoke him by any impiety or injustice. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="24"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-24.htm">Job 31:24</a></div><div class="verse">If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, <i>Thou art</i> my confidence;</div> <span class="bld">My hope, </span> i.e. the matter of my hope and trust, placing my chief joy and satisfaction in worldly wealth, expecting safety and happiness from it. Compare <span class="bld"><a href="/psalms/62-10.htm" title="Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart on them.">Psalm 62:10</a></span>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="25"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-25.htm">Job 31:25</a></div><div class="verse">If I rejoiced because my wealth <i>was</i> great, and because mine hand had gotten much;</div> <span class="bld">If I rejoiced, </span> to wit, carnally and excessively, esteeming myself happy therein without God’s love and favour; for otherwise it is not only lawful, but a duty and gift of God, moderately and thankfully to rejoice in the good things of this life; of which see <span class="bld"><a href="/deuteronomy/12-7.htm" title="And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, wherein the LORD your God has blessed you.">Deu 12:7</a> <a href="/context/ecclesiastes/2-24.htm" title="There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God....">Ecclesiastes 2:24-26</a> 3:12,13 5:18,19</span>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">Because mine hand had gotten much; </span> ascribing my wealth to my own wit or industry, rather than to God’s goodness and mercy. And these sins he the rather mentions, partly for his own vindication, lest it should be thought that God took away his estate because he had abused it to pride, or carnal confidence, or luxury, or the oppression of others, &c.; and partly for the instruction of mankind in succeeding generations, that they might take notice of the malignity and odiousness of these practices, which by most men are reputed either laudable or harmless, or at worst but light and trivial miscarriages. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="26"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-26.htm">Job 31:26</a></div><div class="verse">If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking <i>in</i> brightness;</div> <span class="bld">If I beheld; </span> not simply, nor only with admiration; (for it is a glorious work of God, which we ought to contemplate and admire;) but for the end here following, or so as to ascribe to it the honour peculiar to God. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">The sun, </span> Heb. <span class="ital">the light</span>, to wit, the sun, as appears by the opposition of the <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">moon</span> following, which is called the light here, and <span class="bld"><a href="/genesis/1-16.htm" title="And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.">Genesis 1:16</a> <a href="/psalms/136-7.htm" title="To him that made great lights: for his mercy endures for ever:">Psalm 136:7</a>,8</span>, by way of eminency, because it is the great light, and the fountain of light to this visible world. And this is understood either, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>1. Of Job’s worldly glory or prosperity, which is oft compared to light in Scripture, as the contrary is to darkness. And so the sense of these and the following words is, If I reflected upon my wealth and glory with pride, and admiration, and satisfaction. But this he had now mentioned in plain and proper terms, <span class="bld"><a href="/job/31-25.htm" title="If I rejoice because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much;">Job 31:25</a></span>, and therefore it is not likely that he should now repeat the same thing in dark and metaphorical expressions. And although this be a great sin before God, yet this is not one of those sins which fall under the cognizance of human judges, as it here follows, <span class="bld"><a href="/job/31-28.htm" title="This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.">Job 31:28</a></span>. Or rather, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>2. Of the sun in the firmament; and so this place speaks of the idolatrous; worship of the host of heaven, and especially of the sun and moon, the most eminent and glorious of that number, which was the most ancient kind of idolatry, and was most frequent in the Eastern countries, in one of which Job lived. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">When it shined, </span> i.e. in its full strength and glory; for then it did most affect men’s eyes and hearts with admiration at its beauty and benefits, and so move them to adore it. Or, <span class="ital">when it began to shine</span>, (the complete verb being used of the beginning of it, as <span class="ital">he reigned</span> is oft put for <span class="ital">he began to reign</span>,) i.e. at its first rising, which was a special and the chief time for its adoration. <span class="ital">Walking in brightness</span>; when it shines most clearly; or when it is at the full, for then especially did the idolaters worship it. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="27"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-27.htm">Job 31:27</a></div><div class="verse">And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:</div> <span class="bld">Secretly; </span> in my inward thoughts or affections, whilst I made open profession of my adherence to God and to the true religion. <span class="ital">Enticed, or seduced, or deceived</span>, by its plausible and glorious appearance, which might easily cheat a credulous and inconsiderate person to believe that there was something of a divinity in it, and so induce him to worship it. This emphatical expression seems to be used with design to teach the world this necessary and useful truth, that no mistake or error of mind would excuse the practice of idolatry. <span class="ital">Or my mouth</span>, Heb. <span class="ital">and my mouth</span>, which seems more proper here, because the secret error of the mind, without some such visible action and evidence as here follows, had not been punishable by the judges. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">Kissed my hand, </span> in token of worship; whereof this was a sign, whether given to men, as <span class="bld"><a href="/genesis/41-40.htm" title="You shall be over my house, and according to your word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than you.">Genesis 41:40</a> <a href="/psalms/2-12.htm" title="Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.">Psalm 2:12</a></span>, or to idols, <span class="bld"><a href="/1_kings/19-18.htm" title="Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth which has not kissed him.">1 Kings 19:18</a> <a href="/hosea/13-2.htm" title="And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.">Hosea 13:2</a></span>. And when the idols were out of the reach of idolaters, that they could not kiss them, they used to kiss their hands, and, as it were, to throw kisses at them; of which we have many examples in heathen writers; of which see my Latin Synopsis on this place. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="28"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-28.htm">Job 31:28</a></div><div class="verse">This also <i>were</i> an iniquity <i>to be punished by</i> the judge: for I should have denied the God <i>that is</i> above.</div> <span class="bld">This also, </span> no less than the other forementioned sins, adultery, oppression, &c. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">By the judge, </span> i.e. by the civil magistrate; who being advanced and protected by God, is obliged to maintain and vindicate his honour, and consequently to punish idolatry. And this did not cease to be his duty, although the magistrates of the world in Job’s time were so far from this, that they themselves also were idolaters. Yet considering that both Job and his friends, who lived in his time and neighbourhood, were most probably the posterity or kindred of Abraham and his family, and by him or his instructed in the knowledge of the true God, and were also men of great power and authority in their places; it seems most likely that they did restrain and punish idolatry in their several jurisdictions, or at least in their own large and numerous families, where the masters anciently had power of life and death without control. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">I should have denied God; </span> not directly, (for nothing is more evident than this, that divers of the wiser heathens, who did worship the sun and moon, did yet acknowledge and adore the sovereign and supreme God over and above all,) but by consequence and construction, because this was to rob God of his prerogative, by giving to the creature that religious honour or worship which is peculiar to God. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">That is above; </span> who is above the sun and moon, not only in place, his glorious mansion and palace being far above all visible heavens, but also in power and dignity, or adorable excellency. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="29"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-29.htm">Job 31:29</a></div><div class="verse">If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him:</div> I was so far from malice and revenging myself of mine enemy, which is the common and allowed practice of ungodly men, that I did not so much as desire or delight in his ruin, when it was brought upon him by other hands. Compare <span class="bld"><a href="/exodus/23-4.htm" title="If you meet your enemy's ox or his ass going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again.">Exodus 23:4</a> <a href="/proverbs/24-17.htm" title="Rejoice not when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles:">Proverbs 24:17</a>,18</span>. Whence we may judge whether the great duty of loving and forgiving our enemies be a peculiar precept of Christianity, or whether it be a natural and moral duty, and a part and act of that charity which now is, and ever was, the duty of one man to another in all ages. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">Lifted up myself, </span> Heb. <span class="ital">stirred up myself</span>, to rejoice and insult over his misery. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="30"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-30.htm">Job 31:30</a></div><div class="verse">Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul.</div> <span class="bld">My mouth, </span> Heb. <span class="ital">my palate</span>, which being one of the instruments of speech, is put for another, or for all the rest. The sense is, If any secret passion or desire of his hurt did arise in me, I forthwith suppressed it, and did not suffer it to grow and break forth into an imprecation of hurt to him. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="31"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-31.htm">Job 31:31</a></div><div class="verse">If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.</div> <span class="bld">The men of my tabernacle, </span> i.e. my domestics and familiar friends, who were much conversant with me in my house, and were witnesses of my carriage to others, and of their carriages to me, and therefore best able to judge in the case. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">Of his flesh; </span> either, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>1. <span class="ital">Of Job’s flesh</span>, which is thought to be an expression either, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>1. Of their fervent love to him, caused by his great tenderness and kindness to them. But his meek and gentle carriage to his servants he had expressed before in plain terms, <span class="bld"><a href="/job/31-13.htm" title="If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;">Job 31:13</a></span>; and therefore it is not likely he would repeat it, at least in such an obscure and ambiguous phrase, as is no where used in this sense, and is used in a contrary sense, <span class="bld"><a href="/job/19-22.htm" title="Why do you persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?">Job 19:22</a></span>. Or, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>2. Of their hatred and rage against him, for the excessive trouble he put upon them in the entertainment of strangers, which follows, <span class="bld"><a href="/job/31-32.htm" title="The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the travelers.">Job 31:32</a></span>. But it is very improbable, either that so just and merciful a man as Job would put intolerable burdens upon his servants; or that some extraordinary trouble brought upon them by hospitality would inflame them to such a height of rage as this phrase implies, against so excellent and amiable a master. Or, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>2. Of the flesh and other provisions made by Job for strangers: He feeds them liberally, but scarce alloweth us time to satisfy ourselves therewith; which also is very unlikely. Or rather, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>3. Of the flesh of Job’s enemy, of whom he last spoke, <span class="bld"><a href="/job/31-29.htm" title="If I rejoice at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him:">Job 31:29</a>,30</span>. And so this is an amplification and further confirmation of Job’s charitable disposition and carriage to his enemy, although his cause was so just, and the malice of his enemies was so notorious and unreasonable, that all who were daily conversant with him, and were witnesses of his and their mutual carriages, did condemn and abhor them for it, and were so concerned and zealous in Job’s quarrel, that they protested they could eat their very flesh, and could not be satisfied without it. And yet notwithstanding all these provocations of others, he restrained both them and himself from executing vengeance upon them, as David afterwards did in a like case, <span class="bld"><a href="/1_samuel/24-4.htm" title="And the men of David said to him, Behold the day of which the LORD said to you, Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it shall seem good to you. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privately.">1 Samuel 24:4</a> <a href="/2_samuel/16-9.htm" title="Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah to the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray you, and take off his head.">2 Samuel 16:9</a>,10</span>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">We cannot be satisfied, </span> to wit, without eating his flesh. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="32"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-32.htm">Job 31:32</a></div><div class="verse">The stranger did not lodge in the street: <i>but</i> I opened my doors to the traveller.</div> <span class="bld">The stranger; </span> or, <span class="ital">traveller</span> as it follows. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">Did not lodge in the street; </span> but in my house, according to the laws of hospitality, and the usage of those times, when there were no public inns provided for the conveniency of such persons: see <span class="bld"><a href="/genesis/18-3.htm" title="And said, My LORD, if now I have found favor in your sight, pass not away, I pray you, from your servant:">Genesis 18:3</a> 19:2 <a href="/judges/19-15.htm" title="And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging.">Judges 19:15</a>,21</span>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="33"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-33.htm">Job 31:33</a></div><div class="verse">If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:</div> This he adds to prevent or answer an objection. So the sense is, either, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>1. And whereas amongst these and other virtues it may well be presumed that I had divers failings, as I do not now deny them, so I never covered them, but was forward to confess them to God or to men, as I had occasion. Or, (which I propose with submission to better judgments,) <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>2. If I used all this care and caution in my carriage towards strangers, and enemies, and others only as a cloak to any secret and subtle way of wickedness, such as you accuse me of, and did not seek to purge out all sin as in God’s sight, but only to hide my sins from men, and to have the better opportunity for oppressing others, or indulging myself in any other close sin, under a colour, and with a reputation of justice and holiness. <span class="ital">As Adam</span>; either, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>1. As Adam did in Paradise; which history is recorded by Moses, <span class="bld"><a href="/genesis/3-7.htm" title="And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.">Genesis 3:7</a></span>, &c., and was doubtless imparted by the godly patriarchs to their children before Moses’s time. Or, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>2. <span class="ital">Like a man</span>, or after the manner of men in their corrupt estate. Compare <span class="bld"><a href="/hosea/6-7.htm" title="But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.">Hosea 6:7</a></span>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">In my bosom; </span> in my own breast, and from the sight of all men. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="34"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-34.htm">Job 31:34</a></div><div class="verse">Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, <i>and</i> went not out of the door?</div> This verse either, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>1. Contains new matter, and another argument or evidence of his integrity, taken from his courage and faithfulness in the discharge of his duty as a magistrate. The interrogation implies a denial; and so the sense is either, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>1. This, <span class="ital">I did not for fear of a great multitude, or for any contempt</span>, <span class="ital">or reproach</span>, or other inconvenience <span class="ital">which might befall me from great and numerous families</span>, or combinations of people, who were engaged for him who had an unrighteous cause, <span class="ital">forbear to speak</span> for the poor oppressed and injured person whom they all opposed, or deny <span class="ital">to go out of the door of my house</span> to plead his cause, as a timorous and man-pleasing judge would have done. Or, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>2. This, <span class="ital">Though I could have terrified</span> or <span class="ital">violently oppressed</span> <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">a great multitude, </span> because of my great power and interest, <span class="ital">yet did the most contemptible</span> persons or <span class="ital">families terrify me</span>, i.e. I was afraid to do them any injury, not for fear of them, as appears from the former clause, but for fear of God; <span class="ital">therefore I kept</span> <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">silence, and went not out of the door, </span> i.e. I durst neither move tongue, nor hand, nor foot against them. Or, <span class="p"><br /><br /></span>2. It contains an amplification or confirmation of what he said, <span class="bld"><a href="/job/31-33.htm" title="If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom:">Job 31:33</a></span>; either thus, Did I cover or conceal my transgressions, because <span class="ital">I was afraid of the rage of the multitude, or of the contempt of families</span>, which would be brought upon me by the confession of my wickedness? <span class="ital">Did I therefore keep silence</span>, i.e. forbore to confess my sin, and not go out of my door; but keep at home as one in that case ashamed or afraid to be seen abroad? No, the fear of shame or contempt from men did not hinder me from giving glory to God by confessing my faults. Or rather thus, Did I therefore cover all my oppressions, and frauds, and other wickednesses (wherewith you tax me) with the mask of virtue and piety, and use all possible caution and cunning in my evil courses, <span class="ital">because I feared the great multitude</span>, (who were my friends and admirers, but in case of the discovery of my wickedness would have hated and persecuted me,)<span class="ital"> or</span> because <span class="ital">the contempt of</span> so many <span class="ital">families</span> (whose favour and good opinion I needed or desired) <span class="ital">terrified me</span>? Then (as the particle <span class="ital">vau</span> is oft used, i. e. if that were really my case) <span class="ital">I should be silent</span>, (I should silently and patiently bear all the strokes of God, and all the reproaches of my friends,)<span class="ital"> and not go out of the door of my house</span>, as one ashamed to show his face before men. But my condition being through God’s mercy far otherwise, and my conscience bearing me witness of my integrity in these and many other things, I dare now lift up my head, and open my mouth to plead my cause, and I desire nothing more than a fair hearing; <span class="ital">Oh that one would hear me</span>! as it follows in the next verse. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="35"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-35.htm">Job 31:35</a></div><div class="verse">Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire <i>is, that</i> the Almighty would answer me, and <i>that</i> mine adversary had written a book.</div> <span class="bld">Oh that one would hear me!</span> Oh that I might have my cause heard by any just and impartial judge! <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">That the Almighty would answer me, </span> i.e. answer my desire herein; either by hearing me himself, or by appointing some indifferent person to judge whether I be such a hypocrite as my friends make me, or an upright person, and whether I have not cause to complain. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">Mine adversary; </span> whosoever he be that shall contend with me, or accuse me, God himself not excepted, nay, possibly being chiefly intended, though for reverence to him he forbore to express it. So this is another of Job’s irreverent and presumptuous expressions, for which he is so sharply reproved afterwards. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">Had written a book, </span> i.e. had given me his charge written in a book or paper, as the manner was in judicial proceedings, that I might put in my answer into the court, which I am ready to do. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="36"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-36.htm">Job 31:36</a></div><div class="verse">Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, <i>and</i> bind it <i>as</i> a crown to me.</div> <span class="bld">I would take it, </span> i.e. that book containing my charge or accusation. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">Upon my shoulder; </span> as a trophy or badge of honour. I should not fear nor smother it, but glory in it, and make open show of it, as that which gave me the happy and long-desired occasion of vindicating myself, which I doubt not fully to do. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="37"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-37.htm">Job 31:37</a></div><div class="verse">I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him.</div> <span class="bld">Unto him, </span> i.e. to my judge, or adversary. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">The number of my steps, </span> i.e. the whole course of my life and actions, which I would exactly number to him, step by step, so far as I can remember. I would not answer his allegations against me, but furnish him with further matter of the same kind, and then answer all together. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">As a prince, </span> i.e. with undaunted courage, and confidence, and assurance of success, as being clearly conscious of my own sincerity; not like a self-condemned malefactor, as my friends suppose me to be. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">Would I go near unto him, </span> and not run away, or hide myself from my judge, as guilty persons desire to do. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="38"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-38.htm">Job 31:38</a></div><div class="verse">If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;</div> To wit, to God for revenge, as the like phrase is used, <span class="bld"><a href="/genesis/4-10.htm" title="And he said, What have you done? the voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground.">Genesis 4:10</a> <a href="/habakkuk/2-11.htm" title="For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.">Habakkuk 2:11</a></span>, because I have gotten it from the right owners by fraud or violence, as my friends charge me, and as is implied in the next verse. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="39"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-39.htm">Job 31:39</a></div><div class="verse">If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:</div> <span class="bld">Without money; </span> either without paying the price required by the right owner for the land, or by defrauding my workmen of the wages of their labours. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">To lose their life; </span> killing them, that so I might have undisturbed possession of it, as Ahab did Naboth. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><A name="40"></a> <div class="versenum"><a href="/job/31-40.htm">Job 31:40</a></div><div class="verse">Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.</div> To wit, in answer to his friends; for he speaks but little afterwards, and that is to God. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Matthew Poole's Commentary<br /><br />Text Courtesy of <a href="//biblesupport.com" target="_top">BibleSupport.com</a>. 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