Job 31

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:22

Then let mine arm (rather, my shoulder ) fall from my shoulder-blade . Job was, perhaps, led to make this rather strange imprecation by the fact that, in the disease from which he was suffering, portions of bone sometimes detach themselves and come away. And mine arm be broken from the bone . My forearm, i.e , detach itself from the bone of the upper arm, and come away from it. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:23

For destruction from God was a terror to me . I could not, i.e; have acted in the way charged against me by Eliphaz, since I was always God-fearing, and should have been deterred, if by nothing else, at any rate by dread of the Divine vengeance. And by reason of his highness I could not endure . God's majesty and excellency are such that I could not have had the face to resist them. If! had begun such a course of life as Eliphaz laid to my charge ( Job 22:5-9 ), I could not have... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:24

If I have made gold my hope . This is a sin with which the patriarch had not been directly charged. But it had been more or less insinuated (see Job 15:28 ; Job 20:10 , Job 20:15 , Job 20:19 ; Job 22:24 , etc.). He may also, perhaps, have felt some inclination to it. Or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:24

The hope of gold. Job here reminds us of the Egyptian 'Book of the Dead,' in which the soul, summoned before its judges, recites a long list of sins, and declares itself innocent of them all. In this chapter the patriarch runs over many kinds of wickedness, and invokes just punishment if he has been guilty of any of them. His self-vindication has been forced from him by the repeated false accusations of his friends. We know that Job was not without the consciousness of sin; but he was not... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:25

If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much . Job feels that it is wrong even to care greatly for wealth. He seems almost to anticipate the saying of St. Paul, that "covetousness is idolatry" ( Colossians 3:5 ); and hence he passes on without pause from this sort of creature-worship to others common in his day (verses 26, 27). which he likewise disclaims. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:26

If I beheld the sun when it shined; literally , the light ; i.e. the great light, which God made to rule the day ( Genesis 1:16 ). Sun-worship, the least ignoble form of idolatry, was widely spread in the East, and in Egypt, from a very early date. According to the views of some, the religion el' t e Egyptians was little else than a complicated sun-worship from its earliest inception to its very latest phase. "The religious notions of the Egyptians," says Dr. Birch, "were chiefly... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:27

And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand . The sin of the heart is placed first, as the fens et origo mali , the spiritual root of the matter. On this naturally follows the outward act which, in the case of idolatry, was commonly the act exactly expressed by the word "adore"—the movement of the hand to the mouth in token of reverence and honour. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:28

This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge (see the comment on Job 31:11 , adfin. ) . It is rightly concluded from this expression that, in the country and age of Job, the sort of idolatry which is here mentioned was practised by some, and also that it was legally punishable. For I should have denied the God that is above . The worship of any other god besides the supreme God is, practically, atheism, since "no man can serve two masters." Moreover, to set up two... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:29

If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me . "If at any time I was malevolent, if I wished evil to others, and rejoiced when evil came upon them, being (as the Greeks expressed it) ἐπιχαιρέκακος — if I so acted even in the case of my enemy—then," etc. The apodosis is wanting, but may be supplied by any suitable imprecation (see Job 31:8 , Job 31:10 , Job 31:22 , Job 31:40 ). Or lifted up myself — i.e. was puffed up and exalted— when evil found him . In the old... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:30

Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul . Much less, Job means, have I gone beyond the thought to the word, and imprecated a curse upon him with my mouth, as the manner of most ,hen is towards their enemies (see 2 Samuel 16:5 ; 1 Samuel 17:43 ; Nehemiah 13:25 ; Psalms 109:28 ; Jeremiah 15:10 , etc). read more

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