Job 31:1-2

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:2

For what portion of God is there from above? The meaning seems to be, "For what portion in God would there be to me from above, if I were so to act?" i.e. if I were secretly to nurse and indulge my lusts. Impurity, perhaps, more than any other sin, cuts off from God, who is "of purer eyes than to behold iniquity" ( Habakkuk 1:13 ). And what inheritance of the Almighty from on high! What should I inherit, i.e. what should I receive, from on high, if I were so sinful? The next verse... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 31:1

I made a covenant with mine eyes - The first virtue of his private life to which Job refers is chastity. Such was his sense of the importance of this, and of the danger to which man was exposed, that he had solemnly resolved not to think upon a young female. The phrase here, “I made a covenant with mine eyes,” is poetical, meaning that he solemnly resolved. A covenant is of a sacred and binding nature; and the strength of his resolution was as great as if he had made a solemn compact. A... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 31:2

For what portion of God is there from above? - Or, rather, “What portion should I then have from God who reigns above?” Job asks with emphasis, what portion or reward he should expect from God who reigns on high, if he had not made such a covenant with his eyes, and if he had given the reins to loose and wanton thoughts? This question he himself answers in the following verse, and says, that he could have expected only destruction from the Almighty. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 31:1

Job 31:1. I made a covenant with mine eyes, &c. So far have I been from any gross wickedness, that I have abstained from the least occasions and appearances of evil. It was possible Job’s friends might make quite another use than he intended of the relation which he had made of his miserable condition in the foregoing chapter. And, therefore, lest it should confirm them in their old error, and they should take what he had said to be an argument of his guilt, he gives, in this chapter, a... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 31:2

Job 31:2 . For what portion of God is there, &c. What recompense may be expected from God for those who do otherwise? From above How secretly soever unchaste persons carry the matter, so that men cannot reprove them, yet there is one who stands upon a higher place, whence he seeth in what manner they act. read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Job 31:1-40

Job reaffirms his innocence (31:1-40)Once again Job examines his past life to see if, in fact, he has committed some great sin for which God is now punishing him. He readily acknowledges that God sees everything and that his punishment of sin is just. God knows that he has not been guilty even of unlawful sexual lust (31:1-4). He has not cheated others to enrich himself. If someone can prove that he has, he will gladly surrender all the produce of his fields (5-8). If he has committed adultery,... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Job 31:1

I. Note the "I" of self-justification; and see note on Job 29:2 . why . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 . read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Job 31:2

THE ALMIGHTY. Hebrew Shaddai. App-4 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Job 31:1

JOB 31JOB'S GREAT OATH OF INNOCENCE[1]This is the third part of the trilogy."This priceless testament is a fitting consummation of `the words of Job' (Job 31:40)."[2] "The picture that Job here presents of himself is extraordinarily like that of a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven, as revealed by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount. He goes beyond act to thought, and beneath conduct to the heart."[3]This affirmation by Job regarding his innocence mentions the sins of which his `friends' had... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Job 31:1

CHAP. XXXI. Job makes a solemn protestation of his integrity, and concludes with a prayer that his defence might be heard and recorded. Before Christ 1645. Job 31:1. Why then should I think upon a maid?— This has been generally understood to mean the great care and circumspection which Job had used to avoid all temptations and occasions of sin; and he subjoins in the following verses the high and reasonable motives which had urged him, and should urge every man, to such a circumspection: Job... read more

Group of Brands