Job 31:16-20 NIV

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:1-40

Job's second parable: 4. A solemn protestation of innocence. I. WITH RESPECT TO THE LAW OF CHASTITY . (Verses 1-4.) 1 . The wickedness he eschewed. Not alone the crime of seduction, or the actual defilement of virginal innocence, but even the indulgence of so much as a lascivious desire in connection with an unmarried female, was an ungodliness which Job regarded with abhorrence and indignation. Job's morality on this point, as also upon some others, is a remarkable... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:1-40

Solemn assurances of innocence. Job can discover no connection between his present sufferings and those well-founded hopes of his former life to which he has been referring; but there remains the assumption of his guilt as an explanation. In his intense longing for redemption he is led, in conclusion, to affirm in the most solemn and sacred manner his innocence, invoking the sorest punishments upon himself if his words are untrue. Thus, in effect, he makes a final appeal to God as his Judge.... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:1-40

The consciousness of integrity. The Divine solution of the riddle of human life is being wrought out in this poem, although at times it seems as though the entanglement became more and more confused. The case, as put in these three chapters, is the condensation of all as far as it has gone. It still awaits the solution. Job was in riches, dignity, and honour; he is now cast down to ignominy and suffering. Yet he is righteous—this, at least, is his own conviction; and in this chapter he makes... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:16

If I have withheld the poor from their desire . As Eliphaz had maintained ( Job 22:6 , Job 22:7 ), and as Job had already denied ( Job 29:12 , Job 29:16 ). The duty of relieving the poor, solemnly enjoined upon the people of Israel in the Law ( Deuteronomy 15:7-11 ), was generally admitted by the civilized nations of antiquity. In Egypt it was especially insisted on. "The Egyptian's duties to mankind," says Dr. Birch, "were comprised in giving bread to the hungry, drink to the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:17

Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof . With the widow, the fatherless is usually conjoined, as an equal object of compassion (see Exodus 22:22 ; Deuteronomy 10:18 ; Psalms 68:5 ; Isaiah 1:17 ; Jeremiah 22:3 ; Ezekiel 22:7 ; Zechariah 7:10 , etc.). Eliphaz had specially charged Job with oppression of the fatherless ( Job 22:9 ), and his charge had been denied by Job ( Job 29:12 ). He now claims to have always shared his bread with... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:18

For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother's womb ; i.e. I have always, so long as I can remember, protected the orphan and done my best to help the widow. It has been my habit from my earliest years so to act. The language is exaggerated; but it had, no doubt, a basis of fact to rest upon. Job was brought up in these principles. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:19

If I have seen any perish for want of clothing (scrap. Job 22:6 , where Eliphaz taxes Job with so acting; and, on the duty of clothing the naked, see Isaiah 58:7 ; Ezekiel 18:7 , Ezekiel 18:16 ; Matthew 25:36 ). Or any poor without covering . A pleonastic parallelism. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:20

If his loins have not blessed me (see above, Job 29:11 , Job 29:13 ), and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep . Clothed, i.e; with a garment spun from wool yielded by my own sheep. A great sheikh like Job would keep in store many such garments, ready to be given to such as were naked or poorly clad, when they came under his observation ( Isaiah 58:7 ). read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 31:16

If I have withheld the poor from their desire - Job now turns to another class of virtues, regarded also as of great importance in the patriarchal ages, kindness to the poor and the afflicted; to the fatherless and the widow. He appeals to his former life on this subject; affirms that he had a good conscience in the recollection of his dealings with them, and impliedly declares that it could not have been for any deficiency in the exercise of these virtues that his calamities had come upon him.... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 31:17

Or have eaten my morsel myself alone - If I have not imparted what I had though ever so small, to others. This was in accordance with the Oriental laws of hospitality. It is regarded as a fixed law among the Arabians, that the guest shall always be helped first, and to that which is best; and no matter how needy the family may be, or how much distressed with hunger, the settled laws of hospitality demand that the stranger-guest shall have the first and best portion. Dr. Robinson, in his... read more

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:1-40

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:1-40

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:1-40

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:16

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:17

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:18

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:19

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:20

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 31:16

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 31:17

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