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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 31:1-8

The lusts of the flesh, and the love of the world, are the two fatal rocks on which multitudes split; against these Job protests he was always careful to stand upon his guard. I. Against the lusts of the flesh. He not only kept himself clear from adultery, from defiling his neighbour's wives (Job 31:9), but from all lewdness with any women whatsoever. He kept no concubine, no mistress, but was inviolably faithful to the marriage bed, though his wife was none of the wisest, best, or kindest.... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 31:3

Is not destruction to the wicked ?.... It is even to such wicked men, who live in the sin of fornication, and make it their business to ensnare and corrupt virgins; and which is another reason why Job was careful to avoid that sin; wickedness of every sort is the cause of destruction, destruction and misery are in the ways of wicked men, and their wicked ways lead unto it, and issue in it, even destruction of soul and body in hell, which is swift and sudden, and will be everlasting: this... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 31:3

Is not destruction to the wicked - If I had been guilty of such secret hypocritical proceedings, professing faith in the true God while in eye and heart an idolater, would not such a worker of iniquity be distinguished by a strange and unheard-of punishment? read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

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 31:3

Is not destruction to the wicked? The inheritance of the wicked is "destruction"—ruin both of soul and body. This is what I should have to expect if I yielded myself to the bondage of lust and concupiscence . And a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity? The rare word neker ( גכר ), translated here by "strange punishment," seems to mean "alienation from God"—being turned from God's friend into his enemy (comp. Buxtorf, 'Lexicon Hebraicum et Chaldaicum,' who explains גכר by... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 31:3

Is not destruction to the wicked? - That is, Job says that he was well aware that destruction would overtake the wicked, and that if he had given indulgence to impure desires he could have looked for nothing else. Well knowing this, he says, he had guarded himself in the most careful manner from sin, and had labored with the greatest assiduity to keep his eyes and his heart pure.And a strange punishment - - ונכר weneker. The word used here, means literally strangeness - a strange thing,... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 31:3-4

Job 31:3-4. Is not destruction to the wicked? Destruction is their portion. And a strange punishment Some extraordinary and dreadful judgment, which of right belongs to them. Hebrew, ונכר , venecher, an alienation, or estrangement, namely, from God and his favour: had I been such a one, I neither should nor could have expected any kindness or mercy from God in a future world, as now I do. Doth not he see my ways? That is, all my counsels and courses. This was another reason why he... read more

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