Job 31:23 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 31:16-23

Eliphaz had particularly charged Job with unmercifulness to the poor (Job 22:6-9): Thou hast withholden bread from the hungry, stripped the naked of their clothing, and sent widows away empty. One would think he could not have been so very positive and express in his charge unless there had been some truth in it, some ground, for it; and yet it appears, by Job's protestation, that it was utterly false and groundless; he was never guilty of any such thing. See here, I. The testimony which Job's... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 31:23

For destruction from God was a terror to me ,.... Though he feared not men, they being at his beck and command, ready to do any thing for him he should order, yet he feared God; and the dread of his resentment, and of destruction from him the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy, had such an influence on him as to deter and keep him from all unkindness to the poor, and in justice to the fatherless; he dreaded the destruction of himself, his family, and substance in this world,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 31:23

Destruction from God was a terror - I have ever been preserved from outward sin, through the fear of God's judgments; I knew his eye was constantly upon me, and I could "Never in my Judge's eye my Judge's anger dare." read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:1-40

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 31:23

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

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 31:23

For destruction from God was a terror to me - The destruction which God would bring upon one who was guilty of the crime here specified, awed and restrained me. He was deterred from this crime of oppressing the fatherless by the fear of God. He could have escaped the judgment of people. He had power and influence enough not to dread the penalty of human law. He could have done it in such a way as not to have been arraigned before any earthly tribunal, but he remembered that the eye of God was... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 31:23

Job 31:23. For destruction, &c. I stood in awe of God, and his justice and wrath, and therefore made it my care and business to shun sin, and to please him. And by reason of his highness His excellence or majesty, which is most glorious and terrible; I could not endure I knew myself unable, either to oppose his power, or to bear his wrath, and therefore I did not dare to provoke him by any impiety or injustice. Even good men have need to restrain themselves from sin, with the fear... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 31:16-23

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 31:23

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 31:23

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 31:1-40

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:23

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 31:23

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 31:23

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