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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 31:33-40

We have here Job's protestation against three more sins, together with his general appeal to God's bar and his petition for a hearing there, which, it is likely, was intended to conclude his discourse (and therefore we will consider it last), but that another particular sin occurred, from which he thought it requisite to acquit himself. He clears himself from the charge, I. Of dissimulation and hypocrisy. The general crime of which his friends accused him was that, under the cloak of a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 31:36

Surely I would take it upon my shoulder ,.... The bill of indictment, the charge in writing; this he would take up and carry on his shoulder as a very light thing, having nothing weighty in it, no charge of sin and guilt to bear him down; nothing but what he could easily stand up under, only some trifling matter, which could not be interpreted sin; for anything of that kind would have been a burden too heavy for him to have borne: or else his sense is, that should he be convicted of any sin,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 31:36

Surely I would take it upon my shoulder - I would be contented to stand before the bar as a criminal, bearing upon my shoulder the board to which the accusation is affixed. In a book of Chinese punishments now before me, containing drawings representing various criminals brought to trial, in trial, and after trial, charged with different offenses; in almost all of them a board appears, on which the accusation or crime of which they are accused, or for which they suffer, is fairly written.... 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 31:36

Surely I would take it upon my shoulder —the place of honour (see Isaiah 9:6 ; Isaiah 22:22 )—and bind it as a crown to me; i.e. adorn my head with it, as with a diadem. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 31:36

Surely, I would take it upon my shoulder - That is, the book or bill which the Almighty would write in the case. Job says that he has such confidence that what God would record in his case would be in his favor, such confidence that he had no charge of hypocrisy against him, and that he who knew him altogether would not bring such an accusation against him, that he would bear it off triumphantly on his shoulders. It would be all that he could desire. This does not refer to what a judge would... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 31:36

Job 31:36. Surely I would take it The book, or writing, containing the charges against me; upon my shoulder As a trophy, or badge of honour; and bind it as a crown to me I would be so far from being ashamed or terrified, that I would glory, and rejoice, and triumph in it, nay, and openly expose it to be read by all, well knowing that so groundless and impotent an accusation would only serve the more to clear my innocence. read more

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