Job 31

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Berit karati le-einai ('a covenant I cut for my eyes') is one of the most striking phrases in the Hebrew Bible. The covenant form — normally reserved for agreements between God and humans or between nations — is here applied to a man's relationship with his own body. The verb hitbonen ('to gaze intently, to consider carefully') implies sustained, purposeful looking, not a casual glance. Job has not merely avoided adultery; he has governed the direction of his desire.

Translator Notes

1. Job's rhetorical question establishes the theological stakes: one's moral behavior determines the chelek (portion, allotment) from Eloah and the nachalat (inheritance) from Shaddai. This is the retribution principle stated as a question — Job knows the traditional answer (the righteous receive blessing, the wicked receive destruction) and is about to demonstrate that he qualifies for blessing, not destruction.

Translator Notes

1. Job states the orthodox position: eid (disaster, ruin) belongs to the avval (the unjust, the crooked), and nekher (estrangement, strange misfortune) to the po'ale aven (workers of wickedness). He is setting up the logical framework: if disaster is for the wicked, and I am not wicked, then my disaster is unjust.

Translator Notes

1. Job appeals to divine omniscience as his ally, not his threat. If God sees (yir'eh) every derekh (way, path) and counts (yispor) every tse'ad (step), then God knows Job is innocent. The same divine surveillance that terrified Job earlier (7:17-20) now becomes the basis for his defense — God's all-seeing eye must confirm his integrity.

Translator Notes

1. The first 'if' (im) clause begins the oath proper. Walking 'with' (im) shav (emptiness, falsehood, worthlessness) personifies deception as a traveling companion. The foot hastening (tachash) toward mirmah (deceit, treachery) adds urgency — Job swears he has not even moved quickly in the direction of dishonesty. The protasis (if-clause) will be completed by the apodosis (then-clause) in the following verses.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Mo'azne-tsedeq ('scales of justice/righteousness') were literal balance scales used in the marketplace, here metaphorically applied to divine judgment. The word tummah ('integrity, blamelessness') is from the same root as tam ('complete, whole, blameless') — the first adjective applied to Job in the book (1:1). Job's demand to be weighed is also his demand that God use accurate instruments, not rigged ones.

Translator Notes

1. Three conditions in one verse: the foot straying (titteh ashuri) from the derekh (way, path), the heart (libbi) following the eyes (a reversal of the covenant of v1 — if the eyes have led the heart astray), and any mu'um (stain, blemish, defect) clinging to the hands (kapai). The progression is from action (step) to desire (heart following eyes) to consequence (stained hands). Job claims purity at every level.

Translator Notes

1. The self-imprecation: if Job has been dishonest, may the covenant curse of Deuteronomy 28:30-33 fall on him — planting but not harvesting, laboring for the benefit of strangers. The tse'etsa'ai ('my offspring, my produce') being yeshorashu ('uprooted') carries a double meaning: it can refer to agricultural produce or to descendants. The curse strikes at both livelihood and legacy.

Translator Notes

1. The verb niftah ('was enticed, was seduced, was deceived') indicates that the heart was the target of temptation. Job addresses adultery specifically: the ishah (woman) in question is his neighbor's wife, indicated by the lurking at the petach re'i ('door of my neighbor/friend'). The word aravti ('I lurked, I lay in ambush') uses the vocabulary of predation — stalking prey.

Translator Notes

1. The self-imprecation for adultery is devastating: titchan ('let her grind') is both literal (grinding grain was menial labor, usually assigned to slaves) and a euphemism for sexual servitude. The second line — 'let others kneel/bow over her' (yikhre'un acherin) — is explicitly sexual. Job invokes measure-for-measure justice: if he violated another man's marriage, let his own marriage be violated. The harshness of the curse reflects the gravity with which the ancient world treated adultery.

Translator Notes

1. Job labels adultery with two terms: zimmah ('depravity, wickedness, a planned evil') and avon pelilim ('an iniquity of judges,' meaning a crime serious enough to require judicial action). The word zimmah implies premeditation — this is not accidental but deliberate moral corruption. Pelilim ('judges') indicates the community's legal system should intervene.

Translator Notes

1. Adultery is compared to esh (fire) that consumes all the way to Abaddon — the realm of destruction, a synonym for Sheol and the grave. The verb tesharesh ('it would uproot') applied to tevuati ('my produce, my increase') means adultery destroys not only the relationship but everything the adulterer has built. The fire and uprooting imagery echoes the agricultural curses of verse 8.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Job now addresses his treatment of servants — a remarkable ethical claim in the ancient world, where slaves had few legal rights. The verb em'as ('I rejected, I despised') applied to mishpat avdi ('the justice/right of my servant') means Job treated his servants' complaints as legitimate legal claims deserving fair hearing. The phrase be-rivam immadi ('when they contended with me') means the servants could bring disputes against their master — an extraordinary concession of equality before justice.

Translator Notes

1. Job grounds his treatment of servants in accountability to God. The verb yaqum ('he rises') refers to God rising in judgment, and yifqod ('he visits, he examines, he calls to account') is the verb for divine inspection. Job's question is rhetorical: if he mistreated his servants, he would have no defense before God. The fear of divine judgment motivates just treatment of those below him.

Translator Notes

1. The rhetorical question format expects the answer 'yes.' The beten (belly, womb) and rechem (womb) are parallel terms emphasizing the shared origin of all humans in the same creative process. The word echad ('one') — one womb — may also mean 'one God' formed both. Paul echoes this logic in Ephesians 6:9: 'their Master and yours is in heaven, and with him there is no favoritism.'

Translator Notes

1. A new section of the oath addresses treatment of the vulnerable. The dallim ('the poor, the weak, the thin ones') have a chefets ('desire, need, what they long for'), and Job swears he has not withheld (emna') it. The almanah (widow) whose eyes akalleh ('I caused to fail, to grow dim') describes a woman watching and waiting for help until her eyes lose hope. Job denies causing this kind of despair.

Translator Notes

1. The pitti ('my morsel, my piece of bread') eaten levaddi ('by myself alone') describes the sin of hoarding food when others are hungry. The yatom ('orphan, fatherless child') not eating from it (mimmennah) would mean Job kept his table closed to the most vulnerable. Job denies this — his bread was always shared.

Translator Notes

1. Job's parenthetical claim is hyperbolic but theologically pointed: mi-ne'urai ('from my youth') and mi-beten immi ('from my mother's womb') mean that caring for the fatherless and the widow has been his lifelong practice, not a late-life virtue. The verb gedelani ('he grew me up' or 'I raised him') ke-av ('like a father') means Job served as a surrogate father to orphans. The verb anchennah ('I guided her') applied to the widow means he provided direction and protection.

Translator Notes

1. The oved ('perishing one') from verse 29:13 returns — someone in mortal danger from exposure. The beli levush ('without clothing') and ein kesut ('no covering') describe complete destitution. The evyon (destitute, needy) is the most desperate category of poor person. Job swears he never saw this condition without acting.

Translator Notes

1. The chalatsav ('his loins, his body') berakhuni ('blessed me') is a vivid image: the very body of the poor person, once shivering and now warm, pronounces blessing on Job. The gez kevasai ('the shearing of my sheep') provided the wool for clothing. Job's generosity is specific and material — not abstract charity but actual wool from actual sheep given to actual cold people.

Translator Notes

1. The hanifoti yadi ('I waved/raised my hand') against the yatom (fatherless) describes using power against the powerless. The condition ki-er'eh va-sha'ar ezrati ('because I saw my help in the gate') means: because I had allies in the court who would back me, and so I felt safe abusing the orphan. Job swears he never exploited his political connections to oppress the vulnerable.

Translator Notes

1. The self-imprecation for oppressing orphans targets the offending limb: the katefi (shoulder, arm) that was raised against the fatherless should fall from the shikhmah (shoulder blade), and the ezro'i (forearm) should break from the qanah (upper arm bone, socket). Measure-for-measure justice: the arm that struck the orphan should be destroyed.

Translator Notes

1. Job explains the motivation behind his ethical behavior: pachad (dread, terror) of divine eid (disaster, calamity) and se'eto (his exaltation, his majesty). This is not servile fear but profound reverence — Job feared God's judgment enough to govern his conduct, even when no human eye was watching. The phrase lo ukhal ('I could not endure, I was not able') acknowledges God's overwhelming power.

Translator Notes

1. A new section addresses idolatry, beginning with the worship of wealth. The zahav (gold) as kisli ('my confidence, my security') and the kethem (fine gold, pure gold) as mivtachi ('my trust') describe making money into a functional god — relying on wealth the way one should rely on God alone. This is the idolatry of materialism, one of the most common forms of unfaithfulness in the wisdom tradition.

Translator Notes

1. The sin here is not possessing wealth but placing one's joy (esmach) in it. The cheili ('my strength, my wealth, my army') and the kabir ('the abundance') that his hand matse'ah ('found, acquired') are not inherently evil — the question is whether Job's heart rested in them or in God. This distinction between having wealth and trusting wealth runs through the entire wisdom tradition.

Translator Notes

1. Job now addresses astral worship — the most widespread form of idolatry in the ancient Near East. The or (light) ki yahel ('when it shone brilliantly') refers to the sun, and the yare'ach (moon) yaqar holekh ('precious/splendid in its course') describes the moon's majestic passage across the night sky. The verb er'eh ('I gazed, I looked at') carries the same intentional quality as the gaze in verse 1 — this is not casual observation but worship-directed attention.

Translator Notes

1. The verb yiftt ('was enticed') returns from verse 9 (where it described enticement toward adultery) — here applied to astral worship. The gesture va-tishshaq yadi le-fi ('my hand kissed to my mouth') describes the act of blowing a kiss toward the heavenly body — a common worship gesture in the ancient world. The ba-seter libbi ('in the secret of my heart') means even internal, hidden idolatry. Job governs not only his actions but his secret affections.

Translator Notes

1. Job labels astral worship the same way he labeled adultery: avon pelili ('a judicial offense'). The reason is devastating in its clarity: ki-khichashti la-El mimma'al ('for I would have been false to the God who is above'). Worshiping the sun and moon is not merely a religious error — it is a lie told to the face of the God who made them. The verb kikhashti ('I would have denied, been false to') carries the weight of covenant betrayal.

Translator Notes

1. Job now addresses Schadenfreude — rejoicing (esmach) at the pid (ruin, destruction, calamity) of his mesane'i ('the one who hates me'). The verb hitrorarti ('I roused myself, I was stirred up') describes the inner thrill of seeing a rival fall. Job denies both the outward expression and the inward feeling. This anticipates Proverbs 24:17-18 ('do not rejoice when your enemy falls') and Jesus's teaching to love enemies (Matthew 5:44).

Translator Notes

1. Job did not allow his palate (chikki) to sin (lachato) by invoking an alah (oath, curse) against his enemy's nephesh (life, being). In a world where spoken curses were believed to carry real power, Job's restraint is significant. He not only refrained from celebrating his enemy's suffering (v29) but also from invoking divine punishment against him.

Translator Notes

1. This verse is traditionally difficult. The mete oholi ('the people of my tent,' Job's household) testify to Job's generous hospitality. The phrase mi-yitten mi-besaro lo nisba ('who will give — from his flesh we are not satisfied') most likely means: who has not been filled by Job's provision? The household itself witnesses that no one left Job's table hungry. The besaro ('his flesh/meat') refers to the meat Job served at his table.

Translator Notes

1. The ger (stranger, sojourner, alien) did not yalin (spend the night) ba-chuts (in the street, outside). Job's delatai (my doors) were always open — eftach ('I opened') — to the orach (traveler, one on a journey). Hospitality to strangers was a sacred obligation in the ancient Near East, and its violation is the sin of Sodom in Genesis 19. Job practices the opposite of Sodom.

Translator Notes

1. The verb kissiti ('I covered, I concealed') is the same verb used in Psalm 32:5 ('I did not hide my iniquity'). The phrase ke-adam ('like Adam' or 'like humanity') makes this either a specific allusion to Genesis 3 or a universal statement about human nature. The litmon ('to hide, to bury') be-chubbi ('in my bosom') suggests stuffing guilt deep inside where no one can see it. Job denies this kind of spiritual deception.

Translator Notes

1. Job asks whether fear of public opinion ever caused him to hide sin. The hamon rabbah ('great multitude') and the buz-mishpachot ('contempt of clans/families') represent social pressure. The verb e'erots ('I dreaded') and yechitteni ('it terrified me') describe the fear of exposure. Job's point: he never sinned and then stayed silent (eddom) or refused to go out (lo etse fatach, 'I did not go out the door') because of fear that others might discover his wrongdoing. He had nothing to hide.

Translator Notes

1. The tav (mark, sign, signature) is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet and was used as a mark or signature by those who could not write their name. Job is signing his oath — putting his life behind every word. The ish rivi ('man of my lawsuit') may refer to God as Job's legal opponent, or to a human accuser. The sefer (scroll, document, book) is the formal written indictment. Job is demanding due process from the Almighty.

Translator Notes

1. Job's response to the hypothetical indictment is staggering: he would not cringe from it but wear it. On his shikmi ('my shoulder') he would carry it — the shoulder bears the weight of authority. He would bind it (e'endennu) as atarot ('crowns, wreaths') — wearing the accusation as a diadem. The confidence is absolute: whatever charges are brought, Job will display them publicly because he knows they cannot stand. The image inverts every expectation: the accused becomes the crowned.

Translator Notes

1. Job would declare (aggidenu) the mispar tse'adai ('the number of my steps') — a complete accounting of every action. He would approach God kemo-nagid ('like a prince, like a leader') — not groveling but with the dignity of someone who has nothing to hide. The nagid (ruler, prince, one who is in front) walks forward without fear. Job's innocence gives him royal bearing before the divine court.

Translator Notes

1. The final oath section addresses Job's relationship with the land itself. The adamati ('my ground, my land') tiz'aq ('cries out, screams') — the same verb used for human cries of injustice. The telameiha ('its furrows') yivkayun ('they weep') — the plowed rows of earth are personified as witnesses. The land can testify against an unjust owner, just as Abel's blood cried from the ground in Genesis 4:10. Job treats the earth as a moral agent with standing in God's court.

Translator Notes

1. Two crimes against the land: eating its kochah ('its strength, its produce') beli-kasef ('without silver, without payment') means taking the harvest without compensating those who worked the land. The second crime is worse: nephesh be'aleiha hipachti ('I caused the soul/life of its owners to expire') means working people to death or defrauding them of their livelihood until they perished. Job denies both exploitation of the land and exploitation of the people who work it.

Translator Notes

1. The tachat...tachat ('instead of...instead of') structure invokes covenant reversal: the land that should produce food produces only weeds. The choach (thorn) is the same word from Genesis 3:18. The bo'shah (stinkweed, noxious plant) appears only here in the Hebrew Bible. The colophon tammu divre Iyyov ('the words of Job are complete/finished') uses the verb tamam ('to be complete, to be finished, to be whole') — related to the adjective tam ('blameless') that describes Job in 1:1. Job's words are tam — complete, whole, blameless — just as Job himself is.