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Job 31:1
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1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes;
Why then should I1 look upon a ayoung woman? 
2 For what is the aallotment of God from above,
And the inheritance of the Almighty from on high? 
3 Is it not destruction for the wicked,
And disaster for the workers of iniquity?
4 aDoes He not see my ways,
And count all my steps? 
5 “If I have walked with falsehood,
Or if my foot has hastened to deceit,
6 1Let me be weighed on honest scales,
That God may know my aintegrity. 
7 If my step has turned from the way,
Or amy heart walked after my eyes,
Or if any spot adheres to my hands, 
8 Then alet me sow, and another eat;
Yes, let my harvest be1 rooted out. 
9 “If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
Or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
10 Then let my wife grind for aanother,
And let others bow down over her. 
11 For that would be wickedness;
Yes, ait would be iniquity deserving of judgment. 
12 For that would be a fire that consumes to destruction,
And would root out all my increase.
13 “If I have adespised the cause of my male or female servant
When they complained against me, 
14 What then shall I do when aGod rises up?
When He punishes, how shall I answer Him? 
15 aDid not He who made me in the womb make them?
Did not the same One fashion us in the womb? 
16 “If I have kept the poor from their desire,
Or caused the eyes of the widow to afail, 
17 Or eaten my morsel by myself,
So that the fatherless could not eat of it
18 (But from my youth I reared him as a father,
And from my mother’s womb I guided1 the widow); 
19 If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
Or any poor man without covering;
20 If his1 heart has not ablessed me,
And if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; 
21 If I have raised my hand aagainst the fatherless,
When I saw I had help in the gate; 
22 Then let my arm fall from my shoulder,
Let my arm be torn from the socket.
23 For adestruction from God is a terror to me,
And because of His magnificence I cannot endure. 
24 “Ifa I have made gold my hope,
Or said to fine gold, ‘You are my confidence’; 
25 aIf I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,
And because my hand had gained much; 
26 aIf I have observed the1 sun when it shines,
Or the moon moving in brightness, 
27 So that my heart has been secretly enticed,
And my mouth has kissed my hand;
28 This also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment,
For I would have denied God who is above.
29 “Ifa I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me,
Or lifted myself up when evil found him 
30 a(Indeed I have not allowed my mouth to sin
By asking for a curse on his1 soul); 
31 If the men of my tent have not said,
‘Who is there that has not been satisfied with his meat?’
32 a(But no sojourner had to lodge in the street,
For I have opened my doors to the1 traveler); 
33 If I have covered my transgressions aas Adam,
By hiding my iniquity in my bosom, 
34 Because I feared the great amultitude,
And dreaded the contempt of families,
So that I kept silence
And did not go out of the door— 
35 aOh, that I had one to hear me!
Here is my mark.
Oh, bthat the Almighty would answer me,
That my1 Prosecutor had written a book! 
36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder,
And bind it on me like a crown;
37 I would declare to Him the number of my steps;
Like a prince I would approach Him.
38 “If my land cries out against me,
And its furrows weep together;
39 If aI have eaten its fruit without money,
Or bcaused its owners to lose their lives; 
40 Then let athistles grow instead of wheat,
And weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended. 
Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
<< Job 30:31   Job 31:2 >>


Job 31:1

I made a covenant with mine eyes - berith carati leeynai : "I have cut" or divided "the covenant sacrifice with my eyes." My conscience and my eyes are the contracting parties; God is the Judge; and I am therefore bound not to look upon any thing with a delighted or covetous eye, by which my conscience may be defiled, or my God dishonored.

Why then should I think upon a maid? - umah ethbonen al bethulah . And why should I set myself to contemplate, or think upon, Bethulah? That Bethulah may here signify an idol, is very likely. Sanchoniatho observes, that Ouranos first introduced Baithulia when he erected animated stones, or rather, as Bochart observes, Anointed stones, which became representatives of some deity. I suppose that Job purges himself here from this species of idolatry. Probably the Baithulia were at first emblems only of the tabernacle; beith Eloah , "the house of God;" or of that pillar set up by Jacob, Genesis 28:18, which he called beith Elohim , or Bethalim; for idolatry always supposes a pure and holy worship, of which it is the counterfeit. For more on the subject of the Baithulia, see the notes on Genesis 28:19.


 
<< Job 30:31   Job 31:2 >>

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