The Book of Job

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- Chapter 31 -

I reached an agreement with my eyes, that I would not so much as think about a virgin.

For what portion should God from above hold for me, and what inheritance should the Almighty from on high keep?

Is not destruction held for the wicked and repudiation kept for those who work injustice?

Does he not examine my ways and number all my steps?

If I have walked in vanity, or if my foot has hurried towards deceitfulness,

let him weigh me in a just balance, and let God know my simplicity.

If my steps have turned aside from the way, or if my heart has followed my eyes, or if a blemish has clung to my hands,(a)

then may I sow, and let another consume, and let my offspring be eradicated.

If my heart has been deceived over a woman, or if I have waited in ambush at my friend’s door,

then let my wife be the harlot of another, and let other men lean over her.

For this is a crime and a very great injustice.

It is a fire devouring all the way to perdition, and it roots out all that springs forth.

If I have despised being subject to judgment with my servant or my maid, when they had any complaint against me,

then what will I do when God rises to judge, and, when he inquires, how will I respond to him?

Is not he who created me in the womb, also he who labored to make him? And did not one and the same form me in the womb?(b)

If I have denied the poor what they wanted and have made the eyes of the widow wait;

if I have eaten my morsel of food alone, while orphans have not eaten from it;

(for from my infancy mercy grew with me, and it came out with me from my mother’s womb;)

if I have looked down on him who was perishing because he had no clothing and the poor without any covering,

if his sides have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

if I have lifted up my hand over an orphan, even when it might seem to me that I have the advantage over him at the gate;

then may my shoulder fall from its joint, and may my arm, with all its bones, be broken.

For I have always feared God, like waves flowing over me, whose weight I was unable to bear.

If I have considered gold to be my strength, or if I have called purified gold ‘my Trust;’

if I have rejoiced over my great success, and over the many things my hand has obtained;

if I gazed upon the sun when it shined and the moon advancing brightly,(c)

so that my heart rejoiced in secret and I kissed my hand with my mouth,

which is a very great iniquity and a denial against the most high God;

if I have been glad at the ruin of him who hated me and have exulted that evil found him,

for I have not been given my throat to sin by asking for a curse on his soul;

if the men around my tabernacle have not said: “He might give us some of his food, so that we will be filled,”(d)

for the foreigner did not remain at the door, my door was open to the traveler;

if, as man does, I have hidden my sin and have concealed my iniquity in my bosom;

if I became frightened by an excessive crowd, and the disrespect of close relatives alarmed me, so that I would much rather have remained silent or have gone out the door;

then, would he grant me a hearing, so that the Almighty would listen to my desire, and he who judges would himself write a book,(e)

which I would then carry on my shoulder and wrap around me like a crown?

With each of my steps, I would pronounce and offer it, as if to a prince.

So, if my land cries out against me, and if its furrows weep with it,

if I have used its fruits for nothing but money and have afflicted the souls of its tillers,(f)

then, may thistles spring forth for me instead of grain, and thorns instead of barley. (This ended the words of Job.)(g)

Footnotes

(a)31:7 The Latin word ‘et’ is usually translated as ‘and,’ but in this and certain other contexts, it clearly means ‘or.’ Job is not saying: ‘If I have done all three of these things,’ but rather, ‘If I have done any one of these things.’ Therefore, the translation is ‘or’ not ‘and.’(Conte)

(b)31:15 The word ‘utero’ is more general in meaning in Latin than the word ‘uterus’ is in English. The Latin ‘utero’ can refer to a male’s abdomen or to a woman’s womb. So, why does the Latin use two words, utero and vulva, and two questions (or a two-part question) to ask the same thing? Because the masculine singular word utero refers, not to the womb, but to the father’s (not well understood during Job’s day) genitive capability, and the word vulva refers to the mother’s genitive capability.(Conte)

(c)31:26 If I beheld the sun, etc:If I behold the sun and moon with admiration, knowing them to be created and governed by the power of God, I call on my adversaries to produce any thing against me, whereby I could be charged with worshipping the sun or moon.(Challoner)

(d)31:31 Job is listing sinful things that he has not done, so this good deed is spoken of in the negative: ‘Si non dixerunt....’ The good deed is that any men who came around his tabernacle (or tent or home) knew that they might obtain food from him if they were hungry. The Latin is here translated loosely, because a strict literal translation would be more difficult to understand. Here ‘carnibus’ does not specifically refer to meat (or flesh), but to food or a meal. Notice that ‘Quis’ is not to be understood as the word ‘Who’ introducing a question, but as a pronoun, better translated as ‘He’ than as ‘Who.’ Latin uses ‘quis’ as a pronoun in a way that English rarely uses the word ‘who.’ The quote here, beginning with ‘Quis’ could be translated as a question, but it is more clearly understood in its proper meaning when translated as a statement. The hungry knew that they could count on Job for food when they were hungry. Notice also that the genitive ‘tabernaculi mei,’ referring to ‘viri’ does not connotate possession (the men of my tabernacle), for the next verse clearly indicates that these men are foreigners or travelers, not the men working or living at Job’s home. The genitive case can occasionally mean ‘among’ or ‘around’ rather than ‘of.’(Conte)

(e)31:35 Again, the word ‘quis’ in Latin does not always mean ‘who,’ even when used in a question. In this case, Job is referring to all of the previous ‘if...’ propositions, saying, if all of these faults had been found in Job, would He still grant Job a favorable hearing and a clear vindication? No, He would not. ‘Quis’ is here used as a pronoun referring to God.(Conte)

(f)31:39 This verse does not say: ‘if I have eaten of its fruits without money,’ but rather: ‘if I have used its fruits for nothing except money.’ The first translation does not make any sense. The second translation makes sense and fits with the theme of this part of the Book of Job, wherein Job lists the faults he doesn’t have. The word ‘comedi’ can refer to eating, but it can also refer to other kinds of consuming or the using of something. The word ‘absque’ can be translated as ‘without,’ but it can also mean ‘except for’ or ‘nothing but.’ Job is saying that it would be a sin to use the land as nothing but a source of money for himself.(Conte)

(g)31:40 The words of Job are ended.(Challoner)

“I made a covenant with my eyes; how then should I look lustfully at a young woman?

For what is the portion from God above, and the heritage from the Almighty on high?

Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, and disaster to the workers of iniquity?

Doesn’t he see my ways, and count all my steps?

“If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hurried to deceit

(let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know my integrity);

if my step has turned out of the way, if my heart walked after my eyes, if any defilement has stuck to my hands,

then let me sow, and let another eat. Yes, let the produce of my field be rooted out.

“If my heart has been enticed to a woman, and I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door,

then let my wife grind for another, and let others sleep with her.

For that would be a heinous crime. Yes, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,

for it is a fire that consumes to destruction, and would root out all my increase.

“If I have despised the cause of my male servant or of my female servant, when they contended with me,

what then will I do when God rises up? When he visits, what will I answer him?

Didn’t he who made me in the womb make him? Didn’t one fashion us in the womb?

“If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it

(no, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, I have guided her from my mother’s womb);

if I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or that the needy had no covering;

if his heart hasn’t blessed me, if he hasn’t been warmed with my sheep’s fleece;

if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate;

then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder blade, and my arm be broken from the bone.

For calamity from God is a terror to me. Because of his majesty, I can do nothing.

“If I have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold, ‘You are my confidence;’

If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much;

if I have seen the sun when it shined, or the moon moving in splendor,

and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth;

this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have denied the God who is above.

“If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him

(I have certainly not allowed my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse);

if the men of my tent have not said, ‘Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?’

(the foreigner has not camped in the street, but I have opened my doors to the traveler);

if like Adam I have covered my transgressions, by hiding my iniquity in my heart,

because I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and didn’t go out of the door—

oh that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me! Let the accuser write my indictment!

Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, and I would bind it to me as a crown.

I would declare to him the number of my steps. I would go near to him like a prince.

If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together;

if I have eaten its fruits without money, or have caused its owners to lose their life,

let briers grow instead of wheat, and stinkweed instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.