Job 31:12

Job 31:12 For it [is] a fire [that] consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.

Ver. 12. For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction] Ad Gehennam usque, to the place of destruction. Heb. to Abaddon, that burneth as low as hell itself. In case men should be slack to punish this heinous crime, yet whoremongers and adulterers God will judge, Heb 13:3, shutting them out of heaven, Rev 22:15 (for what should any such dirty dog do trampling on that golden pavement?), and thrusting them into hell, as he did the filthy Sodomites, Jdg 1:7, beside that hell above ground which he rained from heaven upon them, hot fire for their burning lusts, and stinking brimstone for their stinking brutishness. How God signally punished this sin in Charles II, king of Navarre, roasting him to death. {See Trapp on "Gen 19:24"} Joan of Naples also, and Mary of Arragon, wife to the Emperor Otho III, burnt at a stake, are set upon record as instances of the Divine displeasure against adultery, a fire which burns hearts and consumes houses.

And would root out all mine increase] Leaving me nothing. As a devouring fire burns up men, cattle, houses, corn, trees, &c.; so doth this sin all a man’s income, baring him to the very bones, and exhausting him to the utmost: so that, like Tiberius at Capreae, he doth indies perire, which is a bitterness beyond that of death, Ecc 7:26. Or like Samson, befooled and bereft of all by Delilah, who had not her name for nought, for it comes from Dalal, to exhaust and impoverish. And indeed such kind of creatures do ordinarily drain the strength, exhaust the purses, dry up the credit, waste and consume the all of the mightiest Samsons, besides the loss of their immortal souls, and perpetual shame at the last day (when all their faults shall be written in their foreheads), unless the matter be taken up in the judge’s privy chamber of mercy; and unless, by timely repentance, course be taken to stop his open judicial proceeding in court.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

31:12 The association of fire with hell or the grave is rare in the Old Testament (cp. Deut 32:22).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He showeth that albeit man neglect the punishment of adultery, yet the wrath of God will never cease till such be destroyed.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(Pro 6:27-35; Pro 8:6-23, Pro 8:26-27). No crime more provokes God to send destruction as a consuming fire; none so desolates the soul.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 12. For it is a fire] Nothing is so destructive of domestic peace. Where jealousy exists, unmixed misery dwells; and the adulterer and fornicator waste their substance on the unlawful objects of their impure affections.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. to destruction] Heb. abaddon, i. e. Sheol or Death, as a place, ch. Job_26:6, Job_28:22. As to the complete ruin which this sin entailed comp. the passage Pro_6:24-35, particularly the last verses; see also Pro_5:8-14; Pro_7:26-27.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If I did despise the cause of my manservant, or of my maidservant,.... Whether it was a cause that related to any controversy or quarrel among themselves when it was brought before him, he did not reject it, because of the meanness of the contending parties, and the state of servitude they were in; but he received it and searched into it, heard patiently what each had to say, examined them thoroughly, entered into the merits of the cause, and either reconciled them, or passed a righteous sentence, punished the delinquent, and protected the innocent; or, if it was a cause relating to himself, any complaint of their work, or wages, or food, or clothing, as it seems to be from what follows:

when they contended with me; had anything to complain of, or to object to him on the above account, or any other, where there was any show or colour of foundation for it; otherwise it cannot be thought he would indulge a saucy, impudent, and contradicting behaviour in them towards him: masters in those times and countries had an unlimited, and exercised a despotic power over their servants, and used them with great rigour, and refused to do them justice upon complaints; but Job behaved as if he had had the rules of the apostle before him to act by in his conduct towards his servants, Eph 6:9; and even condescended to submit the cause between him and his servants to other judges or arbitrators, or rather took cognizance of it himself, heard patiently and carefully what they had to allege, and did them justice.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction - This may mean that such an offence would be a crime that would provoke God to send destruction, like a consuming fire upon the offender (Rosenmuller and Noyes), or more likely it is designed to be descriptive of the nature of the sin itself. According to this, the meaning is, that indulgence in this sin tends wholly to ruin and destroy a man. It is like a consuming fire, which sweeps away everything before it. It is destructive to the body, the morals, the soul. Accordingly, it may be remarked that there is no one vice which pours such desolation through the soul as licentiousness. See Rush on the Diseases of the Mind. It corrupts and taints all the fountains of morals, and utterly annihilates all purity of the heart. An intelligent gentleman, and a careful observer of the state of things in society, once remarked to me, that on coming to the city of Philadelphia, it was his fortune to be in the same boarding-house with a number of young men, nearly all of whom were known to him to be of licentious habits. He has lived to watch their course of life; and he remarked, that there was not one of them who did not ultimately show that he was essentially corrupt and unprincipled in every department of morals. There is not any one propensity of man that spreads such a withering influence over the soul as this; and, however it may be accounted for, it is certain that indulgence in this vice is a certain evidence that the whole soul is corrupt, and that no reliance is to be placed on the man’s virtue in any respect, or in reference to any relation of life.

And would root out all mine increase - By its desolating effects on my heart and life. The meaning is, that it would utterly ruin him; compare Luk 15:13, Luk 15:30. How many a wretched sensualist can bear testimony to the truth of this statement! How many a young man has been wholly ruined in reference to his worldly interests, as well as in reference to his soul, by this vice compare Prov. 7: No young man could do a better service to himself than to commit the whole of that chapter to memory, and so engrave it on his soul that it never could be forgotten.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Spring; the children, Ecclesiasticus xxiii. 35., and Wisdom iv. 3. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "all mine increase." (Haydock) --- Adulteresses were formerly consigned to the flames. The injured husband would resent the offence, and even dislike her former children. Love is also like a fire, and those who entertain it, may soon consume all their substance (Menochius) in feasting and presents. Above all, the fire of God’s indignation in hell will still pursue the libidinous.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

For this sin would be as a secret but consuming fire, wasting my estate and reputation, and body and soul too, provoking God and enraging the husband, and bringing down some extraordinary vengeance upon me; and therefore the fear of God kept me from this and such-like wickedness.

All mine increase, i.e. all my estate: compare Pro 6:27.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. Destruction — Hebrews Abaddon. The sin spoken of is a fire that ceases not to burn till it has taken hold of hell itself. (Pro_7:27.) “It drags him whom it has seized down with it into the deepest depth of ruin, and as it were melts him away.” — Delitzsch. See Caryl, in loc. In the earliest ages adultery was punished by burning. Gen_38:24.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction; i.e. it is a thing which brings down the wrath of God upon a man, so that "a fire is kindled in his anger, which shall burn unto the lowest hell". (Deu_32:22) Compare the sentence on David for his great transgression. (2Sa_12:9-12) And would root out all mine increase; i.e. "would destroy all my estate;" either by leading me to waste my substance upon my companion in sin, or by bringing down God"s judgments upon me to my temporal ruin.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Destruction - Lust is a fire in the soul; it consumes all that is good there, the convictions, the comforts; and lays the conscience waste. It consumes the body, consumes the substance, roots out all the increase. It kindles the fire of God's wrath, which if not quenched by the blood of Christ, will burn to the lowest hell.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

and it uproots all my grain i.e., this fire. Therefore, I refrained from committing [this sin]. When he speaks with an expression of uprooting, he says תְּשָׁרֵשׁ, and to express roots, he also uses תַּשְׁרֵשׁ. Similarly, יְשֹׁרָשׁוּ is an expression of uprooting and יַשְׁרִשׁוּ is an expression of a root.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.