Job 31:32

Job 31:32 The stranger did not lodge in the street: [but] I opened my doors to the traveller.

Ver. 32. The stranger did not lodge in the street] Job was so far from liking and commending those enraged stomachs of his servants, that be would not suffer strangers to lodge abroad in the night season. Gregory noteth here, that he speaketh first of his pacific disposition toward his enemies, and then of his hospitality; because, saith he, the heart must first be freed from malice and wrath, and then charity is to be exercised, that we might be accepted. Abraham neither set up an altar to God nor showed himself forward to entertain strangers, till Lot and he were reconciled. Hospitality is commended to our practice, both by the prophet Isaiah, Isa 58:7, by St Paul, Rom 12:13 Heb 13:2, and by St Peter, 1Pe 4:9. Of Cranmer, Tremellius testifietb, that he was homo Fιλοξενος nec minus φιλολογος, humane and hospitable, after the example of Abraham and Lot, whom Synesius therefore calleth Yεου εστιατορας, God entertainers. Julian the apostate reckoneth the hospitality of the primitive Christians among those three things that caused their religion to be so generally embraced. Of the Waldenses also, those ancient Protestants in Germany, it is reported that they could travel from Colen to Milan in Italy, and every night lodge with hosts of their own profession, who would bid them heartily welcome (Chrys. in Joan. της περι τους ξενους φιλανθρωπιας. Hinc tot olim Xenodochia).

But I opened my doors to the traveller] I bid the weary wayfaring man welcome to my house, and kept a good table for such. Mensa res sacra est, per quam Deus honoratur praeses amicitiae et hospitii. Job was known to be a good housekeeper, and was much resorted to; he set open his gate in the highway; so Beza, after Mercer, rendereth this text. It was his will, that that part of his house which bounded upon the highway side should always lie open, to harbour passengers, Jupiter φιλιος, τε και ξενιος dicebatur. Ad viam, vel versus viam.

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.

traveller--literally, "way," that is, wayfarers; so expressed to include all of every kind (Sa2 12:4).

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 32. The stranger did not lodge in the street] My kindness did not extend merely to my family, domestics, and friends; the stranger - he who was to me perfectly unknown, and the traveller - he who was on his journey to some other district, found my doors ever open to receive them, and were refreshed with my bed and my board.

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

(32) I opened my doors to the traveller.—The manners of Gen_19:2-3, Jdg_19:20-21, if not the incidents there recorded, are here implied. “The traveller” is literally the road or way: i.e., the wayfarer.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

32. to the traveller] The word might mean to the way, the street; the general sense is the same. The verse confirms Job’s universal hospitality and liberality.

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.

Did I fear a great multitude?.... No, they did not deter him from confessing his sin in the most public manner, when sensible or convicted of it, and when such a public acknowledgment was necessary:

or did the contempt of families terrify me? no, the contempt he might suppose he should be had in by some families that knew him, and he was well acquainted with, did not terrify him from making a free and ingenuous confession of his sins:

that I kept silence; or "did I keep silence",

and went not out of the door? so as not to open his mouth by confession in public, but kept within doors through fear and shame; or else the sense is, that he was not intimidated from doing his duty as a civil magistrate, administering justice to the poor and oppressed; neither the dread of a clamorous mob, nor the contempt of families of note, or great personages, could deter him from the execution of his office with uprightness, so as to cause him to be silent, and keep at home; but without any regard to the fear of the one, or the contempt of the other, he went out from his house through the street to the court of judicature, took his place on the bench, and gave judgment in favour of those that were oppressed, though the multitude was against them, and even persons and families of note: or thus, though I could have put a great multitude to fear, yet the most contemptible persons in any family, so Aben Ezra and Ben Gersom interpret that phrase, the meanest person, or but a beggar, if his cause was just, terrified him; or such was the fear of God upon him, that he durst do no other than to do him justice; so that he could not open his mouth against him, or stir out of doors to do him the tease; injury; though perhaps it may be best of all, with Schultens, to consider these words as an imprecation, that if what he had said before from Job 31:24 was not true; if he was not clear from idolatry figurative, and literal, from a malicious and revengeful spirit, from inhospitality and unkindness to strangers, from palliating, excusing, and extenuating his sins; then as if he should say, may I be frightened with a tumult, or a multitude of people, and terrified with the public contempt of families; may I be as silent as a mope in my own house, and never dare to stir out of doors, or show my thee, or see face of any man any more: and then, before he had quite finished his account of himself, breaks out in the following manner.

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

The stranger did not lodge in the street - This is designed to illustrate the sentiment in the previous verse, and to express his consciousness that he had showed the most generous hospitality.

But I opened my doors to the traveler - Margin, or way. The word used here ארח 'ôrach means properly way, path, road; but it also denotes those who travel on such a way; see Job 6:19, “The troops of Tema looked,” Hebrew ארח תימא têymâ' 'ôrach - the ways, or paths of Tema; that is, those who traveled in those paths. Vulgate here, viatori. Septuagint, “To everyone that came” - παντί ἐλθόντι panti elthonti. This was one of the methods of hospitality - the central and crowning virtue among the Arabs to this day, and among the Orientals in all ages. Among the boasts of hospitality, showing the place which this virtue had in their estimation, and the methods by which it was practiced, we may refer to such expressions as the following: “I occupy the public way with my tent;” that is, to every traveler without distinction, my tent is open and my table is spread. “He makes the public path the place for the cords of his tent;” that is, he fixed the pins and cords of his tent in the midst of the public highway, so that every traveler might enter. These examples are quoted by Schultens from the Hamasa. Another beautiful example may be taken from the same collection of Arabic poems. I give the Latin translation of Schultens:

Quam saepe latratum imitanti viatori, cui resonabat echo

Suscitavi ignem, cujus lignum luculentum

Properusque surrexi ad eum, ut praedae mihi loco esset,

Prae metu ne populus mens eum ante me occuparet.

That is, “How often to the traveler, imitating the bark of the dog, and the echo of whose voice was heard, have I kindled a fire, the shining wood of which I quick raised up to him, as one would hasten to the prey, in fear lest someone of my own people should anticipate me in the privileges and rites of hospitality.” The allusion to the imitation of the barking of a dog here, refers to the custom of travelers at night, who make this noise when they need a place of rest. This sound is responded to by the dogs which watch around the tents of their masters, and the sound is the signal for a general rush to show hospitality to the stranger. Burckhardt, speaking of the inhabitants of the Houran - the country east of the Jordan, and south of Damascus, says, “A traveler may alight at any house he pleases; a mat will be immediately spread for him, coffee made, and a breakfast or dinner set before him. In entering a village it has often happened to me, that several persons presented themselves, each begging that I would lodge at his house. It is a point of honor with the host never to receive the smallest return from a guest. Besides the private habitations, which offer to every traveler a secure night’s shelter, there is in every village the Medhafe of the Sheikh, where all strangers of decent appearance are received and entertained. It is the duty of the Sheikh to maintain this Medhafe, which is like a tavern, with the difference that the host himself pays the bill. The Sheikh has public allowance to defray these expenses, and hence a man of the Houran, intending to travel about for a fortnight never thinks of putting a single para in his pocket; he is sure of being every where well received, and of living better, perhaps, than at his own home.” Travels in Syria, pp. 294, 295.

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

The stranger; or, traveller as it follows.

Did not lodge in the street; but in my house, according to the laws of hospitality, and the usage of those times, when there were no public inns provided for the conveniency of such persons: see Gen 18:3; 19:2; Jdg 19:15,21.

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

32. To the traveller — Literally, to the way. The Mishna has a precept, “Let thy house be open to the way, and may the poor be thy guests.” Christ was crucified near to the way. “Certainly the place of his execution was upon a frequented way.” (Meyer on Mat_27:39.) His heart is open for all wayfaring, sorrowing ones.

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

The stranger did not lodge in the street; i.e. "I did not suffer any stranger who came under my notice to lodge in the street, but, like Abraham, (Gen_18:2-8) went out to him, and invited him in, to partake of my hospitality." This is still the practice of Arab sheikhs in Syria, Palestine, and the adjacent countries (see Dr. Cunningham Geikie"s "Holy Land and the Bible," vol. 1. p. 283). But I opened my doors to the traveller; literally, to the way; i.e. "my house gave on the street, and I kept my house door open." Compare the Mishna, "Let thy house be open to the street" ("Pirke Aboth,"

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

to the road The doors of my house were not inside and enclosed by a gatehouse outside, or surrounded by corners to stop the wayfarers from coming, but open to the crossroads so that whoever wishes to come may do so.

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.