Job 31:7

Job 31:7 If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;

Ver. 7. If my step hath turned out of the way] sc. Of justice and equity, in trading and trafficking to get the mammon of unrighteousness. No; the sun might sooner be turned out of his course (as it was once said of Fabricius) than Job out of the track of truth and honesty; he had laid laws upon his feet, his eyes, and his hands too; binding them all to the good behaviour: witness the next words.

And mine heart walked after mine eyes] As it doth too often, to coveting other men’s goods; which St John calleth the lust of the eyes, 1Jn 2:16. Alexander the Great called the Persian maids Dolores oculorum, the griefs of the eyes. The wedge of gold and Babylonish garment proved to be so to covetous Achan, Jos 7:21, and Naboth’s vineyard to that no good Ahab, 1Ki 21:2. He was even sick of it, and could not be cured but by a salad out of it. Hence the law flatly forbiddeth men to go after the sight of their eyes and the lust of their hearts; for these are seldom sundered, Num 15:39 Ecc 11:9. Unruly eyes, like Jacob’s sheep, too firmly fixed on unlawful objects, make the affections bring forth spotted fruit. Job would, therefore, set a guard upon them, lest they should prove brokers of wickedness to the heart; as that hang by Hiram, the Adullamite, was to Judah, Gen 38:20. There is an easy passage for evil through the eyes into the heart, saith Quintilian, Oculus et cor sunt proxenetae peccati (Hebr. Proverb).

And if any blot hath cleaved to my hands] If I have been fingering that which was not fit for me to meddle with; viz. evil gotten goods, whether by bribery, usury, deceit, or the like; the very touching whereof will blot aud benumb the hands, as Pliny writeth of the fish torpedo; and as scholars know that Demosthenes, a great lawyer, by poising Harpalus’s goblet, was tempted and swayed to favour his cause, to the great danger of his country, and his own indelible infamy.

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.

Job 31:7-8. If my step hath turned out of the way — If I have knowingly and willingly swerved from the way of truth and justice, which God hath prescribed to me; and my heart walked after mine eyes — A strong and beautiful expression, signifying, if my eyes have seduced my heart. If I have let my heart loose to desire forbidden objects, which my eyes have seen. Commonly sin enters by the eye into the heart: thus David, letting his heart walk after his eyes, was led into the sin, first, of adultery, and then, of murder. How careful then ought we to be, how deeply should this be fixed in our minds, not to let our heart walk after our eyes. It is a maxim which deserves to be written, we will not say in letters of gold, but, what is of more importance, on the table of every heart! And if any blot hath cleaved to my hands — Any unjust gain. If I have had or have in my hands, or possession, any goods, gotten from others by fraud or violence, which would be a great scandal and a blot to my reputation: Then let me sow, and let another eat — Let strangers enjoy the fruit of my labours. Yea, let my offspring be rooted out — Or, rather, my increase; all my plants, and fruits, and improvements, as the word צאצאי, tzeetzaai, properly signifies. Indeed, Job had not now any children to be rooted out.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That is, hath accomplished the lust of mine eyes.

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

Connected with Job 31:6.

the way--of God (Job 23:11; Jer 5:5). A godly life.

heart . . . after . . . eyes--if my heart coveted, what my eyes beheld (Ecc 11:9; Jos 7:21).

hands-- (Psa 24:4).

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 7. If my step hath turned out of the way] I am willing to be sifted to the uttermost-for every step of my foot, for every thought of my heart, for every look of mine eye, and for every act of my hands.

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

(7) If my step hath turned out of the way—The form of the expression is very emphatic: the narrow way of strict integrity and righteousness. (Compare the expression applied to the first believers, Act_9:2—men of the way.)

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

7. out of the way] i. e. the way of rectitude, set before him by God, ch. Job_23:11. This going out of the way is amplified in the next words, if mine heart walked after mine eyes, i. e. if my mind consented and yielded to the lust of the eye. By such yielding he would have fallen into deeds that would have left a “blot” or stain upon his hands; comp. Psa_24:4.

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.

Then let me sow, and another eat,.... If what he had before said was not true; but he had turned out of the way of righteousness, and walked after the sight of his eyes, and the mammon of unrighteousness cleaved to his hands; then he wishes might sow his fields, and another enjoy the increase of them, which is one of God's judgments threatened unto the wicked and disobedient, Lev 26:16;

let my offspring be rooted out; but Job had no offspring or children at this time to be rooted out or destroyed; they were all destroyed already; some think therefore that this imprecation was made by him in the time of his prosperity, though here repeated as it was then, he made a covenant with his eyes; but then this might have been improved against him and retorted on him, that so it was according to his wish; and therefore he must have been guilty of the sin he would have purged himself from; others suppose that he refers to the future, and to the offspring he hoped to have hereafter; and when he should have them, wishes they may be rooted out, if he had done what he denies he had; but it does not appear that Job had any hope at all of being restored to his former state of prosperity, and of being possessed of a family and substance again, but the reverse. Gussetius (a) will have it, that he means his grandchildren; those indeed are sometimes called a man's children, and may propriety be said to be his offspring, they springing frown him; and it is possible, that, as his sons were settled from him, they were married and had children; but this is not certain, or, if they had any, that these were not destroyed with them; wherefore it is best to take the word (b) in its first and literal sense, for what springs out of the earth, herbs, plants, and trees, as in Isa 42:5; so Ben Gersom and Bar Tzemach, and which best agrees with the phrase of being "rooted out", and with what goes before; that as he had wished that which was sown in his fields might be eaten up by another, so what was planted and grew up in his gardens, orchards, vineyards, and olive yards, and the like, might be quite rooted out and destroyed; if he was not the man he declared himself to be, or had wronged any of their goods and property, then this would have been a just retaliation of him.

(a) Comment. Ebr. p. 338. (b) "germina mea", Beza, Montanus, Mercerus, Drusius, Michaelis, Schultens.

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

If my step hath turned out of the way - The path in which I ought to walk - the path of virtue.

And mine heart walked after mine eyes - That is, if I have coveted what my eyes have beheld; or if I have been determined by the appearance of things rather than by what is right, I consent to bear the appropriate punishment.

And if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands - To have clean hands is emblematic of innocence; Job 17:9; Psa 24:4; compare Mat 27:24. The word blot here means stain, blemish: Dan 1:4. The idea is, that his hands were pure, and that he had not been guilty of any act of fraud or violence in depriving others of their property.

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

Eyes. Sixtus V read, "If my eye hath followed my heart." (Calmet) --- Job kept the utmost restraint both upon his eyes and heart, that no evil impressions from exterior objects might cause his ruin, Numbers xv. 39. (Haydock) --- Hands, from presents, (Calmet) or injustice, particularly that of impurity. (Haydock)

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).

If I have wittingly, and willingly, and customarily (as you accuse me) swerved from the way of truth and justice which God hath prescribed to me; for otherwise no man here is so just, but he sometimes takes a wrong step, Ecc 7:20. If I have let my heart loose to covet and seek after forbidden things, which mine eyes have seen; which may design either,

1. The lust of uncleanness; but of that he had spoken Job 31:1, and reneweth the discourse Job 31:9. Or rather,

2. The lust of covetousness, which is called the lust of the eyes, 1Jo 2:16, partly because it is oft caused by sight, as Jos 7:21, and partly because ofttimes all the satisfaction it gives is to please the sight, Ecc 5:11. And this sin is most legible in the following punishment, Job 31:8, where his loss answers to this evil gain. The phrase notes the common method and progress of sin, which is to enter by the eye to the heart, Gen 3:6; Num 15:39; Ecc 2:10; 11:9.

Any blot, or blemish, to wit, any unjust gain. If I have in my hands or possession any goods gotten from others by fraud or violence, which would be a great scandal and a blot to my reputation.

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

7. The way — Used figuratively for the law of God.

Mine heart — לב here, as in many other places, denotes the will or active reason, rather than the mere feeling. It is what Socrates calls the reversal, or turning upside down, or wrong end foremost, of human nature, indicating a dire catastrophe; the reason following the sense, and submitting to the sense instead of controlling it. (Tayler Lewis.)

Mine eyes — As in Job_31:1. Blot — See the gloss of Elihu upon Job’s self-righteousness, Job_33:9.

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

If my step hath turned out of the way. If; i.e., I have at any time knowingly and voluntarily departed from the way of thy commandments, as made known to me either by godly men or by thy law written in my heart, then let the consequences follow that are mentioned in the next verse. Or if mine heart hath walked after mine eyes, and if consequently any blot hath cleaved to mine hands; i.e. if I have been guilty of any plain act of sin. It is to be remembered that Job has the testimony of God himself to the fact that he was "a perfect and an upright man, one that feared God, and eschewed evil. (Job_2:3)

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

Heart - If I have let my heart loose to covet forbidden things, which mine eyes have seen: commonly sin enters by the eye into the heart. A blot - Any unjust gain.

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

General Information:

Job continues describing situations in which he would deserve God's punishment, but he knows they are not true. (See: Hypothetical Situations)

If my step has turned aside from the way

Here "my step" is a metaphor for Job's behavior, and "turned out of the right way" is a metaphor for changing from living right. AT: "If I have changed from living right" or "If I have stopped doing what is right" (See: Metaphor)

if my heart has gone after my eyes

Here "my heart" and "my eyes" are metonyms for what Job desires and sees. The heart going after the eyes is a metaphor for desiring to do what he sees. It is implied that this refers to sinful things that Job sees. AT: "if I have have wanted to do any sinful things that I see" (See: Metonymy and Metaphor)

if any spot has stuck to my hands

This is a metaphor for being guilty. AT: "if I am guilty of any sin at all" (See: Metaphor)

then let me sow, and let another eat, and let my crops be uprooted

Job is saying that if he really has sinned, then this bad thing should happen to him. He would do the hard work of sowing his fields, but he would not be able to eat any of it.

let my crops be uprooted

This can be stated in active form. AT: "let someone else come and take the harvest from my field" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

heart

hand

plant

harvest

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

wrong Heb. מאום, that is a blemish, a shameful thing. This “alef” is written but not read, in the Great Masorah, and it is of the form of (Exod. 5:7), “You shall not continue (תאספון).” If I did this, I would deserve that this curse come upon me.

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.