Job 31:9

Translations

Modern

If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife, or I have lurked at his door,

Traditional

If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door;

Literal

If my heart has been enticed over a woman, or I have lain in wait at the door of my neighbor,

Latin

Si deceptum est cor meum super muliere, et si ad ostium amici mei insidiatus sum,

Original

Hebrew

English

If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife, or I have lurked at his door,

Notes

Job 31:9–10

Whether she tempted him or he waited for her, if Job desired his neighbor’s wife, he would violate the seventh and tenth commandments (24:15–16; Deuteronomy 5:18, Matthew 5:27–28; Deuteronomy 5:21).
grind for: This might refer to servitude or sexual relations (Exodus 11:5).

Job 31:1–40

Job called down wrong against himself (curses) if he was guilty of the accusations against him. Apart from mentioning idolatry (worship of false gods), Job spoke about how loyal he was to God by focusing on the second half of the Ten Commandments (31:26–27). The summary of these is: “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9).

Job 29:1–31:40

Job compares his past happiness, honor, and wealth with his current loss of social dignity and divine friendship (chapters 29 and 30). He ends his speech with broad vows of innocence (chapter 31).

Theme notes and profiles

Job’s Innocence

Events

Job's Trial

Related verses

1 Kings 11:4
For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.
Ecclesiastes 7:26
And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.
Judges 16:5
The lords of the Philistines went to her and said, “Entice him and find out the source of his great strength and how we can overpower him to tie him up and subdue him. Then each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”
Jeremiah 5:8
They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor’s wife.
Hosea 7:4
They are all adulterers, like an oven heated by a baker who needs not stoke the fire from the kneading to the rising of the dough.
Proverbs 22:14
The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the wrath of the LORD will fall into it.
Proverbs 6:25
Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.
Nehemiah 13:26
Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations, and he was loved by his God, who made him king over all Israel—yet foreign women drew him into sin.
Proverbs 2:16–19
It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words
Job 24:15–16
The eye of the adulterer watches for twilight. Thinking, ‘No eye will see me,’ he covers his face.
Proverbs 5:3–23
Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,
Proverbs 7:21
With her great persuasion she entices him; with her flattering lips she lures him.

Glossary

Adultery Book of Job Curse, Cursed

Topics

Integrity: General Scriptures Concerning Lust: Evil Desire Temptation: Resistance To

Job 31:9

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