Job 9:31

Modern

…then You would plunge me into the pit, and even my own clothes would despise me.

Traditional

Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me.

Literal

…yet into the pit You will plunge me, and my own garments will abhor me.

Latin

…tamen sordibus intinges me, et abominabuntur me vestimenta mea.

Hebrew

English

…then You would plunge me into the pit, and even my own clothes would despise me.

The pit can refer to the place of dead people, suggesting the "corruption" of death (17:14; 33:18).
The dirty clothes representing being guilty contrast with the clean clothes representing being innocent (Zechariah 3:3–5; see Isaiah 61:10; 64:6; Revelation 19:8).

Job answered Bildad by describing God's universal and legal power. His speech resembles a complex legal case.

It includes:

A summons and response (9:3, 14–16, 19b, 32).
The risk of proving himself guilty (9:20).
A "mediator" (9:33–34).
A question of accusation (9:12).
A legal sentence (9:22).
A declaration of guilt (9:28–30).

Theme notes and profiles

Isaiah 64:6
Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
Philippians 3:8–9
More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
Job 15:6
Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you; your own lips testify against you.
Job 9:20
Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would declare me guilty.
Isaiah 59:6
Their cobwebs cannot be made into clothing, and they cannot cover themselves with their works. Their deeds are sinful deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands.