TEXT [Commentary]
3. Code of honor (31:1-40)
1 “I made a covenant with my eyes
not to look with lust at a young woman.
2 For what has God above chosen for us?
What is our inheritance from the Almighty on high?
3 Isn’t it calamity for the wicked
and misfortune for those who do evil?
4 Doesn’t he see everything I do
and every step I take?
5 “Have I lied to anyone
or deceived anyone?
6 Let God weigh me on the scales of justice,
for he knows my integrity.
7 If I have strayed from his pathway,
or if my heart has lusted for what my eyes have seen,
or if I am guilty of any other sin,
8 then let someone else eat the crops I have planted.
Let all that I have planted be uprooted.
9 “If my heart has been seduced by a woman,
or if I have lusted for my neighbor’s wife,
10 then let my wife serve[*] another man;
let other men sleep with her.
11 For lust is a shameful sin,
a crime that should be punished.
12 It is a fire that burns all the way to hell.[*]
It would wipe out everything I own.
13 “If I have been unfair to my male or female servants
when they brought their complaints to me,
14 how could I face God?
What could I say when he questioned me?
15 For God created both me and my servants.
He created us both in the womb.
16 “Have I refused to help the poor,
or crushed the hopes of widows?
17 Have I been stingy with my food
and refused to share it with orphans?
18 No, from childhood I have cared for orphans like a father,
and all my life I have cared for widows.
19 Whenever I saw the homeless without clothes
and the needy with nothing to wear,
20 did they not praise me
for providing wool clothing to keep them warm?
21 “If I raised my hand against an orphan,
knowing the judges would take my side,
22 then let my shoulder be wrenched out of place!
Let my arm be torn from its socket!
23 That would be better than facing God’s judgment.
For if the majesty of God opposes me, what hope is there?
24 “Have I put my trust in money
or felt secure because of my gold?
25 Have I gloated about my wealth
and all that I own?
26 “Have I looked at the sun shining in the skies,
or the moon walking down its silver pathway,
27 and been secretly enticed in my heart
to throw kisses at them in worship?
28 If so, I should be punished by the judges,
for it would mean I had denied the God of heaven.
29 “Have I ever rejoiced when disaster struck my enemies,
or become excited when harm came their way?
30 No, I have never sinned by cursing anyone
or by asking for revenge.
31 “My servants have never said,
‘He let others go hungry.’
32 I have never turned away a stranger
but have opened my doors to everyone.
33 “Have I tried to hide my sins like other people do,
concealing my guilt in my heart?
34 Have I feared the crowd
or the contempt of the masses,
so that I kept quiet and stayed indoors?
35 “If only someone would listen to me!
Look, I will sign my name to my defense.
Let the Almighty answer me.
Let my accuser write out the charges against me.
36 I would face the accusation proudly.
I would wear it like a crown.
37 For I would tell him exactly what I have done.
I would come before him like a prince.
38 “If my land accuses me
and all its furrows cry out together,
39 or if I have stolen its crops
or murdered its owners,
40 then let thistles grow on that land instead of wheat,
and weeds instead of barley.”
Job’s words are ended.
NOTES
31:5 Have I lied? This question is introduced with a particle expecting a negative answer (Gesenius §150i). It should not be translated as a conditional clause (RSV, NIV), making the following verse parenthetical.
31:7 any other sin. Lit. “if anything has stuck to my hands,” an expression similar to the English idiom “sticky fingers.” The sin in question is stealing the movable property of another person in any manner.
31:12 wipe out everything I own. Lit., “uproot all my produce.” For poetic effect, the image of crops is continued from 31:8. Gordis (1978:347) is correct in recognizing a metaphor for children here as the “produce” (tebu’ah [TH8393, ZH9311]) of a marriage that has been “uprooted” by lust.
31:13 If I have been unfair. The Heb. can be ambiguous between a conditional and an interrogative. The following questions (31:14) suggest that this may be a question.
31:15 God created both me and my servants. The translation involves a revocalization of the MT that agrees with the LXX.
31:18 cared for widows. “Cared” is the correct meaning, as is indicated by Arabic and Akkadian parallels to this Heb. verb. “Guide her [the widow]” (KJV, RSV, REB, NJB) is not the sense intended here. “Widow” is appropriately supplied because this verse summarizes in poetic fashion the previous references to the orphan and the widow (31:16).
31:23 facing God’s judgment. McCarter (1973:410-411) has made a case for the language of this verse being that of the ancient river ordeal. In Mesopotamia, when evidence was insufficient, the trial was conducted by submerging the suspect into the rushing waters of a river to determine guilt or innocence. (Only the innocent would resist and survive the rushing water.) The “judgment” (’eyd [TH343, ZH369]) is a reference to the turbulent waters that serve as a trial by the gods. The “rising” (majesty in most translations) is then a reference to the waters overcoming the victim in the trial. Such trials would have been familiar in Canaan, providing very vivid language for the danger of the guilty being tried by God.
31:31 My servants have never said, “He let others go hungry.” This verse has been diversely interpreted due to the ambiguities of the sequence and the meaning of the word basar [TH1319, ZH1413] (flesh), which could refer to meat for eating or to a person’s physical body. As is evident from the next verse, the context is focused on hospitality. Pope (1965:207-208) compares these two verses with the story of Sodom (Gen 19). Job had not abandoned anyone to the streets, where they would be vulnerable to sexual predators. On the basis of linguistic parallels in various texts, he thinks that the literal “fill ourselves with his flesh” (v 31b) is a reference to sexual gratification. On this interpretation, Job disavows that males of his household ever desired relations with him. It is doubtful that such associations would have been made in this context; the verses are about food and lodging (so NLT). Jongeling (1974:38-40) has solid grammatical support for taking this as an impersonal question requiring a negative answer; those of Job’s household have well said, “Were we ever not filled with his food?” He compares 14:4, “Who can bring purity out of an impure person? No one!”
31:33 like other people. The Heb. word (’adam [TH120, ZH132]) is the same as the name Adam; it is possible there is an allusion to the Genesis story.
31:35 Let my accuser write. This is a change of tense from the Heb., which is required by the context. Other commentators assume a line is missing.
31:39 murdered its owners. Rather than this idea or the expression “cause the death of its owners” (RSV), the translation should be “broken the spirit” (NIV). It is not that their breath is taken away, but they are driven to despair (cf. note on 11:20).
COMMENTARY [Text]
In this chapter Job catalogs fourteen transgressions that are a temptation to those in positions of influence and power. The offenses are presented in a variety of ways—sometimes with a question, sometimes with a conditional, and sometimes the Hebrew could be either. The variation is deliberate; attempts to create a uniformity in form are misguided. The number fourteen is deliberate literary style, in which items are given in a series of seven or its multiples. The organization of this code of honor does not correspond to other ethical lists, but it is a conscious exposition of what it means to live by the code of God’s covenant. These are not high crimes but acts of misconduct that victimize vulnerable people—despicable behavior for persons in positions of trust. Job swore that he had not committed any of these, calling an appropriate curse upon himself if he should be found guilty in any way.
Citizens from every age have become familiar with people in powerful places ruining their reputation by their personal conduct. They may make grandiose promises of justice in political pronouncements, but they are abusive in relationships with those around them. It is sometimes argued that misconduct by modern politicians appears worse to us because we live in an age where the media rigorously scrutinizes individuals. This chapter in Job reminds us that there always has been scrutiny.
There is another matter worth our attention in this chapter—that is, it is founded on the values of the Decalogue much more directly than is generally recognized (Oeming 1994:363-366). In this chapter Job was examining the thoughts and attitudes that generate crime and sins against others; as such, Job was expanding upon and heightening the values found in the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments (the Decalogue) is the best-known summary of ethics in the Hebrew Bible (Exod 20:1-17; Deut 5:6-21). It is a summary of the covenant code, the values that must govern human relationships with God and with other people.
It is unfortunate that the Decalogue is often conceived of as only being laws, for in reality it is a summary statement of the covenant relationship. In the Hebrew, it is said to be “the words” (hadebarim [TH1697, ZH1821]) that God granted to his people (Exod 20:1). Treating them as laws, we make the first to say “you shall have no other gods,” when the words begin with the positive “I am the LORD your God.” Expressed this way, it is clear that the primary requirement of the covenant is knowledge of the Creator and submission to him. A correct understanding of the lordship of the Creator demands a reverence to him and a respect for all of his creation. The emphasis on attitude may be seen most clearly in the final word, which says “you shall not covet.” This directly addresses the thinking that precipitates violations against others, such as taking their life, their wife, their property, or speaking false words against them. It addresses our attitude towards God who demands uncompromising allegiance in how we represent him (word two), in the integrity of our speech (word three), in how we perform the work of God within his creation (word four), and in our attitude towards those who give us life and prepare us for life (word five).
It is not surprising that the legalistic Saul of Tarsus began to realize the problem of his sin beginning with covetousness (Rom 7:7-12), for through it he recognized his violation of all the other relationships. As a legalist Saul had been righteous, for he could keep the rules. When he understood that the covenant requirement was more than a list of rules, he recognized his sin. Job was fully alive to the starting point of right conduct—the attitude of his mind in relation to God and others. Job was concerned about his attitudes and words in human relations, but these cannot be separated from his attitude toward creation and the Creator. The sequence of the first four words is discernible in a major section of his code of honor (31:24-32). A violation in any area is an indication of a more fundamental problem of integrity in our relationship with God and others.
In this chapter, Job began with the last of the ten words (31:1), which said you should not covet the wife of your neighbor (Exod 20:17; Deut 5:21). Job heightened and expanded this warning against lust; he would not even cast his eyes longingly on an unmarried woman. Intercourse with an unmarried woman was not considered to be adultery, since men, particularly in positions of power, could have more than one wife. Such an act required the man to take the woman as a wife (Exod 22:16-17) or give her the dowry if her father refused her in marriage. Job held to the ideal. Sexual relations must be in the context of marriage commitment, and anything less is a violation of a woman. Job reflected on the design that God has for human relations, recognizing that there is punishment for those who do wrong and that God is aware of every action. A man of honor begins with the control of his mind.
A man of honor should also consider his children before committing adultery. Quite naturally, children want to grow up with both of their parents. Lust for the wife of another (31:9-11) destroys the very foundations of human development. Lust burns like the fires of hell with destructive power, causing one to lose everything, which is expressed as having a crop uprooted. In this context, “crop” is a reference to the family that is uprooted and destroyed by a broken marriage.
In ancient times, servants were also a part of the extended family. There was a tendency for people to take advantage of them and not protect their rights. Job would not do this (31:13-15). He knew God would treat servants fairly, for they were created equal and deserve the same consideration as anyone else. Every human life has an equal dignity before God.
The concept of the Sabbath is present only to the extent that the sign of redemption has implications for the poor. The Sabbath was a sign of the covenant (Exod 31:12-14) of those who were holy—that is, those set apart into a redemptive relationship with God. It was a sign of those whom God had redeemed from bondage (Deut 5:14-15) and had been given the freedom of a new life. The specifics of its observance are never given, for they vary with the times, but the principle is that it must signify redemption from the slavery of life. This redemption pertains to all, regardless of status; it is for the servants as well. Meeting the needs of servants, orphans, and widows is one way of observing the sign of the Sabbath, since its purpose is to signify “rest” for those who are burdened. Sabbath rest was a cycle of days, a cycle of years, and a cycle of a series of years (the Jubilee) in which provision was made for the poor (Lev 25:1-55; Deut 15:1-18). The Jubilee addressed the problem of the landless—the homeless who have inadequate shelter and clothing. Job made special mention of these (31:19-20), for this is a critical part of living the life of the covenant before God. It is easy to become irritated with “street people” because they tend to violate the properties of others. If Job had ever “raised his hand against them” (even in his thinking), he asked that his arm be wrenched from its socket. Job took seriously the spirit of the Sabbath requirements, rather than limiting himself to satisfying the letter of the law or the expectations of the community about what activities he should do at certain times.
The observance of the Sabbath has its basis in a total commitment to the rule of the Creator, a subject Job addressed at length (31:24-32). The first “word” (commandment) requires that our confidence be in God alone, so that nothing else may compete for that position of trust. Job declared that he had never made wealth his security (31:24-25). There was also a tendency to become enamored with the created universe to the point of worshipping it. In modern times this has extended to the point of deifying it in whole (pantheism) or in part (panentheism). Environmentalism is a necessary aspect of stewardship, but to worship the tree is to distort the proper relation of the various aspects of creation. Some people do not have the ability to distinguish between proper use of the tree and its worship, between animal rights and the subversion of human rights. Job declared that he knew how to let God be God (31:26-28), that he understood what it means to be a representative (image) of God within the created order.
Job’s next meditation led him to the whole notion of oath-taking (addressed in the third commandment). One of the limitations of humans is their ability to know the truth about what others say or do. They deal with this by taking oaths by some higher authority. The use of the name of God was the highest authority by which an oath could be taken, but it could be used in a double respect. One can call a curse upon oneself if the truth is not spoken, or one can call a curse upon others because we believe them to be devious. Job had not called any such curse upon his enemies (31:29-30); he was scrupulous about showing love for his enemy in the sense that their ultimate well-being was his concern. He had been careful to show hospitality to all (31:31-32), a requirement of the highest order wherever there are no hotels. Hospitality had its dangers, particularly with strangers (some of them were violent criminals), but to leave someone without shelter exposed them to the violence of criminals in the area and was itself a kind of crime.
Job concluded with two affirmations of his integrity before God. His life had been an open book. He had not been afraid to live his faith before others (31:33-34), with the attendant danger that he would be ridiculed or even denigrated and ostracized. He had lived by the dictum that the Lord is the king of all kings and he must fear no other. Divine approval had been his highest goal (31:35-37); the deeds of his life were his signature. What Job desired was the verdict of the one who had tested him. He could wear that verdict confidently as testimony to his life. He would gladly account for every step he had taken. Job had the ground as a witness to this testimony of his life (31:38-40). Figuratively, the ground is a witness to everything that happens upon it; the murder of Abel was known because the ground cried out in protest (Gen 4:10). Job was unafraid of anything the ground might have to say, for his every step upon it had been taken with integrity.
These words of Job have been compared with those of a posthumous tribunal (Griffiths 1983:200-204). The parallels to Egyptian texts are remarkable, but there is no comparison to the context in which these statements are made. The Egyptians were concerned about the balance of deeds done in a tribunal before the gods after death. Job was giving testimony to a life lived before God, a life that is a witness to his covenant commitment. It was God’s judgment that was important to Job. That judgment showed that he had lived by faith in the One who says, “I am the LORD your God.”