Job · chapter 31 of 42
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Job 31 is Job's great oath of innocence. He reviews his life point by point: his eyes and heart, honesty, marital faithfulness, fair treatment of servants, the poor, widows and orphans, rejection of greed and idolatry, and hospitality. Each point carries a condition: if I have done this, let punishment fall on me. He ends by asking God to answer: the words of Job are ended.
This chapter closes Job's last great speech and all the dialogues with his friends. After recalling his past (chapter 29) and describing his present (chapter 30), Job does something bold in chapter 31: he signs his defense. Job 31 is one of the most complete ethical portraits in the Old Testament and a gem for talking about practical integrity.
Job begins with a covenant with his eyes: not to look with desire at a young woman (v. 1), for he knows God repays evil to the unrighteous. Then he reviews his conduct: if he has walked with falsehood, let God weigh him in a just balance and know his integrity; if his step turned aside or his heart followed his eyes, let another eat what he has sown (vv. 5-8). If his heart was enticed by his neighbor's wife, let his own wife grind for another, for adultery is a crime and a fire that consumes down to Abaddon (vv. 9-12).
Job affirms that he never despised the cause of his male and female servants when they brought a complaint against him, for what will I do when God rises up? The one who made him in the womb made them too (vv. 13-15). If he withheld what the poor wanted, let the widow's eyes fail, ate his morsel alone without sharing it with the orphan, or saw anyone perish for lack of clothing without covering him, let his arm fall from his shoulder (vv. 16-23).
Nor did he put his trust in gold or rejoice in his wealth, nor secretly worship the sun or moon, nor rejoice at his enemy's ruin or curse his life. His house welcomed the stranger, and he did not hide his sins for fear of the crowd. He longs for someone to hear him: here is my signature; let the Almighty answer and let my accuser write out his charge. He would carry it on his shoulder and wear it like a crown. If his land cries out against him, let thorns grow instead of wheat. And it ends: the words of Job are ended (vv. 24-40).
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Job says he made a covenant with his eyes not to look with desire at a young woman. Integrity begins before actions, in the gaze and the heart, a principle Jesus took up in the Sermon on the Mount.
Job affirms that he never despised the cause of his servants, because the same God who formed him in the womb formed them. It is one of the strongest statements of human equality in the Old Testament.
Job says he did not withhold what the poor wanted, did not eat his bread alone and did not leave the orphan or the one without clothing. Job's wealth served the needy, which refutes Eliphaz's accusations in chapter 22.
Job offers his signature and asks the Almighty to answer him. It is a bold challenge that shows his confidence and his need for God to speak. God will answer in chapter 38, though not in the way Job expected.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Not to look with desire at a young woman. — Job 31:1
Answer: That his wife grind for another man and that others kneel over her. — Job 31:9-10
Answer: Because the same God who made him in the womb made them too, and he asks what he would do when God rises up. — Job 31:13-15
Answer: He did not eat his morsel alone without the orphan eating of it. — Job 31:17
Answer: He did not make gold his trust or say to fine gold, you are my confidence. — Job 31:24
Answer: That the Almighty answer him and that his accuser write out his charge. — Job 31:35
Job 31 is a mirror for examining everyday life: our gaze, our money, how we treat those who depend on us, our hospitality. In a class or small group it can be read in parts, asking how we live each area, not to put ourselves on display but to grow in practical integrity.
At the same time, the Christian knows that no one can present a perfect oath before God. Job holds it up against false accusations, not as a claim of sinlessness. Our final confidence rests not on our list of good works but on Christ, who fulfilled all righteousness and gives us his righteousness by faith.
Job 31 ends with a closing note: the words of Job are ended. There is no more defense. In chapter 32 a new figure appears, Elihu, a young man who had listened in silence and will now speak with anger.
In the ancient world a signature was a mark that certified a document. Job presents his speech as a legal writing and asks the Almighty to answer and his accuser to present his charge. It is a bold act of confidence that God, if he speaks, will not condemn him.
Because for him integrity included the heart and the eyes, not only actions. By making a covenant with his eyes he recognizes that disordered desire begins in what is looked at, a principle Jesus will develop later in Matthew 5:27-28.
In the Old Testament the land could cry out against injustice, like the blood of Abel (Genesis 4:10). Job says that if he had stolen or exploited workers, he would accept that thorns grow instead of wheat.