perversity · noun, common masculine singular absolute
judges
פְּלִילִֽיםpe.li.Lim
H6414
a magistrate · noun, common masculine plural absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Leviticus 20:10 And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and…
Deuteronomy 22:22-24 If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the…
Job 31:28 This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.
Genesis 38:24 And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, be…
Genesis 20:9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me a…
Proverbs 6:29-33 So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.
Ezekiel 16:38 And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 31:9-15
Two more instances we have here of Job's integrity: -
I. That he had a very great abhorrence of the sin of adultery. As he did not wrong his own marriage bed by keeping a concubine (he did not so much as think upon a maid, v. 1), so he was careful not to offer any injury to his neighbour's marriage bed. Let us see here, 1. How clear he was from this sin, Job 31:9. (1.) He did not so much as covet his neighbour's wife; for even his heart was not deceived by a woman. The beauty of another man's wife did not kindle in him any unchaste desires, nor was he ever moved by the allurements of an adulterous woman, such as is described, Pro 7:6, etc. See the original of all the defilements of the life…
In the earliest times punished with death (Gen 38:24). So in later times (Deu 22:22). Heretofore he had spoken only of sins against conscience; now, one against the community, needing the cognizance of the judge.
John Gill on Job 31:11
For this is an heinous crime,.... Adultery; it is contrary to the light of nature, and is condemned by it as a great sin, Genesis 20:9; as well as contrary to the express will and law of God, Exodus 20:14; and, though all sin is a transgression of the law of God, and deserving of death; yet there are some sins greater and more heinous than others, being attended with aggravating circumstances; and such is this sin, it is a breach of the marriage contract and covenant between man and wife; it is doing injury to a man's property, and to that which is the nearest and dearest to him, and is what introduces confusion into families, kingdoms, and states; and therefore it follows:
yea, it is an in…
9 If my heart has been befooled about a woman,
And if I lay in wait at my neighbour's door:
10 Let my wife grind unto another,
And let others bow down over her.
11 For this is an infamous act,
And this is a crime to be brought before judges;
12 Yea, it is a fire that consumeth to the abyss,
And should root out all my increase.
As he has guarded himself against defiling virgin innocence by lascivious glances, so is he also conscious of having made no attempt to trespass upon the marriage relationship of his neighbour (רע as in the Decalogue, Exo 20:17): his heart was not persuaded, or he did not allow his heart to be persuaded (נפתּה like πείθεσθαι), i.e., misled, on account of a woman (אשּׁ…
The Church Fathers
"There is in my heart an indomitable passion, which impels me to corrupt the wife of another," and to keep it close to me.
For this is an heinous crime; and the chiefest iniquity. For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and that rooteth out all increase. There is this difference between 'sin' and 'crime,' that all crime is sin, but not all sin is crime. And in this life there are numbers without crime, but no one can be without sins. And hence the holy preacher, when he was describing a man worthy of the grace of the priesthood, never said, 'if any be without sin,' but if any be without crime. But who can be without sin, when John saith, If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. In which same distinction of sins and crimes it deserves to be considered, that occasional sins pollute the soul, while crimes slay it; whence blessed Job in characterizing the crime of lust says, It is afire that consumeth to destruction, in this way, that the heinousness of this atrocity not only stains to the length of defilement, but devours to the extent of destruction. And because howsoever many other good deeds there may be, if the enormity of lust is not washed out, they are overwhelmed by the immensity of this crime, he added going on, and rooting out all offsprings, for 'the offsprings' of the soul are good practices. Which soul, nevertheless, if the right order being reversed, the flesh exercises dominion over, all the things that are put forth well are consumed by the fire of lust. For before the eyes of Almighty God the works of righteousness and of pitifulness are none at all, which are shewn to view unclean by the infection of corruptness. For what does it profit, if a man heartily compassionates the need of his neighbour, whilst he heartlessly destroys himself, being the habitation of God? So then if by purity of the heart the flame of lust be not quenched, any virtues whatever spring up in vain, as it is spoken by Moses; For a fire is kindled in Mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth, with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. For 'a fire consumes the earth and her increase,' when lust consumes the flesh, and all things done well thereby. For whatsoever comes forth belonging to the fruitage of righteousness, this, surely, the flame of corruption burns up. So, then, let him say, For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and that rooteth up all increase. Because if there be…
Dictionary and topics
Integrity · 16:19,20; — 16:19,20;
Lust · Evil — Evil
Punishments · Power of inflicting, given to magistrates — Power of inflicting, given to magistrates
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The Hebrew term zimmah (shameful sin) is associated with sexual crimes such as incest (“wicked act,” Lev 18:17), gang-rape (“terrible . . . crime,” Judg 20:6), and prostitution (Ezek 23:49).
Rashi on Job 31:11
For that is lewdness and I feared that if I committed it, that it is iniquity deserving punishment iniquity for which judgment of suffering is fit to come.
