probably to brighten up · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
wealth
חֵילִ֑יchei.Li
H2428
probably a force · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
great
רַ֣בrav
H7227
abundant (in quantity · adjective, masculine singular absolute
hand
יָדִֽיya.Di
H3027
a hand (the open one (indicating power · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix
gotten
מָצְאָ֥הma.tze.'Ah
H4672
properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
much
כַ֝בִּ֗ירkha.Bir
H3524
vast · adjective, masculine singular 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
Psalms 62:10 Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.
Deuteronomy 8:17-18 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
Esther 5:11 And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and…
Proverbs 23:5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
Isaiah 10:13-14 For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, an…
Jeremiah 9:23 Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in…
Ezekiel 28:5 By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:
Daniel 4:30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the ho…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 31:24-32
Four articles more of Job's protestation we have in these verses, which, as all the rest, not only assure us what he was and did, but teach us what we should be and do: -
I. He protests that he never set his heart upon the wealth of this world, nor took the things of it for his portions and happiness. He had gold; he had fine gold. His wealth was great, and he had gotten much. Our wealth is either advantageous or pernicious to us according as we stand affected to it. If we make it our rest and our ruler, it will be our ruin; if we make it our servant, and an instrument of righteousness, it will be a blessing to us. Job here tells us how he stood affected to his worldly wealth. 1. He put no…
Job asserts his freedom from trust in money (Ti1 6:17). Here he turns to his duty towards God, as before he had spoken of his duty towards himself and his neighbor. Covetousness is covert idolatry, as it transfers the heart from the Creator to the creature (Col 3:5). In Job 31:26-27 he passes to overt idolatry.
John Gill on Job 31:25
If I rejoiced because my wealth was great,.... As it was, see Job 1:2; yet he did not set his heart upon it, please himself with it, indulge to a carnal joy on account of it, nor suffer it to engross his affections, or alienate them from God his chief joy; not but that a man may lawfully rejoice in the goodness of God unto him, in increasing his wealth, and praise him for it, who has placed him in such easy circumstances, and so comfortably provided for him and his family, and put him into a capacity to do good to others; and he may rejoice in what God has given him, and cheerfully partake of it, 1 Chronicles 29:13;
and because my hand had gotten much; though he had much wealth, he did not…
24 If I made gold my confidence,
And said to the fine gold: O my trust;
25 If I rejoiced that my wealth was great,
And that my hand had gained much; -
26 If I saw the sunlight when it shone,
And the moon walking in splendour,
27 And my heart was secretly enticed,
And I threw them a kiss by my hand:
28 This also would be a punishable crime,
For I should have played the hypocrite to God above.
Not only from covetous extortion of another's goods was he conscious of being clear, but also from an excessive delight in earthly possessions. He has not made gold his כּסל, confidence (vid., on כּסלתך, Job 4:6); he has not said to כּתם, fine gold (pure, Job 28:19, of Ophir, Job 28:16), מבטחי (with Dag…
The Church Fathers
"If I was at the height of joy, seeing my income increase; As if everything came from me, for he who glorifies himself must boast in the Lord. "If I have rested the happiness of my soul in my innumerable riches; Because I was loved by all. After these four phrases, it must be understood that "my shoulder falls away from my body. "
If I rejoiced over my great wealth, and because mine hand found much. For holy men in the wofulness of this pilgrimage, because that Appearance of their Creator, which they long after, they are not yet suffered to contemplate at all, account all the fulness of the present life as destitution, because nothing out of God suffices the mind which really seeks after God; and it is very often the case that to such persons their very abundance itself becomes exceedingly burthensome, because this thing alone they bear as a grievance, that in hastening to their country they carry many things on the journey. Whence it comes to pass that these things they devotedly share with their neighbours who are in want, in order that while this one gets what he has not, the other may lay aside what he had too much of, that neither the fellow-traveller may walk empty, nor that man whom it might delay on the way an overgreat burthen weigh down. And thus the Elect never rejoice for their great abundance, which same for love of their heavenly inheritance they either in bestowing distribute out of their hands, or by contemning forsake. [ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION] What do we fancy the 'great riches' so called in signification, but the abundant subtleties of counsels, which same 'the hand' of him that seeks 'finds,' in that the thought of him who deals thereunto produces them. For it was these 'riches' of wisdom that Solomon having before his eyes, saith, The crown of the wise is their riches. Which same person, because it is not metals of the earth but understanding that he calls by the name of 'riches,' thereupon adds by way of a contrary; But the foolishness of fools is imprudence. For if he called earthly riches 'the crown of the wise,' surely he would own the senselessness of fools to be poverty rather than imprudence. But whereas he added 'the foolishness of fools imprudence, he made it plain that he called prudence 'the riches of the wise.' These 'riches' of wisdom Paul viewing in himself and lowering his view by the thought of human infirmity, says, But we have this treasure in earthen vessels. Accordingly we find much riches in ourselves, when in searching into the sacred oracles, we receive the gifts of abundant understanding, and therein see a number of things, yet not at variance with one another. But it is not safe rejoicing to learn in the pages of God things either…
Dictionary and topics
Idolatry — Image-worship or divine honour paid to any created object. Paul describes the origin of idolatry in Rom. 1:21-25: men forsook God, and sank into ignorance and moral corruption (1:28). The forms of…
Covetousness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Integrity · 16:19,20; — 16:19,20;
Rich, The · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Riches · Guilt of rejoicing in — Guilt of rejoicing in
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).
