to see · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
sun
א֖וֹר'or
H216
illumination or (concrete) luminary (in every sense · noun, common feminine singular absolute
shined
יָהֵ֑לya.Hel
H1984
to be clear (orig. of sound · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
moon
וְ֝יָרֵ֗חַve.ya.Re.ach
H3394
the moon · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
walking
הֹלֵֽךְho.Lekh
H1980
to walk (in a great variety of applications · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
brightness
יָקָ֥רya.Kar
H3368
valuable (objectively or subjectively) · 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
Ezekiel 8:16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the al…
Deuteronomy 4:19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shoulde…
Deuteronomy 17:3 And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;
2 Kings 23:5 And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and…
2 Kings 23:11 And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nat…
Jeremiah 8:2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and af…
Jeremiah 44:17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink…
Genesis 1:16-18 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
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…
If I looked unto the sun (as an object of worship) because he shined; or to the moon because she walked, &c. Sabaism (from tsaba, "the heavenly hosts") was the earliest form of false worship. God is hence called in contradistinction, "Lord of Sabaoth." The sun, moon, and stars, the brightest objects in nature, and seen everywhere, were supposed to be visible representatives of the invisible God. They had no temples, but were worshipped on high places and roofs of houses (Eze 8:16; Deu 4:19; Kg2 23:5, Kg2 23:11). The Hebrew here for "sun" is light. Probably light was worshipped as the emanation from God, before its embodiments, the sun, &c. This worship prevailed in Chaldea; wherefore Job's e…
If I beheld the sun when it shined,.... Some take this to be a reason why Job did not make gold his hope and confidence, because all sublunary and earthly enjoyments must be uncertain, fading, and perish, since the sun and moon are not without their deficiencies and changes, to which sense the Septuagint version inclines; others, as Nachmanides, that they are a denial that Job ascribed his wealth and substance to the influence of the heavenly bodies; and many interpreters are of opinion that they are a continuation of the same subject as before; Job hereby declaring that neither his eye nor his heart were set upon his outward prosperity, comparable to the light of the sun, and the brightness…
The Church Fathers
"If I had looked at the sun when it shone or the moon moving in splendor," that is, if I had seen the rising sun and worshiped it or had embraced the moon and kneeled down before it, I would have certainly erred in worshiping them.
If I saw the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness, and my heart hath secretly rejoiced, and I have kissed my hand with my mouth; which is an exceeding iniquity, and denial against the Most High God. There is no doubt that both these two luminaries, which are commissioned to ministrations for man, are called 'the hosts of heaven.' Into the worshipping whereof we know that numbers have fallen, as Scripture is witness; as where it is written, And worshipped all the host of heaven. And because the sun and moon are seen in one way for use, and in a different way for worshipping, in that way in which they are wont to be worshipped by their votaries blessed Job tells that he had never 'seen the sun and moon, neither had his heart rejoiced; nor had he kissed his hand with his mouth.' By which act of kissing what else but the gratefulness of adoration is set forth? which thing if he had ever done, he calls it 'the highest iniquity and denial of God.' But after that he had related of himself in passages above such great heights of virtuous qualities, what does he now tell so strange, if he shews that he had not 'adored the sun and moon?' Whence it deserves to be considered, that after he testifies that he had not had confidence in gold, nor had rejoiced in much riches, he is further led on to things of a higher pitch, that he might instruct so much the more, the more exactly he tells things touching himself. Thus he says, If I saw the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness; and my heart hath secretly rejoiced. What is called to 'see' in this passage, but to behold with desire? Whence the Psalmist saith, If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. Which iniquity, surely, could never be set forth in the mouth, if it were not 'regarded in the heart.' But it is one thing to see in the way of judgment, and another thing to see in the way of desire. Thus then blessed Job tells that 'the sun when it shined, and the moon walking in its brightness, he had never seen,' that he might shew that he had not sought after the appearance of the present light. As though after contempt of his earthly abundance, he plainly told us; 'why should I say, that I never at all rejoiced in gold, who in the very corporeal light itself never took delight? For holy men after that they set at nought all the enjoyments of the present life, in…
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…
Moon — Heb. yareah, from its paleness (Ezra 6:15), and lebanah, the “white” (Cant. 6:10; Isa. 24:23), was appointed by the Creator to be with the sun “for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years”…
Sun — (Heb. shemesh), first mentioned along with the moon as the two great luminaries of heaven (Gen. 1:14-18). By their motions and influence they were intended to mark and divide times and seasons. The…
Idolatry · Objects of, worshipped: By kissing the hand to them — Objects of, worshipped: By kissing the hand to them
Integrity · 16:19,20; — 16:19,20;
Moon · Its light — Its light
Moon, The · Described as: Bright — Described as: Bright
Sun · Worshiped — Worshiped
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).
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…
Like adultery (cp. 31:1, 9-12), worshiping the sun and moon was a capital crime. Both were sins of the eye that enticed the heart, and both types of sin were tried before judges.
31:26 Have I looked at the sun . . . or the moon: This oath denies violation (cp. Jer 8:2; 44:17; Ezek 8:16; Acts 7:43) of the first commandment (Deut 5:7; see Deut 4:19; 17:2-7).
Rashi on Job 31:26
If I saw light shining The sun in the orbit of its might, and its brightness.
and the moon becoming brighter Heb. יקר. Progressively brighter, like (Zech. 14:6), “bright (יקרות) light”; (Ps. 37:20), “like the glory (כיקר) off the meadows.”
[ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION] Since 'the sun in brightness,' is good practice in outward manifesting. For it is written, Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father Which is in heaven. And again, Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning. For what in this passage is denoted by the 'sun shining,' is in the Gospel denoted by 'lamps burning.' For when good practice shines in the midst of faithless persons, 'a lamp burns' in the night, but when it shines out in the Church, 'the sun shines' in the day. For good practice if it be as yet such as bad men only wonder at, is doubtless a 'lamp' in the night; but if it so makes way that it may be admired by the good and more perfect kind, then it is the sun in the day time. When good practice shines by the active life of the body, it is as if after the manner of a candle light shineth out of an earthenware vessel. But when by the excellence of the mind alone it is raised up in contemplation, it is as if after the manner of the sun light is seen coming from heaven. Therefore because blessed Job had told of himself many good things appertaining to hospitality and mercifulness, which same surely he knew as still the least, in proportion as done in the bodily way of doing; recalling the eye of the mind to the topmost height of spiritual virtues, he remembered his own perfectness, and the light of examples which he gave to others in himself, he called 'the sun.' But there are some persons who when they do any good things, directly forget their wickednesses, and they fix the eye of the mind in the contemplation of the good practices which they exhibit; and henceforth account themselves holy, in the degree that amidst the good things that they do they shun the recollection of their evil deeds, in which perchance they are still entangled. Which same persons if with lively attention they marked the strictness of the Judge, would fear more for their evil things than exult for their imperfect good ones, would more look to it that for things that are still to be done they are held debtors, than that by practising some things they are already paying a portion of the debt. For neither is the debtor quit who pays back much, but who pays back all; nor does he attain to the prize of victory, who in a large proportion of the exhibition runs with speed, if on nearing the…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
