the heart · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
secretly
בַּסֵּ֣תֶרba.Se.ter
H5643
a cover (in a good or a bad · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
enticed
וַיִּ֣פְתְּvai.Yift
H6601
to open · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
mouth
לְפִֽיle.Fi
H6310
the mouth (as the means of blowing) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
kissed
וַתִּשַּׁ֖קva.ti.Shak
H5401
to kiss · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
hand
יָדִ֣יya.Di
H3027
a hand (the open one (indicating power · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix
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
Deuteronomy 13:6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, ent…
Deuteronomy 11:16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
1 Kings 19:18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
Psalms 2:12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trus…
Isaiah 44:20 He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
Hosea 13:2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it…
Romans 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foo…
Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not con…
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…
enticed--away from God to idolatry.
kissed . . . hand--"adoration," literally means this. In worshipping they used to kiss the hand, and then throw the kiss, as it were, towards the object of worship (Kg1 19:18; Hos 13:2).
John Gill on Job 31:27
And mine heart hath been secretly enticed,.... Drawn away by beholding the magnitude of these bodies, the swiftness of their motion, their glorious appearance, and great usefulness to mankind, to entertain a thought of their being deities; and privately to worship them, in secret acts of devotion, as by an honourable esteem of them as such, reverence and affection for them, trust and confidence in them; for, as there is a secret worshipping of the true God, so there is a secret idolatry, idolatry in the heart, and setting up of idols there, as well as worshipping them in dark places, in chambers of imagery, as the Jews did, Ezekiel 8:12;
or my mouth hath kissed my hand; idols used to be kis…
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
"My mouth has kissed my hand" … is said in analogy with those who have the habit to bring their hands [to their mouth] and to kiss [them] when they meet people who are dear to them.
"Secret disappointments have afflicted my heart. Here is the order of the sentence: "If I have rested the happiness of my soul in my innumerable riches, secret disappointments have also afflicted my heart. If I listened to the thoughts of so guilty a presumption. "If I put my hand to my mouth, to kiss her:" if I put all my complaisance into my own actions.
And my heart rejoiced in secret. By which same recording, what else is conveyed to us, but that there is need of great fear and circumspection, lest our mind at any time rejoice even in secret on the grounds of its commendations. For that man who looks on the greatness of his fame as 'the brightness of the moon,' and creates delight to himself in the secret of the heart, to whom but to the Maker did such a man prefer himself, by Whose gift he obtained it that he should practise aright, and yet in His benefit is made glad upon the favour of his own praise? For the honour of his Creator being disregarded, he is convicted of loving himself more, by the proclaims of whom he is so gladdened. Though sometimes even holy men rejoice in their own good repute; but when they reflect that through this good repute those that hear them advance to better things, they now no longer rejoice in their own reputation, but in the profiting of their neighbours; because it is one thing to seek marks of favour, and another thing to exult on the ground of advancement. Wherein it follows, that when it does not advance the welfare of the hearers, fame for credit should not lift up, but oppress our mind. For when we are commended by the witnessing of the human tongue, we are asked by a secret smiting what we think concerning our own selves. For the uplifted soul, even when false good is told concerning it, exults, because it makes out in thought not how it lives with God, but how it makes itself known with men. For disregarding the judgment of Almighty God concerning itself, and only seeking after that of men, it is lifted up amidst the praises it hears, and the soul which had looked out for this alone is gladdened as if by the prize of its practice. But on the contrary if the heart be really humble, the good things that it hears of itself it either does not at all acknowledge, and is afraid that false things are said, or otherwise if it knows that they are really there to it, dreads lest they should be lost to the eternal recompensing of God, by this alone that it sees them to be published abroad to men; and it fears very greatly lest the hope of the future reward should be changed into the wages of transitory applause. From which circumstance it takes place that the soul of the Elect is tortured by a great fire of their own praises, and by sorrowfulness of thought fined clear of all…
Dictionary and topics
Adoration — The acts and postures by which the Hebrews expressed adoration bear a great similarity to those still in use among Oriental nations. To rise up and suddenly prostrate the body was the most simple…
Hand — Called by Galen “the instrument of instruments.” It is the symbol of human action (Ps. 9:16; Job 9:30; Isa. 1:15; 1 Tim. 2:8). Washing the hands was a symbol of innocence (Ps. 26:6; 73:13; Matt.…
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…
Hands, The · Kissed in idolatrous worship — Kissed in idolatrous worship
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 · Worshiped — Worshiped
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).
secretly enticed in my heart: See 31:9. • throw kisses at them in worship: Cp. 1 Kgs 19:18; Hos 13:2.
Rashi on Job 31:27
And my heart was secretly enticed to the sun and the moon, saying that they are gods, like some heathens, who have gone astray (and worship) all the host of heaven.
