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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 31:33-40

We have here Job's protestation against three more sins, together with his general appeal to God's bar and his petition for a hearing there, which, it is likely, was intended to conclude his discourse (and therefore we will consider it last), but that another particular sin occurred, from which he thought it requisite to acquit himself. He clears himself from the charge, I. Of dissimulation and hypocrisy. The general crime of which his friends accused him was that, under the cloak of a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 31:38

If my land cry against me ,.... Some think that this verse and Job 31:39 stand out of their place, and should rather follow after Job 31:34 ; and some place them after Job 31:25 ; and others after Job 31:8 ; but this is the order of them in all copies and versions, as they stand in our Bibles; and here, after Job had expressed his desire to have a hearer and judge of his cause, and his charge exhibited in writing, and his confidence of the issue of it, should it be granted, returns... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 31:38

If my land cry - The most careless reader may see that the introduction of this and the two following verses here, disturbs the connection, and that they are most evidently out of their place. Job seems here to refer to that law, Leviticus 25:1-7 , by which the Israelites were obliged to give the land rest every seventh year, that the soil might not be too much exhausted by perpetual cultivation, especially in a country which afforded so few advantages to improve the arable ground by... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:1-40

Job's second parable: 4. A solemn protestation of innocence. I. WITH RESPECT TO THE LAW OF CHASTITY . (Verses 1-4.) 1 . The wickedness he eschewed. Not alone the crime of seduction, or the actual defilement of virginal innocence, but even the indulgence of so much as a lascivious desire in connection with an unmarried female, was an ungodliness which Job regarded with abhorrence and indignation. Job's morality on this point, as also upon some others, is a remarkable... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:1-40

Solemn assurances of innocence. Job can discover no connection between his present sufferings and those well-founded hopes of his former life to which he has been referring; but there remains the assumption of his guilt as an explanation. In his intense longing for redemption he is led, in conclusion, to affirm in the most solemn and sacred manner his innocence, invoking the sorest punishments upon himself if his words are untrue. Thus, in effect, he makes a final appeal to God as his Judge.... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:1-40

The consciousness of integrity. The Divine solution of the riddle of human life is being wrought out in this poem, although at times it seems as though the entanglement became more and more confused. The case, as put in these three chapters, is the condensation of all as far as it has gone. It still awaits the solution. Job was in riches, dignity, and honour; he is now cast down to ignominy and suffering. Yet he is righteous—this, at least, is his own conviction; and in this chapter he makes... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:38

If my land cry against me ; i.e. if my land disclaim my ownership, as having been acquired by wrong or robbery. If the furrows likewise thereof complain; or, weep, as having been torn from their rightful proprietors, and seized by a stranger. The apodosis is in Job 31:40 . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 31:38-40

It is generally supposed that these verses, with the exception of the last clause of Job 31:40 , are misplaced. As a termination, they form an anti-climax, and greatly weaken the peroration. Their proper place would seem to be between Job 31:32 and Job 31:33 . read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 31:38

If my land cry against me - This is a new specification of an offence, and an imprecation of an appropriate punishment if he had been guilty of it. Many have supposed that these closing verses have been transferred from their appropriate place by an error of transcribers, and that they should have been inserted between Job 31:23-24 - or in some previous part of the chapter. It is certain that Job 31:35-37 would make an appropriate and impressive close of the chapter, being a solemn appeal to... read more

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