Job 31:20
in Job 31if his heart has not blessed me for warming him with the fleece of my sheep,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If his loins have not blessed me, And if he hath not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
KJV
If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
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This verse in Job 31
Commentary
9 notes on this verseIf his loins have not blessed me - This is a very delicate touch: the part that was cold and shivering is now covered with warm woollen. It feels the comfort; and by a fine prosopopoeia, is represented as blessing him who furnished the clothing.
This site's exposition
seen one perish for lack of clothing
on Job 31:19-20
If I have “seen one perish for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a cloak” names exposure to cold. If “his heart has not blessed me for warming him with the fleece of my sheep” pictures the man's gratitude. Delitzsch reads the blessing as the man's own thanks.
This site's exposition
the fleece of my sheep
Where the Berean has his heart, older versions read his loins. Clarke calls it a delicate touch. The needy man without a cloak in Job 31:19 finds warmth in the fleece, and his body blesses the one who clothed him.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Not only did I not despise those who were poorly clothed, but I even provided them with some clothes, and so he then says, "If his loins have not blessed me," because I covered them when they were naked and this was the occasion when …
If I despised any passing by, because he had no covering, and a poor man without clothing, if his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep. Because he did not despise the poor, he displayed the virtue of humility; and because he covered him, of pitifulness. For these two virtues ought to be so linked together, as to be even supported by reciprocal practice; that so neither humility, when it reverences a fellow-creature, should abandon the grace of free giving, nor pity, when it gives, be made to swell high.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
If his loins have not blessed me,....
That he had never been accessory to the wronging of any that were poor. It might be said, perhaps, that he was kind here and there to a poor orphan that was a favourite, but to others he was oppressive.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
loins--The parts of the body benefited by Job are poetically described as thanking him; the loins before naked, when clad by me, wished me every blessing.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
If his loins have not blessed me - This is a personification by which the part of the body that had been clothed by the benevolence of Job, is supposed to speak and render him thanks.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| בֵרֲכ֣וּנִי | verakhuni | they blessed me | H1288 → | 330 times |
| חֲלָצָ֑יו | chalatzov | loins his | H2504 → | 10 times |
| וּמִגֵּ֥ז | umigez | and from [the] fleece of | H1488 → | |
| כְּ֝בָשַׂי | kevasai | lambs my | H3532 → | |
| יִתְחַמָּֽם׃ | yitchamam | he warmed himself | H2552 → | 21 times |
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
בֵרֲכ֣וּנִיthey blessed me
verakhuniH1288 →330 times
חֲלָצָ֑יוloins his
chalatzovH2504 →10 times
וּמִגֵּ֥זand from [the] fleece of
umigezH1488 →
כְּ֝בָשַׂיlambs my
kevasaiH3532 →
יִתְחַמָּֽם׃he warmed himself
yitchamamH2552 →21 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Job 29:11For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me,
it leads to
- Luke 4:22
All spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that came from His lips. “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” they asked.
- Proverbs 29:2
When the righteous flourish, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.
- Luke 11:27
As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and blessed are the breasts that nursed You!”
- Luke 4:22
Through
Deuteronomy 24:13be sure to return it to him by sunset, so that he may sleep in his own cloak and bless you, and this will be credited to you as righteousness before the LORD your…
it leads to
- Daniel 4:27
Therefore, may my advice be pleasing to you, O king. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed. Perhaps there will be…
- Deuteronomy 6:25
And if we are careful to observe every one of these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us, then that will be our righteousness.”
- Exodus 22:26–27
If you take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset,
- Deuteronomy 24:15
You are to pay his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and depends on them. Otherwise he may cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of…
- James 1:27
Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
- Daniel 4:27
Where this verse is studied
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXI; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.