Job 31:24
in Job 31If I have put my trust in gold or called pure gold my security,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If I have made gold my hope, And have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;
KJV
If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;
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This verse in Job 31
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
If I have made gold my hope - That is, if I have put my trust in gold rather than in God; if I have fixed my affections with idolatrous attachment on riches rather than on my Maker. Job here introduces another class of sins, and says that his conscience did not charge him with guilt in respect to them. He had before spoken mainly of social duties, and of his manner of life toward the poor, the needy, the widow, and the orphan.
This site's exposition
If I have put my trust in gold
on Job 31:24-25
“If I have put my trust in gold or called pure gold my security” denies trust moved from God onto wealth. The next line denies pride of increase as well. Gill reads the pair as covering both inward reliance on riches and outward delight in having them.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Now what kind of fault can be detected there? You see that he is not keen on riches. Observe him, while he reflects and considers in truth the accidental, transitory, ephemeral and negligible character of human realities.
The Medieval Church1 voice
After Job excused himself from injustice (v.5) and lack of mercy (v.16), he now excuses himself from the inordinate affection for riches. This can come about in two ways. In one way, when man trusts too much in riches, and he excludes this saying, "If …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
If I have made gold my hope,....
Some make it their hope and confidence for another world, as if it were a certain token of God's favour; and those who have so much sense as not to think so yet promise themselves that it will be a portion for them in this life, whereas the things themselves are uncertain and our satisfaction in them is much more so.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Gold my hope - For the meaning of זהב zahab, polished gold, and כתם kethem, stamped gold, see on Job 28:15-17 (note).
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 |
| שַׂ֣מְתִּי | samti | I have made | H7760 → | 584 times |
| זָהָ֣ב | zahav | gold | H2091 → | 389 times |
| כִּסְלִ֑י | kisli | confidence my | H3689 → | 13 times |
| וְ֝לַכֶּ֗תֶם | velaketem | and to <the> pure gold | H3800 → | 9 times |
| אָמַ֥רְתִּי | ʾamarti | I have said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מִבְטַחִֽי׃ | mivtachi | security my | H4009 → | 15 times |
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
שַׂ֣מְתִּיI have made
samtiH7760 →584 times
זָהָ֣בgold
zahavH2091 →389 times
כִּסְלִ֑יconfidence my
kisliH3689 →13 times
וְ֝לַכֶּ֗תֶםand to <the> pure gold
velaketemH3800 →9 times
אָמַ֥רְתִּיI have said
ʾamartiH559 →5305 times
מִבְטַחִֽי׃security my
mivtachiH4009 →15 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
Psalms 62:10Place no trust in extortion, or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 6:17
Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 52:7
“Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”
- Jeremiah 17:11
Like a partridge hatching eggs it did not lay is the man who makes a fortune unjustly. In the middle of his days his riches will desert him, and in the end he will…
- Job 31:24–25
If I have put my trust in gold or called pure gold my security,
- Deuteronomy 6:10–12
And when the LORD your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He would give you—a land with great and splendid cities that you…
- 1 Timothy 6:17
Through
Psalms 52:7“Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:5
This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes the flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
- Jeremiah 17:5
Through
Proverbs 11:28He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like foliage.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:8
He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not…
- Psalms 52:7–8
“Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”
- Jeremiah 17:8
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); John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 31:17-25; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.