Job 31:27
in Job 31so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And my heart hath been secretly enticed, And my mouth hath kissed my hand:
KJV
And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:
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This verse in Job 31
Commentary
10 notes on this verseIf 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.
This site's exposition
I have beheld the sun in its radiance
on Job 31:26-28
Job's oath about “the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor” names the oldest idolatry, which Deuteronomy 4:19 and 17:3 condemn. The gesture in which “my hand threw a kiss from my mouth” is private homage, which Delitzsch reads as the ritual the Hebrew names.
This site's exposition
threw a kiss from my mouth
Barnes notes that the Hebrew has the hand kissing the mouth, a gesture of worship toward the sun and moon of Job 31:26. Ishodad of Merv compares the kiss people give their hands for those dear to them. The heart secretly enticed is drawn to idolatry.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
Then he excuses himself from the sin of superstition, which is against God. In ancient times idol-worshipers worshipped the stars of heaven, especially the great lights because of their great brightness. He shows he does not saying, "If I looked at the sun when it …
"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.
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XXII · Written before 604.
proposed
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.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And mine heart hath been secretly enticed,....
But as yet it was practised secretly, and durst not appear in open view, as afterwards the most abominable idolatries did. How far Job kept from this sin. He not only never bowed the knee to Baal (which, some think, was designed to represent the sun), never fell down and worshipped the sun, but he kept his eye, his heart, and his lips, clean from this sin.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And my heart hath been secretly enticed - That is, away from God, or led into sin. Or my mouth hath kissed my hand - Margin, my hand hath kissed my mouth. The margin accords with the Hebrew. It was customary in ancient worship to kiss the idol that was worshipped; compare 1Ki 19:18, “I have left me seven thousand in Israel - and every mouth which hath not kissed him.” See, also, Hos 13:
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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 (1Ki 19:18;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּ֣פְתְּ | vaiyift | and it was gullible | H6601 → | 28 times |
| בַּסֵּ֣תֶר | baseter | in <the> secrecy | H5643 → | 36 times |
| לִבִּ֑י | libi | heart my | H3820 → | 595 times |
| וַתִּשַּׁ֖ק | vatishak | and it kissed | H5401 → | |
| יָדִ֣י | yadi | hand my | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| לְפִֽי׃ | lefi | <to> mouth my | H6310 → | 498 times |
וַיִּ֣פְתְּand it was gullible
vaiyiftH6601 →28 times
בַּסֵּ֣תֶרin <the> secrecy
baseterH5643 →36 times
לִבִּ֑יheart my
libiH3820 →595 times
וַתִּשַּׁ֖קand it kissed
vatishakH5401 →
יָדִ֣יhand my
yadiH3027 →1618 times
לְפִֽי׃<to> mouth my
lefiH6310 →498 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
Romans 1:28Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
it leads to
- 2 Thessalonians 2:10–12
and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.
- Romans 1:21
For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.
- Titus 1:16
They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
- Jeremiah 9:6
You dwell in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the LORD.
- Romans 1:24
Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:10–12
Through
1 Kings 19:18Nevertheless, I have reserved seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”
it leads to
- Romans 11:4–5
And what was the divine reply to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
- Isaiah 1:9
Unless the LORD of Hosts had left us a few survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.
- Isaiah 10:20–22
On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on him who struck them, but they will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy…
- Romans 11:4–5
Where this verse is studied
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on 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 XXII; Ishodad of Merv, COMMENTARY ON JOB 31:27; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.