Job 31:3
in Job 31Does not disaster come to the unjust and calamity to the workers of iniquity?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, And disaster to the workers of iniquity?
KJV
Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?
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This verse in Job 31
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Is not destruction to the wicked? - That is, Job says that he was well aware that destruction would overtake the wicked, and that if he had given indulgence to impure desires he could have looked for nothing else. Well knowing this, he says, he had guarded himself in the most careful manner from sin, and had labored with the greatest assiduity to keep his eyes and his heart pure. And a strange punishment - - ונכר weneker. The word used here, means literally strangeness - a strange thing, something with which we were unacquainted.
This site's exposition
I have made a covenant with my eyes
on Job 31:1-3
“I have made a covenant with my eyes” opens Job's defense, which Henry reads as a discipline over the sense most apt to lead astray. Gill notes that Job argues from “the allotment of God from above” to what God will therefore require.
This site's exposition
calamity to the workers of iniquity
Henry reports a reading of disaster as alienation. Sin sets the mind at a distance from God, as Ephesians 4:18 and 19 describe, and the unjust stay at that distance forever. Barnes hears Job admitting he could expect the same calamity had he broken his covenant.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Is not destruction to the wicked? and estrangement to the workers of iniquity? The speedy comforting of the good is the end of the wicked had regard to. For while by the destruction of those they see the evil that they escape, they account as light whatever of adversity they undergo in this life. So then let the lost sinners now go, and satisfy the desires of their gratifications; in the sentence of their end they are destined to feel that in living badly they were in love with death.
Second, the reason why he shunned the sin of lust is the damage which it brings upon men, which is twofold. One is corporeal, when a man because of the sin of lust incurs danger to his person and property, and so he says, "Is …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Is there not alienation (so some read it) to the workers of iniquity? This is the sinfulness of the sin that it alienates the mind from God ( Eph. iv. 18, 19 ), and this is the punishment of the sinners that they shall be eternally set at a distance from him, Rev. xxii.
Is not destruction to the wicked?....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
He asserts his guarding against being allured to sin by his senses. think--rather, "cast a (lustful) look." He not merely did not so, but put it out of the question by covenanting with his eyes against leading him into temptation (Pr 6:25;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Is not destruction to the wicked - If I had been guilty of such secret hypocritical proceedings, professing faith in the true God while in eye and heart an idolater, would not such a worker of iniquity be distinguished by a strange and unheard-of punishment?
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֲלֹא־ | halo'- | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֵ֥יד | ʾeid | [does] calamity | H343 → | 24 times |
| לְעַוָּ֑ל | leaval | [belong] to an evil-doer | H5767 → | 5 times |
| וְ֝נֵ֗כֶר | venekher | and misfortune | H5235 → | |
| לְפֹ֣עֲלֵי | lefoalei | to [those who] do | H6466 → | 57 times |
| אָֽוֶן׃ | ʾaven | <of> wickedness | H205 → | 77 times |
הֲלֹא־¿ not
halo'-H3808 →5168 times
אֵ֥יד[does] calamity
ʾeidH343 →24 times
לְעַוָּ֑ל[belong] to an evil-doer
leavalH5767 →5 times
וְ֝נֵ֗כֶרand misfortune
venekherH5235 →
לְפֹ֣עֲלֵיto [those who] do
lefoaleiH6466 →57 times
אָֽוֶן׃<of> wickedness
ʾavenH205 →77 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
2 Peter 2:1Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on…
it leads to
- Matthew 7:15
Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
- Jude 1:4
For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed—ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny our only…
- Deuteronomy 13:1–3
If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you,
- 2 Timothy 4:3
For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.
- Matthew 24:11
and many false prophets will arise and mislead many.
- Matthew 7:15
Through
Isaiah 28:21For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim. He will rouse Himself as in the Valley of Gibeon, to do His work, His strange work, and to perform His task, His disturbing…
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 14:11
So David and his men went up to Baal-perazim, where he defeated the Philistines and said, “Like a bursting flood, God has burst out against my enemies by my hand.” So they called that…
- 1 Chronicles 14:11
Through
Job 34:22There is no darkness or deep shadow where the workers of iniquity can hide.
it leads to
- Hebrews 4:13
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
- Hebrews 4:13
Through
Job 21:30Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:4
The LORD has made everything for His purpose—even the wicked for the day of disaster.
- Proverbs 16:4
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); 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.