Job 31:30
in Job 31I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse—
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
(Yea, I have not suffered my mouth to sin By asking his life with a curse);
KJV
Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul.
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This verse in Job 31
Commentary
9 notes on this verseNeither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul. For he would sin, if he were to desire that to be done by God, which he himself either could not at all be able to do, or if he could it would not be in any wise right. For they who assail an enemy with curses, what other thing do they wish God to do in his case, but what they are either unable or ashamed to do themselves?
This site's exposition
If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin
on Job 31:29-30
“If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin, or exulted when evil befell him” denies an enemy's downfall as any occasion for Job's own joy. Henry notes that this standard exceeds even the law's own toleration of satisfaction at a wrongdoer's fall.
This site's exposition
asking for his life with a curse
Barnes gives the Hebrew for mouth as palate, the organ of the voice, and compares Proverbs 8:7. Henry sets the verse beside Psalm 39:1. Job guarded his tongue even against an enemy.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
He then shows why he should shun this saying, "For I did not give my tongue to sin, waiting and cursing his soul." Truly man naturally desires those things which he enjoys, and he expresses his interior desire in words. Therefore, it follows that if …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He never wished a curse to his soul (curses to the soul are the worst of curses), never desired his death; he knew that, if he did, it would turn into sin to him. He was careful not to offend with his tongue ( Ps. xxxix. 1 ), would not suffer his mouth to sin, and therefore durst not imprecate any evil, no, not to his worst enemy.
Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
mouth--literally, "palate." (See on Job 6:30). wishing--literally, "so as to demand his (my enemy's) soul," that is, "life by a curse." This verse parenthetically confirms Job 31:30. Job in the patriarchal age of the promise, anterior to the law, realizes the Gospel spirit, which was the end of the law (compare Le 19:18;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin - I have neither spoken evil of him, nor wished evil to him. How few of those called Christians can speak thus concerning their enemies; or those who have done them any mischief!
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
Neither have I suffered my mouth - Margin, as in Hebrew, palate. The word is often used for the mouth in general, and especially as the organ of the voice from the use and importance of the palate in speaking. Pro 8:7. “For my palate (חכי chikiy) speaketh truth.” It is used as the organ of taste, Job 12:11; compare Job 6:30; Psa 119:103. By wishing a curse to his soul - It must have been an extraordinary degree of piety which would permit a man to say this with truth, that he had never harbored a wish of injury to an enemy. Few are the people, probably, even now, who could say this, and who are enabled to keep their minds free from every wish that calamities and woes may overtake those who are seeking their hurt. Yet this is the nature of true religion. It controls the heart, represses the angry and revengeful feelings, and creates in the soul an earnest desire for the happiness even of those who injure us.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נָתַ֣תִּי | natati | I have permitted | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לַחֲטֹ֣א | lachato' | to sin | H2398 → | 238 times |
| חִכִּ֑י | chiki | palate my | H2441 → | 18 times |
| לִשְׁאֹ֖ל | lishol | by asking for | H7592 → | 171 times |
| בְּאָלָ֣ה | bealah | by a curse | H423 → | |
| נַפְשֽׁוֹ׃ | nafsho | life his | H5315 → | 754 times |
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
נָתַ֣תִּיI have permitted
natatiH5414 →2011 times
לַחֲטֹ֣אto sin
lachato'H2398 →238 times
חִכִּ֑יpalate my
chikiH2441 →18 times
לִשְׁאֹ֖לby asking for
lisholH7592 →171 times
בְּאָלָ֣הby a curse
bealahH423 →
נַפְשֽׁוֹ׃life his
nafshoH5315 →754 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
1 Peter 3:9Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
it leads to
- 1 Thessalonians 5:15
Make sure that no one repays evil for evil. Always pursue what is good for one another and for all people.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Romans 12:17
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody.
- Proverbs 20:22
Do not say, “I will avenge this evil!” Wait on the LORD, and He will save you.
- Romans 12:14
Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.
- Romans 12:19–21
Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”
- 1 Thessalonians 5:15
Through
Romans 12:14Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 3:9
Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
- Matthew 5:44
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
- Romans 12:21
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
- 1 Peter 3:9
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 XXII; 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.