Job 31:32
in Job 31but no stranger had to lodge on the street, for my door has been open to the traveler—
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
(The sojourner hath not lodged in the street; But I have opened my doors to the traveller);
KJV
The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveller.
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This verse in Job 31
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThe stranger did not lodge in the street; but my door was open to the traveller. Whereas, Paul being witness, charity is described as patient and kind, by patience it bears with composure the ill turns of others, by kindness it also renders with mercifulness its own good ones. Whence blessed Job at once patiently bore those of his own household cursing him, and received to him kindly the travellers and strangers, to the first affording examples of morals, the other meeting with the succour of external things.
This site's exposition
the men of my house have not said
on Job 31:31-32
Job appeals to “the men of my house” as witnesses to his table. He kept the law of hospitality, since “no stranger had to lodge on the street, for my door has been open to the traveler”. Delitzsch reads the open door as a claim any traveler could have confirmed.
This site's exposition
open to the traveler
Barnes reads this verse as proof of Job 31:31, where no one in the house lacked his fill. Clarke separates two guests. The stranger was wholly unknown, and the traveler was passing through on his way elsewhere.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
As for foreigners, he then says, "The pilgrim did not remain outside," so that he was not received in my house; "my door was open to the traveler," so that entry was not difficult for him.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The stranger did not lodge in the street,....
The words of Job are ended. We have here Job's protestation against three more sins, together with his general appeal to God's bar and his petition for a hearing there, which, it is likely, was intended to conclude his discourse (and therefore we will consider it last), but that another particular sin occurred, from which he thought it requisite to acquit himself.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The stranger did not lodge in the street - My kindness did not extend merely to my family, domestics, and friends; the stranger - he who was to me perfectly unknown, and the traveler - he who was on his journey to some other district, found my doors ever open to receive them, and were refreshed with my bed and my board.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The stranger did not lodge in the street - This is designed to illustrate the sentiment in the previous verse, and to express his consciousness that he had showed the most generous hospitality. But I opened my doors to the traveler - Margin, or way. The word used here ארח 'ôrach means properly way, path, road; but it also denotes those who travel on such a way; see Job 6:19, “The troops of Tema looked,” Hebrew ארח תימא têymâ' 'ôrach - the ways, or paths of Tema; that is, those who traveled in those paths. Vulgate here, viatori. Septuagint, “To everyone that came” - παντί ἐλθόντι panti elthonti. This was one of the methods of hospitality - the central and crowning virtue among the Arabs to this day, and among the Orientals in all ages. Among the boasts of hospitality, showing the place which this virtue had in their estimation, and the methods by which it was practiced, we may refer to such expressions as the following: “I occupy the public way with my tent;” that is, to every traveler without distinction, my tent is open and my table is spread. “He makes the public path the place for the cords of his tent;” that is, he fixed the pins and cords of his tent in the midst of the public highway, so that every traveler might enter. These examples are quoted by Schultens from the Hamasa. Another beautiful example may be taken from the same collection of Arabic poems. […]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בַּ֭חוּץ | bachutz | in the street | H2351 → | 164 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָלִ֣ין | yalin | he passed [the] night | H3885 → | 84 times |
| גֵּ֑ר | ger | a sojourner | H1616 → | |
| דְּ֝לָתַ֗י | delatai | doors my | H1817 → | 88 times |
| לָאֹ֥רַח | laorach | to the path | H734 → | 58 times |
| אֶפְתָּֽח׃ | ʾeftach | I opened | H6605 → | 144 times |
בַּ֭חוּץin the street
bachutzH2351 →164 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יָלִ֣יןhe passed [the] night
yalinH3885 →84 times
גֵּ֑רa sojourner
gerH1616 →
דְּ֝לָתַ֗יdoors my
delataiH1817 →88 times
לָאֹ֥רַחto the path
laorachH734 →58 times
אֶפְתָּֽח׃I opened
ʾeftachH6605 →144 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
Hebrews 13:2Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
it leads to
- Matthew 25:35
For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in,
- Genesis 18:1
Then the LORD appeared to Abraham by the Oaks of Mamre in the heat of the day, while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent.
- 1 Peter 4:9
Show hospitality to one another without complaining.
- Romans 12:13
Share with the saints who are in need. Practice hospitality.
- Matthew 25:35
Through
Matthew 25:35For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in,
it leads to
- Ezekiel 18:7
He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 John 3:16–19
By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
- James 2:15–16
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
- Deuteronomy 15:7–11
If there is a poor man among your brothers within any of the gates in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, then you are not to harden your heart or…
- Ezekiel 18:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
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 XXII; 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.