Job 31:4
in Job 31Does He not see my ways and count my every step?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Doth not he see my ways, And number all my steps?
KJV
Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?
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This verse in Job 31
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Doth he not see my ways? - This either means that God was a witness of all that he did - his thoughts, words, and deeds, and would punish him if he had given indulgence to improper feelings and thoughts; or that since God saw all his thoughts, he could boldly appeal to him as a witness of his innocence in this matter, and in proof that his life and heart were pure. Rosenmuller adopts the latter interpretation; Herder seems to incline to the former.
This site's exposition
Does He not see my ways
on Job 31:4-6
With “Does He not see my ways and count my every step”, Job names the audience of every clause. “let God weigh me with honest scales” asks for the trial by scale. Delitzsch reads the scales as courtroom language, Job offering himself to be tried beyond asserting his innocence.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Third, he assigns the cause from the point of view of divine providence which looks attentively at all the deeds of men. Thus no one can be immune from punishment, and so he says, "Does he not consider my ways," the progress of my works …
Doth not He see my ways, and count all my steps? What does he tell of by the title of 'ways' but ways of acting? Thus it is hence said by Jeremiah; Make your ways and your doings good. But what do we understand by the name of 'steps,' but either the motions of men's minds or the advancements of merits? By which 'steps' indeed Truth calls us to Itself, saying, Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
9 ), How can I do it, and sin against God? Two things Job had an eye to:-- [1.] God's omniscience. It is a great truth that God's eyes are upon all the ways of men ( Prov. v. 20, 21 ); but Job here mentions it with application to himself and his own actions: Doth not he see my ways?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?
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
Doth not he see my ways - Can I suppose that I could screen myself from the eye of God while guilty of such iniquities?
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֲלֹא־ | halo'- | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| ה֭וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| יִרְאֶ֣ה | yireh | does he see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| דְרָכָ֑י | derakhai | ways my | H1870 → | 707 times |
| וְֽכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| צְעָדַ֥י | tzeadai | steps my | H6806 → | 14 times |
| יִסְפּֽוֹר׃ | yispor | does he count? | H5608 → | 159 times |
הֲלֹא־¿ not
halo'-H3808 →5168 times
ה֭וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
יִרְאֶ֣הdoes he see
yirehH7200 →1300 times
דְרָכָ֑יways my
derakhaiH1870 →707 times
וְֽכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
צְעָדַ֥יsteps my
tzeadaiH6806 →14 times
יִסְפּֽוֹר׃does he count?
yisporH5608 →159 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 Chronicles 16:9For the eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in…
it leads to
- Proverbs 15:3
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 16:17
For My eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from My face, and their guilt is not concealed from My eyes.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 5:21
For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- 1 Peter 3:12
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
- Psalms 34:15
The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry.
- Proverbs 15:3
Through
Jeremiah 32:19the One great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are on all the ways of the sons of men, to reward each one according to his ways and according to the fruit…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:10
I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.
- Jeremiah 17:10
Through
Proverbs 5:21For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 32:19
the One great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are on all the ways of the sons of men, to reward each one according to his ways and according to the fruit…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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.
- Jeremiah 32:19
Where this verse is studied
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
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 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.