Job 31:5
in Job 31If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has rushed to deceit,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If I have walked with falsehood, And my foot hath hasted to deceit
KJV
If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;
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This verse in Job 31
Commentary
10 notes on this verseIf I have walked in vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit, let Him weigh me in an even balance, and let God know mine integrity. 'God to know' is said for His making us to know by a customary mode of our speech, who speak of 'a happy day,' by which it happens that we are made happy. For hence it is the Lord saith to Abraham, Now I know that thou fearest God.
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.
This site's exposition
If I have walked in falsehood
Barnes reads falsehood as the older word vanity, made plain by the parallel with deceit. Aquinas names the form of the whole chapter. Each if binds the speaker to a penalty should his words prove false.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Nobody can say, Job says, either that I was hankering after pleasures, luxuries and that kind of lustful life, or, on the other hand, that by becoming too hard and austere in my heart I finally fell into those vices that are contrary to that sort of life, that is, the vices of malice and deceit. No! I kept away from both of those two vices!
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, he cleanses himself from the sin of deceit, using in this and in all the following discussion an execratory oath in which a man binds himself to a punishment, so that if what he says is not true, he obliges himself to punishment. So …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), that is, he never durst tell a lie to get a good bargain. It was never his way to banter, or equivocate, or make many words in his dealings. Some men's constant walk is a constant cheat.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
10 Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her. 11 For this is a heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges. 12 For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:98%@v10-12
If I have walked with vanity,....
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)
If I have walked with vanity - This is the second specification in regard to his private deportment. He says that his life had been sincere, upright, honest. The word vanity here is equivalent to falsehood, for so the parallelism demands, and so the word (שׁוא shâv') is often used; Psa 12:3; Psa 41:7; Exo 23:1; Deu 5:20; compare Isa, Deu 1:13. The meaning of Job here is, that he had been true and honest.
If I have walked with vanity - If I have been guilty of idolatry, or the worshipping of a false god: for thus שאו shau, which we here translate vanity, is used Jer 18:15; (compare with Psa 31:6; Hos 12:11; and Jon 2:9), and it seems evident that the whole of Job’s discourse here is a vindication of himself from all idolatrous dispositions and practices.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| הָלַ֥כְתִּי | halakhti | I have walked | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| עִם־ | ʾim- | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| שָׁ֑וְא | shav' | falsehood | H7723 → | 53 times |
| וַתַּ֖חַשׁ | vatachash | and it has made haste | H2363 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מִרְמָ֣ה | mirmah | deceit | H4820 → | |
| רַגְלִֽי׃ | ragli | foot my | H7272 → | 247 times |
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
הָלַ֥כְתִּיI have walked
halakhtiH1980 →1546 times
עִם־with
ʾim-H5973 →1050 times
שָׁ֑וְאfalsehood
shav'H7723 →53 times
וַתַּ֖חַשׁand it has made haste
vatachashH2363 →
עַל־to
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
מִרְמָ֣הdeceit
mirmahH4820 →
רַגְלִֽי׃foot my
ragliH7272 →247 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
Proverbs 12:11The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks judgment.
it leads to
- Proverbs 28:19
The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.
- Proverbs 14:23
There is profit in all labor, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:11–12
and to aspire to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you.
- Psalms 128:2
For when you eat the fruit of your labor, blessings and prosperity will be yours.
- Proverbs 28:19
Through
Psalms 4:2How long, O men, will my honor be maligned? How long will you love vanity and seek after lies? Selah
it leads to
- Proverbs 1:22
“How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?
- Hosea 4:7
The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me; they exchanged their Glory for a thing of disgrace.
- Psalms 3:3
But You, O LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head.
- Proverbs 1:22
Through
Psalms 12:2They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.
it leads to
- Romans 16:18
For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
- Romans 16:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
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; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 31:1-5; 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.