Job 31:6
in Job 31let God weigh me with honest scales, that He may know my integrity.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
(Let me be weighed in an even balance, That God may know mine integrity);
KJV
Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.
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This verse in Job 31
Commentary
9 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
weigh me with honest scales
Clarke gives integrity as tummathi, a whole and blameless life. Chrysostom says Job's life had the exactness of the arm of a balance. He appeals to the testimony of God, who knows every detail, over any mortal witness.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
There is in my way of life, even in its details, as much exactness as in the arm [of a balance]. I have not overlooked the smallest detail. For this, I do not appeal to the testimony of a mortal, who may want to please and ignores many things, but to the testimony of God, who accurately knows all that is hidden and to whom nothing can escape.
The Medieval Church1 voice
One can consider walking without deceit by inspecting the righteousness of justice from which the deceitful man turns aside, and so he says, "let him (God) weigh me in a just balance," to discern from his justice if I have proceeded in deceit. Since deceit …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): Let me be weighed in an even balance, that is, "Let what I have got be enquired into and it will be found to weigh well"--a sign that it was not obtained by vanity, for then Tekel would have been written on it-- weighed in the balance and found too light.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Let me be weighed in an even balance,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Let me be weighed in an even balance - Margin, him weigh me in balances of justice. That is, let him ascertain exactly my character, and treat me accordingly. If on trial it be found that I am guilty in this respect, I consent to be punished accordingly. Scales or balances are often used as emblematic of justice. Many suppose, however, that this verse is a parenthesis, and that the imprecation in Job 31:8, relates to Job 31:5, as well as to Job 31:
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Mine integrity - תמתי tummathi, my perfection; the totality of my unblameable life.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יִשְׁקְלֵ֥נִי | yishkeleni | let him weigh me | H8254 → | 22 times |
| בְמֹאזְנֵי־ | vemozenei- | in balances of | H3976 → | |
| צֶ֑דֶק | tzedek | righteousness | H6664 → | 119 times |
| וְיֵדַ֥ע | veyeda' | and let him acknowledge | H3045 → | 945 times |
| אֱ֝ל֗וֹהַּ | ʾeloah | God | H433 → | 57 times |
| תֻּמָּתִֽי׃ | tumati | integrity my | H8538 → | 5 times |
יִשְׁקְלֵ֥נִיlet him weigh me
yishkeleniH8254 →22 times
בְמֹאזְנֵי־in balances of
vemozenei-H3976 →
צֶ֑דֶקrighteousness
tzedekH6664 →119 times
וְיֵדַ֥עand let him acknowledge
veyeda'H3045 →945 times
אֱ֝ל֗וֹהַּGod
ʾeloahH433 →57 times
תֻּמָּתִֽי׃integrity my
tumatiH8538 →5 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
Matthew 7:23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’
it leads to
- Matthew 25:41
Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
- Psalms 6:8
Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the LORD has heard my weeping.
- Luke 13:27
And he will answer, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers.’
- Luke 13:25
After the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ But he will reply, ‘I do not know where…
- Matthew 25:12
But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’
- Matthew 25:41
Through
1 Samuel 2:3Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed.
it leads to
- Proverbs 8:13
To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.
- 1 Kings 8:39
be heard by You from heaven, Your dwelling place. And may You forgive and act, and repay each man according to all his ways, since You know his heart—for You alone know the hearts…
- Proverbs 24:12
If you say, “Behold, we did not know about this,” does not He who weighs hearts consider it? Does not the One who guards your life know? Will He not repay a man according…
- Proverbs 8:13
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 31:6A-7; 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.