Job 31:26

Job 31:26 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;
• New International Version (NIV)if I have regarded the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor,
• English Standard Version (ESV)if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor,
• New King James Version (NKJV)If I have observed the sun when it shines, Or the moon moving in brightness,

Context of Job 31:26

24“If I have put my trust and confidence in gold, Or have declared fine gold my hope and assurance, 25If I gloated and rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my [powerful] hand [alone] had obtained so much, If I beheld the sun [as an object of worship] when it shone Or the moon going in its splendor, 27And my heart became secretly enticed [by them], And my hand threw a kiss from my mouth [in respect to them], 28This also would have been [a heinous] sin calling for judgment, For I would have denied God above.

Job 31:26 word by word

אִם־אֶרְאֶ֣ה א֖וֹר כִּ֣י יָהֵ֑ל וְ֝יָרֵ֗חַ יָקָ֥ר הֹלֵֽךְ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• If I beheldרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
• the sunאוֹר'ôr · lightH216
• when it shinedהָלַלhâlal · to shineH1984
• or the moonיָרֵחַyârêach · moonH3394
• walkingהָלַךְhâlak · to go: walkH1980
• brightnessיָקָרyâqâr · preciousH3368

Cross-references for Job 31:26

• Genesis 1:16God made the two great lights—the greater light (the sun) to rule the day, and the lesser light (the moon) to rule the night; He made the [galaxies of] stars also [that is, all the amazing wonders in the heavens].
• Deuteronomy 4:19And beware that you do not raise your eyes toward heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and let yourselves be led astray and worship them and serve them, [mere created bodies] which the Lord your God has allotted to [serve and benefit] all the peoples under the whole heaven.
• Deuteronomy 11:16Beware that your hearts are not deceived, and that you do not turn away [from the Lord] and serve other gods and worship them,
• Deuteronomy 17:3and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host, [doing these things] which I have commanded not to do,
• 2 Kings 23:5He got rid of the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense [to pagan gods] in the high places in Judah’s cities and all around Jerusalem—also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations [of the zodiac], and to all the [starry] host of heaven.
• Jeremiah 8:2They will [carelessly scatter and] spread them out before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which the dead have loved and which they have served, and which they have walked after and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered or be buried; they will be like dung on the face of the earth.
• Ezekiel 8:16So He brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, between the porch (vestibule, portico) and the [bronze] altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing down toward the east and worshiping the sun.
• Psalms 8:3When I see and consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have established,
• Jeremiah 44:17But rather we will certainly perform every word of the vows we have made: to burn sacrifices to the queen of heaven (Ishtar) and to pour out drink offerings to her, just as we ourselves and our forefathers, our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for [then] we had plenty of food and were prosperous and saw no misfortune.

Commentaries on Job 31:26

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 26If I beheld the sun when it shined - In this verse Job clears himself of that idolatrous worship which was the most ancient and most consistent with reason of any species of idolatry; viz., Sabaeism, the worship of the heavenly bodies; particularly the sun and moon, Jupiter and Venus, the two latter being the morning and evening stars, and the most resplendent of all the heavenly bodies, the sun and moon excepted. "Job," says Calmet, "points out three…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 26If I beheld the sun when it shined - Margin, light. The Hebrew word (אור 'ôr ) properly means light, but that it here means the sun is manifest from the connection, since the moon occurs in the parallel member of the sentence. Why the word light is used here rather than sun, can be only a matter of conjecture. It may be because the worship to which Job refers was not primarily and originally that of the sun, the moon, or the stars, but of light as such…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 24-32Verses 24-32 Job protests, 1. That he never set his heart upon the wealth of this world. How few prosperous professors can appeal to the Lord, that they have not rejoiced because their gains were great! Through the determination to be rich, numbers ruin their souls, or pierce themselves with many sorrows. 2. He never was guilty of idolatry. The source of idolatry is in the heart, and it corrupts men, and provokes God to send judgments upon a nation. 3. He…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 26if I have beheld the sun … or the moon: This vow denies violating the first commandment (compare Jeremiah 8:2; 44:17; Ezekiel 8:16; Acts 7:43; Deuteronomy 5:7; see Deuteronomy 4:19; 17:2–7).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2626. If I looked unto the sun (as an object of worship) because he shined; or to the moon because she walked, &c. Sabaism (from tsaba, "the heavenly hosts") was the earliest form of false worship. God is hence called in contradistinction, "Lord of Sabaoth." The sun, moon, and stars, the brightest objects in nature, and seen everywhere, were supposed to be visible representatives of the invisible God. They had no temples, but were worshipped on high places…Read the comment

Topics related to Job 31:26

• Idolatry
• Integrity
• Moon
• Sun
• Temptation

In the dictionaries

• Bosom
• Instead
• Lift
• Moon
• Root
• Sun
• Adoration
• Astronomy
• Charm
• Job, Book of

Commentaries on Job 31

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings