Job 31:34

Job 31:34 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door?
• New International Version (NIV)because I so feared the crowd and so dreaded the contempt of the clans that I kept silent and would not go outside—
• New King James Version (NKJV)Because I feared the great multitude, And dreaded the contempt of families, So that I kept silence And did not go out of the door—
• New Living Translation (NLT)Have I feared the crowd or the contempt of the masses, so that I kept quiet and stayed indoors?

Context of Job 31:34

32(the sojourner has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveler), 33if I have concealed my transgressions as others do by hiding my iniquity in my heart, because I stood in great fear of the multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors— 35Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary! 36Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me as a crown;

Job 31:34 word by word

כִּ֤י אֶֽעֱר֨וֹץ׀ הָ֘מ֤וֹן רַבָּ֗ה וּבוּז־מִשְׁפָּח֥וֹת יְחִתֵּ֑נִי וָ֝אֶדֹּ֗ם לֹא־אֵ֥צֵא פָֽתַח׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Did I fearעָרַץ‛ârats · to trembleH6206
• a greatרַבrab · manyH7227
• multitudeהָמוֹןhâmôn hâmôn · crowdH1995
• or did the contemptבּוּזbûz · contemptH937
• of familiesמִשְׁפָּחָהmishpâchâh · familyH4940
• terrifyחָתַתchâthath · to to be dismayedH2865
• me, that I kept silenceדָּמַםdâmam · to silence: silentH1826
• went not outיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: comeH3318
• of the doorפֶּ֫תַחpethach · entranceH6607

Cross-references for Job 31:34

• Exodus 23:2You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice,
• Proverbs 29:25The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.
• Jeremiah 38:4Then the officials said to the king, "Let this man be put to death, for he is weakening the hands of the soldiers who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm."
• Matthew 27:20Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.
• Job 22:8The man with power possessed the land, and the favored man lived in it.
• Job 34:19who shows no partiality to princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor, for they are all the work of his hands?
• Exodus 32:27And he said to them, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel, 'Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.'"
• Numbers 25:14The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father's house belonging to the Simeonites.
• Nehemiah 5:7I took counsel with myself, and I brought charges against the nobles and the officials. I said to them, "You are exacting interest, each from his brother." And I held a great assembly against them
• Nehemiah 13:4Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah,
• 2 Corinthians 5:16From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.
• Esther 4:11"All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days."
• Proverbs 24:11Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.
• Amos 5:11Therefore because you trample on the poor and you exact taxes of grain from him, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine.
• Micah 7:3Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; thus they weave it together.

Commentaries on Job 31:34

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 34Did I fear a great multitude - Was I ever prevented by the voice of the many from decreeing and executing what was right? When many families or tribes espoused a particular cause, which I found, on examination, to be wrong, did they put me in fear, so as to prevent me from doing justice to the weak and friendless? Or, in any of these cases, was I ever, through fear, self-seeking, or favor, prevented from declaring my mind, or constrained to keep my house…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 34Did I fear a great multitude - Our translators have rendered this as if Job meant to say that he had not been deterred from doing what he supposed was right by the fear of others; as if he had been independent, and had done what he knew to be right, undeterred by the fear of popular fury, or the loss of the favor of the great. This version is adopted also by the Vulgate, by Herder, and substantially by Coverdale and Luther. Another interpretation has…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 33-40Verses 33-40 Job clears himself from the charge of hypocrisy. We are loth to confess our faults, willing to excuse them, and to lay the blame upon others. But he that thus covers his sins, shall not prosper, Pr 28:13. He speaks of his courage in what is good, as an evidence of his sincerity in it. When men get estates unjustly, they are justly deprived of comfort from them; it was sown wheat, but shall come up thistles. What men do not come honestly by…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-40Job called down wrong against himself (curses) if he was guilty of the accusations against him. Apart from mentioning idolatry (worship of false gods), Job spoke about how loyal he was to God by focusing on the second half of the Ten Commandments (31:26–27). The summary of these is: “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3434. Rather, the apodosis to Job 31:33, "Then let me be fear-stricken before a great multitude, let the contempt, &c., let me keep silence (the greatest disgrace to a patriot, heretofore so prominent in assemblies), and not go out," &c. A just retribution that he who hides his sin from God, should have it exposed before man (2Sa 12:12). But Job had not been so exposed, but on the contrary was esteemed in the assemblies of the "tribes"--("families"); a…Read the comment

Topics related to Job 31:34

• Hypocrisy
• Integrity
• Temptation

In the dictionaries

• Bosom
• Instead
• Lift
• Root
• 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