God’s Word Translation
Job 31:39
39If I have eaten its produce without paying for it and made its owners breathe their last,
Job 31:39 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:
- New International Version (NIV)if I have devoured its yield without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants,
- English Standard Version (ESV)if I have eaten its yield without payment and made its owners breathe their last,
- New King James Version (NKJV)If I have eaten its fruit without money, Or caused its owners to lose their lives;
Context of Job 31:39
37I would tell him the number of my steps and approach him like a prince. 38“If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept…. If I have eaten its produce without paying for it and made its owners breathe their last, 40⌞then⌟ let it grow thistles instead of wheat, and foul-smelling weeds instead of barley.” This is the end of Job’s words.
Read all of Job 31Job 31:39 word by word
אִם־כֹּ֭חָהּ אָכַ֣לְתִּי בְלִי־כָ֑סֶף וְנֶ֖פֶשׁ בְּעָלֶ֣יהָ הִפָּֽחְתִּי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 31:39
- Genesis 4:12When you farm the ground, it will no longer yield its best for you. You will be a fugitive, a wanderer on the earth.”
- 1 Kings 21:13The two good-for-nothing men came in and sat opposite him. In front of the people, these men accused Naboth of cursing God and the king. So the people stoned him to death outside the city.
- Proverbs 1:19This is what happens to everyone who is greedy for unjust gain. Greed takes away his life.
- Isaiah 26:21The Lord is going to come out from his dwelling place to punish those who live on earth for their sins. The earth will uncover the blood shed on it and will no longer cover up its dead bodies.
- Ezekiel 22:6“ ‘See how all the princes of Israel who live in you have used their power to murder people.
Commentaries on Job 31:39
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 39If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money - I have never been that narrow-minded man who, through a principle of covetousness, exhausts his land, putting himself to no charges, by labor and manure, to strengthen it; or defrauds those of their wages who were employed under him. If I have eaten the fruits of it, I have cultivated it well to produce those fruits; and this has not been without money, for I have gone to expenses on the soil, and…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 39If I have eaten the fruits thereof - Margin, strength. The strength of the earth is that which the earth produces or which is the result of its strength. We speak now of a “strong soil “ - meaning that it is capable of bearing much. Without money - Hebrew “without silver “ - silver being the principal circulating medium in early times. The meaning here is, “without paying for it;” either without having paid for the land, or for the labor. “Or have caused…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. 3939. lose ... life--not literally, but "harassed to death"; until he gave me up his land gratis [Maurer]; as in Jud 16:16; "suffered him to languish" by taking away his means of living [Umbreit] (1Ki 21:19).Read the comment
Topics related to Job 31:39
In the dictionaries
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries