Job 31:40

Job 31:40 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.
• New International Version (NIV)then let briers come up instead of wheat and stinkweed instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.
• English Standard Version (ESV)let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley." The words of Job are ended.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then let thistles grow instead of wheat, And weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.

Context of Job 31:40

38“If my land cried out against me and all its furrows wept together, 39if I have eaten its produce without paying, or caused the death of its owners, then let thorns sprout up in place of wheat, and in place of barley, weeds!” The words of Job are ended.

Job 31:40 word by word

תַּ֤חַת חִטָּ֨ה׀ יֵ֥צֵא ח֗וֹחַ וְתַֽחַת־שְׂעֹרָ֥ה בָאְשָׁ֑ה תַּ֝֗מּוּ דִּבְרֵ֥י אִיּֽוֹב׃ פRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Let thistlesחוֹחַchôach · thistleH2336
• growיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: issueH3318
• instead of wheatחִטָּהchiţţâh · wheatH2406
• and cockleבׇּאְשָׁהbo'shâh · foul weedH890
• instead of barleyשְׂעֹרָהώe‛ôrâh ώe‛ôrâh ώe‛ôr ώe‛ôr · barleyH8184
• The wordsדָּבָרdâbâr · wordH1697
• of Jobאִיּוֹב'îyôb · JobH347
• are endedתָּמַםtâmam · to finishH8552

Cross-references for Job 31:40

• 2 Kings 14:9King Jehoash of Israel sent this message back to King Amaziah of Judah, “A thornbush in Lebanon sent this message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ Then a wild animal of Lebanon came by and trampled down the thorn.
• Genesis 3:17But to Adam he said, “Because you obeyed your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ cursed is the ground thanks to you; in painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
• Isaiah 7:23At that time every place where there had been a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels will be overrun with thorns and briers.
• Zephaniah 2:9Therefore, as surely as I live,” says the Lord who commands armies, the God of Israel, “be certain that Moab will become like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah. They will be overrun by weeds, filled with salt pits, and permanently desolate. Those of my people who are left will plunder their belongings; those who are left in Judah will take possession of their land.”
• Malachi 1:3and rejected Esau. I turned Esau’s mountains into a deserted wasteland and gave his territory to the wild jackals.”
• Psalms 72:20This collection of the prayers of David son of Jesse ends here.

Commentaries on Job 31:40

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 40Let thistles grow instead of wheat - What the word חוח choach means, which we translate thistles, we cannot tell: but as חח chach seems to mean to hold, catch as a hook, to hitch, it must signify some kind of hooked thorn, like the brier; and this is possibly its meaning. And cockle - באשה bashah, some fetid plant, from באש baash, to stink. In Isaiah 5:2, Isaiah 5:4, we translate it wild grapes; and Bishop Lowth, poisonous berries: but Hasselquist, a…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 40Let thistles grow; - Genesis 3:18. Thistles are valueless; and Job is so confident of entire innocence in regard to this, that he says he would be willing, if he were guilty, to have his whole land overrun with noxious weeds. And cockle - Cockle is a well known herb that gets into wheat or other grain. It has a bluish flower, and small black seed, and is injurious because it tends to discolor the flour. It is not certain by any means, however, that this…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. 40let briers grow: Job cursed himself (spoke evil against himself), echoing when God first "cursed" Adam (Genesis 3:17–18; see also Isaiah 7:25; Zephaniah 2:9).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 4040. thistles--or brambles, thorns. cockle--literally, "noxious weeds." The words ... ended--that is, in the controversy with the friends. He spoke in the book afterwards, but not to them. At Job 31:37 would be the regular conclusion in strict art. But Job 31:38-40 are naturally added by one whose mind in agitation recurs to its sense of innocence, even after it has come to the usual stopping point; this takes away the appearance of rhetorical artifice…Read the comment

Topics related to Job 31:40

• Cockle
• Integrity
• Poor
• Temptation
• Thistle

In the dictionaries

• Job
• Bosom
• Bramble
• Cockle
• Instead
• Lift
• Root
• Thistle
• Charm
• Elihu (2)

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