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—
• English Standard Version (ESV)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—
• 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(But no sojourner had to lodge in the street, For I have opened my doors to the traveler); 33If I have covered my transgressions as Adam, By hiding my iniquity in my bosom, 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— 35Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my mark. Oh, that the Almighty would answer me, That my Prosecutor had written a book! 36Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, And bind it on me like 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 follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice.
• Proverbs 29:25The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.
• Jeremiah 38:4Therefore the princes said to the king, “Please, let this man be put to death, for thus he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the welfare of this people, but their harm.”
• Matthew 27:20But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.
• Job 22:8But the mighty man possessed the land, And the honorable man dwelt in it.
• Job 34:19Yet He is not partial to princes, Nor does He regard 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: ‘Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’ ”
• Numbers 25:14Now the name of the Israelite who was killed, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father’s house among the Simeonites.
• Nehemiah 5:7After serious thought, I rebuked the nobles and rulers, and said to them, “Each of you is exacting usury from his brother.” So I called a great assembly against them.
• Nehemiah 13:4Now before this, Eliashib the priest, having authority over the storerooms of the house of our God, was allied with Tobiah.
• 2 Corinthians 5:16Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.
• Esther 4:11“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days.”
• Proverbs 24:11Deliver those who are drawn toward death, And hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.
• Amos 5:11Therefore, because you tread down the poor And take grain taxes from him, Though you have built houses of hewn stone, Yet you shall not dwell in them; You have planted pleasant vineyards, But you shall not drink wine from them.
• Micah 7:3That they may successfully do evil with both hands— The prince asks for gifts, The judge seeks a bribe, And the great man utters his evil desire; So they scheme 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