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 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—

Context of Job 31:34

32—but no stranger had to spend the night outside for my door was open to the traveler— 33if I have I covered my transgressions like Adam, by hiding my guilt in my bosom because I feared a great multitude, and the contempt of clans terrified me, so that I kept silent and would not go outside. 35O, that I had someone to hear me! Look, here is my signature, let Shaddai answer me, let the accuser write the indictment! 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 23:2“Do not follow a crowd to do evil. Nor are you to testify in a case, to follow a crowd and pervert justice.
• Proverbs 29:25Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but one who trusts in Adonai will be kept safe.
• Jeremiah 38:4Then the officials said to the king: “This man should now be put to death, since he demoralizes the men of war remaining in this city as well as all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the shalom of this people, but calamity.”
• Matthew 27:20Now the ruling kohanim and elders persuaded the crowds that they should ask for Bar-Abba and destroy Yeshua.
• Job 22:8Though you were a mighty man, owning land— an honored man living on it.
• Job 34:19Who shows no partiality before princes, and does not favor the rich over the poor, for they are all the work of His hands.
• Exodus 32:27He said to them, “This is what Adonai, the God of Israel says, ‘Every man put on his sword, and go to and fro, from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’”
• Numbers 25:14The name of the Israelite man killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, a prince of a Simeonite ancestral household.
• Nehemiah 5:7I pondered them in my heart and then I opposed the nobles and the officials, saying to them, “Usury! Each of you is putting his brother in debt!” So I convened a great assembly to deal with them.
• Nehemiah 13:4Prior to this Eliashib the kohen was given authority over the storerooms in the House of our God.
• 2 Corinthians 5:16So from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Messiah according to the flesh, yet now we no longer know Him this way.
• Esther 4:11“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces fully understand that for anyone, man or woman, who approaches the king in the inner courtyard without being summoned, he has one law—that he be put to death, unless the king extends his golden scepter permitting him to live. But I have not been summoned to come to the king for 30 days.”
• Proverbs 24:11Rescue those being dragged off to death, hold back those stumbling to slaughter.
• Amos 5:11Therefore, because you trample on the poor, exacting from him a burden of grain, you built houses of hewn stone, but will not dwell in them, you planted pleasant vineyards, but will not drink their wine.
• Micah 7:3Both hands are diligent at doing evil. The official and the judge ask for a bribe. The distinguished man utters a 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