Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 31:7
If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;
7. out of the way ] i. e. the way of rectitude, set before him by God, ch. Job 23:11. This going out of the way is amplified in the next words, if mine heart walked after mine eyes, i. e. if my mind consented and yielded to the lust of the eye. By such yielding he would have fallen into deeds that would have left a “blot” or stain upon his hands; comp. Psa 24:4.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
If my step hath turned out of the way – The path in which I ought to walk – the path of virtue.
And mine heart walked after mine eyes – That is, if I have coveted what my eyes have beheld; or if I have been determined by the appearance of things rather than by what is right, I consent to bear the appropriate punishment.
And if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands – To have clean hands is emblematic of innocence; Job 17:9; Psa 24:4; compare Mat 27:24. The word blot here means stain, blemish: Dan 1:4. The idea is, that his hands were pure, and that he had not been guilty of any act of fraud or violence in depriving others of their property.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 7. If my step hath turned out of the way] I am willing to be sifted to the uttermost-for every step of my foot, for every thought of my heart, for every look of mine eye, and for every act of my hands.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
If I have wittingly, and willingly, and customarily (as you accuse me) swerved from the way of truth and justice which God hath prescribed to me; for otherwise no man here is so just, but he sometimes takes a wrong step, Ecc 7:20. If I have let my heart loose to covet and seek after forbidden things, which mine eyes have seen; which may design either,
1. The lust of uncleanness; but of that he had spoken Job 31:1, and reneweth the discourse Job 31:9. Or rather,
2. The lust of covetousness, which is called the lust of the eyes, 1Jo 2:16, partly because it is oft caused by sight, as Jos 7:21, and partly because ofttimes all the satisfaction it gives is to please the sight, Ecc 5:11. And this sin is most legible in the following punishment, Job 31:8, where his loss answers to this evil gain. The phrase notes the common method and progress of sin, which is to enter by the eye to the heart, Gen 3:6; Num 15:39; Ecc 2:10; 11:9.
Any blot, or blemish, to wit, any unjust gain. If I have in my hands or possession any goods gotten from others by fraud or violence, which would be a great scandal and a blot to my reputation.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. Connected with Job31:6.
the wayof God (Job 23:11;Jer 5:5). A godly life.
heart . . . after . . .eyesif my heart coveted, what my eyes beheld (Ecc 11:9;Jos 7:21).
hands (Ps24:4).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
If my step hath turned out of the way,…. The way of God, the way of his commandments, the good and right way, the way of truth and righteousness, so far as Job had knowledge of it: for, besides the law and light of nature the Gentiles had in common, good men had some revelation, and notions of the mind and will of God unto them, both before and after the flood, previous to the Mosaic dispensation; which in some measure directed them what way to walk in, with respect to worship and duty; and from this way Job swerved not; not that he walked so perfectly in it as to be free from sin, and never commit any; or that he never took a step out of the way, or stepped awry; but he did not knowingly, wittingly, and purposely turn out of the way; and when, through infirmity of the flesh, the temptations of Satan, and snares of the world, he was drawn aside, he did not obstinately and finally persist therein; though this may have respect not to sin in general, but to the particular sin he is clearing himself from, namely, dealing falsely and deceitfully with men, in whatsoever he had to do with them, in matters of “meum” and “tuum”; or with regard to the rules of justice and equity between man and man, he was not conscious to himself he had departed from them; a like expression to those in Ps 7:3, where some particular sin is referred unto:
and mine heart walked after mine eyes; meaning not in the lust of uncleanness, of which he had spoken before, as such do whose eyes are full of adultery; but in the sin of covetousness, so Achan’s heart walked after his eyes, Jos 7:20; and this is one of the three things the world is full of, and the men of it indulge themselves in, the lust of the eyes, 1Jo 2:16; the sense is, that when he saw the riches and wealth of others, he did not covet them, nor take any illicit methods to get them out of their hands; or, when he saw the goods they were possessed of, and had with them to dispose of, he did not take the advantage of their ignorance, or use any evil ways and means to cheat and beguile them of them: it is pleasing to the flesh for the heart to walk after the eye, or to indulge to that which it is taken with; but it is very vain and foolish, as well as very dangerous so to do, Ec 2:10; a good man chooses a better guide than his eyes; even to be a follower of God, to tread in the steps of his living Redeemer, to walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, and according to the law and will of God:
and if any blot cleaved to my hands; any spot, stain, or blemish, as all sin is of a defiling nature, particularly the hands may be blotted by shedding innocent blood, by taking bribes to pervert judgment; which the Septuagint version directs to here; and by getting, holding, and retaining mammon of unrighteousness, or ill gotten goods; which is what is chiefly if not solely intended here; for it may be rendered, “if any thing hath cleaved”, c. so Aben Ezra and Ben Gersom for the word signifies both a “blot” and “anything”: and the Targum takes in both senses: the meaning seems to be, that there was not anything of another man’s in his hands, which he had taken from him by force and violence, or find obtained by any deceitful methods, and which he held fast, and it stuck with him as pitch to the hands, and he did not care to part with it, or restore it, whereby his hands were defiled; otherwise Job had no such opinion of the cleanness of his hands and actions, as if he thought there was no spot of sin in them, or only such as he could wash out himself; he clearly speaks the contrary, Job 9:30; which is the sense of every good man, who, conscious of his spots and blemishes, washes his hands, his actions, his conversation garments, and makes them white in the blood of the Lamb; and such, and such only, have clean hands.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(7) If my step hath turned out of the wayThe form of the expression is very emphatic: the narrow way of strict integrity and righteousness. (Compare the expression applied to the first believers, Act. 9:2men of the way.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. The way Used figuratively for the law of God.
Mine heart here, as in many other places, denotes the will or active reason, rather than the mere feeling. It is what Socrates calls the reversal, or turning upside down, or wrong end foremost, of human nature, indicating a dire catastrophe; the reason following the sense, and submitting to the sense instead of controlling it. (Tayler Lewis.)
Mine eyes As in Job 31:1. Blot See the gloss of Elihu upon Job’s self-righteousness, Job 33:9.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 31:7. And mine heart walked after mine eyes The expression is strong and beautiful. The meaning of this latter clause is, “If my eyes have seduced my heart, or any corruption have defiled my hands.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Job 31:7 If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;
Ver. 7. If my step hath turned out of the way ] sc. Of justice and equity, in trading and trafficking to get the mammon of unrighteousness. No; the sun might sooner be turned out of his course (as it was once said of Fabricius) than Job out of the track of truth and honesty; he had laid laws upon his feet, his eyes, and his hands too; binding them all to the good behaviour: witness the next words.
And mine heart walked after mine eyes
And if any blot hath cleaved to my hands
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
If my: Psa 44:20, Psa 44:21
mine heart: Num 15:39, Ecc 11:9, Eze 6:9, Eze 14:3, Eze 14:7, Mat 5:29
cleaved: Psa 101:3, Isa 33:15
Reciprocal: Ecc 6:9 – wandering of the desire Jer 22:17 – thine eyes Eph 2:2 – in time 2Pe 2:14 – eyes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 31:7-8. If my step hath turned out of the way If I have knowingly and willingly swerved from the way of truth and justice, which God hath prescribed to me; and my heart walked after mine eyes A strong and beautiful expression, signifying, if my eyes have seduced my heart. If I have let my heart loose to desire forbidden objects, which my eyes have seen. Commonly sin enters by the eye into the heart: thus David, letting his heart walk after his eyes, was led into the sin, first, of adultery, and then, of murder. How careful then ought we to be, how deeply should this be fixed in our minds, not to let our heart walk after our eyes. It is a maxim which deserves to be written, we will not say in letters of gold, but, what is of more importance, on the table of every heart! And if any blot hath cleaved to my hands Any unjust gain. If I have had or have in my hands, or possession, any goods, gotten from others by fraud or violence, which would be a great scandal and a blot to my reputation: Then let me sow, and let another eat Let strangers enjoy the fruit of my labours. Yea, let my offspring be rooted out Or, rather, my increase; all my plants, and fruits, and improvements, as the word , tzeetzaai, properly signifies. Indeed, Job had not now any children to be rooted out.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
31:7 If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart {e} walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;
(e) That is, has accomplished the lust of my eyes.