then may my own wife grind grain for another, and may other men sleep with her.
Parallel translations
- WEB then let my wife grind for another, and let others sleep with her.
- KJV Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.
- NKJV Then let my wife grind for another, And let others bow down over her.
- NASB May my wife grind grain for another, And let others kneel down over her.
- NLT then let my wife serve another man; let other men sleep with her.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Job accepts that if he committed adultery, his own wife should serve and be taken by others. He pronounces a fitting curse to match the gravity of the sin.
Overview
In the oath form, Job declares that adultery would justly bring shame upon his own household, an outcome reflecting the principle that betrayal invites reciprocal loss. The harshness of the imagined curse underscores how seriously Job regarded the sin of unfaithfulness. While the language is severe, it highlights the sanctity of marriage that God upholds and that the gospel restores in hearts renewed by grace.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Jer 8:10Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.
- 2 Sam 12:11This is what the LORD says: ‘I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to another, and he will lie with them in broad daylight.
- Isa 47:2Take millstones and grind flour; remove your veil; strip off your skirt, bare your thigh, and wade through the streams.
- Exod 11:5and every firstborn son in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the servant girl behind the hand mill, as well as the firstborn of all the cattle.
- Deut 28:30You will be pledged in marriage to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house but will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but will not enjoy its fruit.
- Matt 24:41Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.
- Hos 4:13–14They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is pleasant. And so your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 31:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.