For that would be a heinous crime, an iniquity to be judged.
Parallel translations
- WEB For that would be a heinous crime. Yes, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges:
- KJV For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.
- NKJV For that would be wickedness; Yes, it would be iniquity deserving of judgment.
- NASB “For that would be a lustful crime; Moreover, it would be wrongdoing punishable by judges.
- NLT For lust is a shameful sin, a crime that should be punished.
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 calls adultery a heinous crime and an iniquity deserving judicial punishment. He affirms its seriousness in God's moral order.
Overview
Job labels adultery as a shameful, deliberate wickedness worthy of judgment by the judges, recognizing it as a grave offense against God and neighbor. This shows his deep reverence for the sanctity of marriage even before the law was formally given. The verse underscores the holiness God requires, a standard sinners cannot meet on their own, pointing to the need for the forgiveness and cleansing offered in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Lev 20:10If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death.
- Job 31:28this would also be an iniquity to be judged, for I would have denied God on high.
- Deut 22:22–24If a man is found lying with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.
- Gen 38:24About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and now she is pregnant.” “Bring her out!” Judah replied. “Let her be burned to death!”
- Gen 20:9Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought such tremendous guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done.”
- Gen 26:10“What is this you have done to us?” asked Abimelech. “One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”
- Prov 6:29–33So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
- Exod 20:14You shall not commit adultery.
- Ezek 16:38And I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and those who shed blood; so I will bring upon you the wrath of your bloodshed and jealousy.
- Gen 39:9No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 31:11 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.