For lust is a shameful sin, a crime that should be punished.
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.
- BSB For that would be a heinous crime, an iniquity to be judged.
- 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.
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 20:10“‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, even he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
- Job 31:28this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; for I should have denied the God who is above.
- Deut 22:22–24If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both die, the man who lay with the woman and the woman. So you shall remove the evil from Israel.
- Gen 38:24About three months later, Judah was told, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has played the prostitute. Moreover, behold, she is with child by prostitution.” Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.”
- Gen 20:9Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done!”
- Gen 26:10Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!”
- Prov 6:29–33So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife. Whoever touches her will not be unpunished.
- Exod 20:14“You shall not commit adultery.
- Ezek 16:38I will judge you, as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy.
- Gen 39:9No one is greater in this house than I am, and he has not kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
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 31:11 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.