this would also be an iniquity to be judged, for I would have denied God on high.
Parallel translations
- WEB this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; for I should have denied the God who is above.
- KJV This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.
- NKJV This also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment, For I would have denied God who is above.
- NASB That too would have been a guilty deed calling for judgment, For I would have denied God above.
- NLT If so, I should be punished by the judges, for it would mean I had denied the God of heaven.
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 such idolatry an iniquity deserving judgment, for it would deny the God who is above. He recognizes idolatry as a betrayal of the true God.
Overview
Job declares that secret worship of the heavenly bodies would be a punishable sin because it denies the sovereign God who reigns above all. Idolatry is fundamentally treason against the Creator. This sober judgment underscores the exclusive claim God has on human worship, a claim honored perfectly by Christ, who worshiped the Father alone and through whom right worship is restored to fallen humanity.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Job 31:11For that would be a heinous crime, an iniquity to be judged.
- Deut 17:2–7If a man or woman among you in one of the towns that the LORD your God gives you is found doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God by transgressing His covenant
- Ps 50:6And the heavens proclaim His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge. Selah
- Job 9:15For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy.
- Josh 24:27And Joshua said to all the people, “You see this stone. It will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words the LORD has spoken to us, and it will be a witness against you if you ever deny your God.”
- Deut 17:9You are to go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who presides at that time. Inquire of them, and they will give you a verdict in the case.
- Job 23:7Then an upright man could reason with Him, and I would be delivered forever from my Judge.
- Judg 11:27I have not sinned against you, but you have done me wrong by waging war against me. May the LORD, the Judge, decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”
- Gen 18:25Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”
- Josh 24:23“Now, therefore,” he said, “get rid of the foreign gods among you and incline your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.”
- Prov 30:9Otherwise, I may have too much and deny You, saying, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, profaning the name of my God.
- Heb 12:23in joyful assembly, to the congregation of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven. You have come to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
- Titus 1:16They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
- Jude 1:4For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed—ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
- 2 Pet 2:1Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.
- 1 Jn 2:23Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.
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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 31:28 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.