If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin, or exulted when evil befell him—
Parallel translations
- WEB “If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him
- KJV If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him:
- NKJV “IfI have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, Or lifted myself up when evil found him
- NASB ¶“Have I rejoiced at the misfortune of my enemy, Or become excited when evil found him?
- NLT “Have I ever rejoiced when disaster struck my enemies, or become excited when harm came their way?
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 swears he never rejoiced at the ruin of his enemy or gloated when evil befell him who hated him. He affirms his freedom from vengeful malice.
Overview
Job denies the all-too-human temptation to delight in the downfall of his enemies. Refusing to gloat over a foe's misfortune reflects a heart shaped by genuine love rather than vengeance. This anticipates the teaching of Christ to love one's enemies and pray for persecutors, and it reflects God's own restraint, who takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but desires their repentance.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Prov 24:17–18Do not gloat when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,
- Prov 17:5He who mocks the poor insults their Maker; whoever gloats over calamity will not go unpunished.
- Ps 35:13–14Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered.
- Obad 1:12But you should not gloat in that day, your brother’s day of misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast proudly in the day of their distress.
- Ps 35:25–26Let them not say in their hearts, “Aha, just what we wanted!” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up!”
- 2 Sam 1:12They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the people of the LORD and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
- 2 Sam 16:5–8As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the family of the house of Saul was just coming out. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and as he approached, he kept yelling out curses.
- 2 Sam 4:10–11when someone told me, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was a bearer of good news, I seized him and put him to death at Ziklag. That was his reward for his news!
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 31:29 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.