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or if I have stolen its crops or murdered its owners,
Job 31:39 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB if I have eaten its fruits without money, or have caused its owners to lose their life,
  • KJV If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:
  • BSB if I have devoured its produce without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants,
  • NKJV If I have eaten its fruit without money, Or caused its owners to lose their lives;
  • NASB If I have eaten its fruit without money, Or have caused its owners to lose their lives,

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 consumed his land's produce without paying or caused its owners to lose their lives. He affirms he never exploited or oppressed those who worked his fields.

Overview

Job denies eating the fruit of his land unjustly or bringing death to its rightful tenants and laborers. This guards against the oppression of workers, a sin the prophets repeatedly condemn. Job's just dealing with those who depended on his land reflects God's concern for the rights of laborers, a justice fully honored in Christ, who defends the oppressed and judges the exploiter.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • 1 Kgs 21:19You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Yahweh says, “Have you killed and also taken possession?”’ You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Yahweh says, “In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs will lick your blood, even yours.”’”
  • Jas 5:4Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of those who reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Armies.
  • Prov 1:19So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners.
  • Ezek 22:12–13In you have they taken bribes to shed blood. You have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by oppression, and have forgotten me,” says the Lord Yahweh.
  • Isa 26:21For, behold, Yahweh comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth also will disclose her blood, and will no longer cover her slain.
  • Gen 4:12From now on, when you till the ground, it won’t yield its strength to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth.”
  • 1 Kgs 21:13–16The two men, the base fellows, came in and sat before him. The base fellows testified against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king!” Then they carried him out of the city and stoned him to death with stones.
  • Ezek 22:6“‘“Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone according to his power, have been in you to shed blood.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Job 31:39YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 31:39 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.