If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door;
Parallel translations
- WEB “If my heart has been enticed to a woman, and I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door,
- BSB If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife, or I have lurked at his door,
- NKJV “If my heart has been enticed by a woman, Or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
- NASB ¶“If my heart has been enticed by a woman, Or I have lurked at my neighbor’s doorway,
- NLT “If my heart has been seduced by a woman, or if I have lusted for my neighbor’s wife,
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 has not been seduced into adultery or lain in wait at his neighbor's door. He defends his faithfulness in marriage.
Overview
Job denies that his heart has been enticed toward another man's wife or that he has schemed to commit adultery. This affirms his obedience to the moral law protecting marriage and his neighbor's household. Marital faithfulness reflects God's covenant love, and the union of husband and wife ultimately pictures Christ and his bride the church, whose faithfulness to one another the gospel upholds.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 1 Kgs 11:4For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.
- Eccl 7:26And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.
- Judg 16:5And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.
- Hos 7:4They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.
- Job 24:15–16The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face.
- Prov 22:14The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.
- Prov 6:25Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
- Neh 13:26Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.
- Prov 2:16–19To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
- Jer 5:8They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.
- Prov 7:21With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
- Prov 5:3–23For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
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 31:9 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.