Job 31 · Verse 13

Job 31:13

If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;
Job 31:13, King James Version

Job 31:13 in other translations

BSBIf I have rejected the cause of my manservant or maidservant when they made a complaint against me,
WEB“If I have despised the cause of my male servant or of my female servant, when they contended with me,
ASVIf I have despised the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant, When they contended with me;
YLTIf I despise the cause of my man-servant, And of my handmaid, In their contending with me,
DARBYIf I have despised the cause of my bondman or of my bondmaid, when they contended with me,
BBEIf I did wrong in the cause of my man-servant, or my woman-servant, when they went to law with me;
WebsterIf I despised the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant, when they contended with me;

What does Job 31:13 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Job 31:13-23
13-23. Job affirms his freedom from unfairness towards his servants, from harshness and oppression towards the needy. despise the cause--refused to do them justice.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 13 The cause of my man-servant - In ancient times slaves had no action at law against their owners; they might dispose of them as they did of their cattle, or any other property. The slave might complain; and the owner might hear him if he pleased, but he was not compelled to do so. Job states that he had admitted them to all civil rights; and, far from preventing their case from being heard, he was ready to permit them to complain even against himself, if they had a cause of complaint, and to give them all the benefit of the law.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 31:9-15

All the defilements of the life come from a deceived heart. Lust is a fire in the soul: those that indulge it, are said to burn. It consumes all that is good there, and lays the conscience waste. It kindles the fire of God's wrath, which, if not quenched by the blood of Christ, will consume even to eternal destruction. It consumes the body; it consumes the substance. Burning lusts bring burning judgments. Job had a…

Read the full comment on Job 31:9-15 →

Job 31:13 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

אִם\־'im-ifH518
אֶמְאַ֗ס'em.'AsI rejectedH3988
מִשְׁפַּ֣טmish.Pat[the] cause ofH4941
עַ֭בְדִּי'Av.dimale servant myH5650
וַאֲמָתִ֑יva.'a.ma.Tiand female servant myH519
בְּ֝רִבָ֗םbe.ri.Vamin complaint theirH7379
עִמָּדִֽי\׃'i.ma.Diwith meH5978

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Job 31:13

  • Leviticus 25:43

    Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God.

  • Deuteronomy 24:14-15

    Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates: At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the Lord, and it be sin unto thee.

  • Exodus 21:20-21

    And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished. Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.

  • Jeremiah 34:14-17

    At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name: But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids. Therefore thus saith the Lord; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

  • Leviticus 25:46

    And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.

  • Colossians 4:1

    Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.

  • Ephesians 6:9

    And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.

  • Exodus 21:26-27

    And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake. And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.

  • Deuteronomy 15:12-15

    And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
the cause.
Ex 21:20,21,26,27; Le 25:43,46; De 15:12-15; Jer 34:14-17
Eph 6:9; Col 4:1
when.In ancient times slaves had no action at law against their owners; but Job admitted them to all civil rights, and permitted them to complain even against himself.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Job 31:12

    For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.

  • Job 31:13

    If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;

  • Job 31:14

    What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?

Read all of Job 31

Job 31:13 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Si hubiera tenido en poco el derecho de mi siervo y de mi sierva, cuando ellos pleitearan conmigo,
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Si j’ai méprisé le droit de mon serviteur ou de ma servante quand ils contestaient avec moi,
German
Elberfelder 1871
Wenn ich das Recht meines Knechtes und meiner Magd mißachtete, als sie mit mir stritten:
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Si contempsi subire judicium cum servo meo et ancilla mea, cum disceptarent adversum me: