Job 31 · Verse 33

Job 31:33

If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:

Job 31:33, King James Version

Job 31:33 in other translations

BSB	if I have covered my transgressions like Adam by hiding my guilt in my heart,
WEB	if like Adam I have covered my transgressions, by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
ASV	If like Adam I have covered my transgressions, By hiding mine iniquity in my bosom,
YLT	If I have covered as Adam my transgressions, To hide in my bosom mine iniquity,
DARBY	If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom,
BBE	If I kept my evil doings covered, and my sin in the secret of my breast,
Webster	If I have covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom:

What does Job 31:33 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

33. Adam--translated by Umbreit, "as men do" (Ho 6:7, where see Margin). But English Version is more natural. The very same word for "hiding" is used in Ge 3:8, 10, of Adam hiding himself from God. Job elsewhere alludes to the flood. So he might easily know of the fall, through the two links which connect Adam and Abraham (about Job's time), namely, Methuselah and Shem. Adam is representative of fallen man's propensity to concealment (Pr 28:13). It was from God that Job did not "hide his iniquity in his bosom," as on the contrary it was from God that "Adam" hid in his lurking-place. This disproves the translation, "as men"; for it is from their fellow men that "men" are chiefly anxious to hide their real character as guilty. Magee, to make the comparison with Adam more exact, for my "bosom" translates, "lurking-place."

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 33 If I covered my transgressions as Adam - Here is a most evident allusion to the fall. Adam transgressed the commandment of his Maker, and he endeavored to conceal it; first, by hiding himself among the trees of the garden: "I heard thy voice, and went and Hid myself;" secondly, by laying the blame on his wife: "The woman gave me, and I did eat;" and thirdly, by charging the whole directly on God himself: "The woman which Thou Gavest Me to be with me, She gave me of the tree, and I did eat." And it is very likely that Job refers immediately to the Mosaic account in the Book of Genesis. The spirit of this saying is this: When I have departed at any time from the path of rectitude, I have been ready to acknowledge my error, and have not sought excuses or palliatives for my sin.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 31:33-40

Job clears himself from the charge of hypocrisy. We are loth to confess our faults, willing to excuse them, and to lay the blame upon others. But he that thus covers his sins, shall not prosper, Pr 28:13. He speaks of his courage in what is good, as an evidence of his sincerity in it. When men get estates unjustly, they are justly deprived of comfort from them; it was sown wheat, but shall come up thistles. What men do not come honestly by, will never do them any good. The words of Job are ended. They end with a bold assertion, that, with respect to accusation against his moral and religious character as the cause for his sufferings, he could appeal to God. But, however confident Job was, we shall see he was mistaken, chap. 40:4, 5; 1Jo 1:8. Let us all judge ourselves; wherein we are guilty, let us seek forgiveness in that blood which cleanseth from all sin; and may the Lord have mercy upon us, and write his laws in our hearts!

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Job 31:33 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

כִּסִּ֣יתִיki.Si.tiI have concealedH3680

כְאָדָ֣םkhe.'a.Damlike AdamH121

פְּשָׁעָ֑יpe.sha.'Aitransgressions myH6588

לִטְמ֖וֹןlit.Monby hidingH2934

בְּחֻבִּ֣יbe.chu.Biin bosom myH2243

עֲוֹֽנִי\׃'a.Vo.niiniquity myH5771

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

Cross references for Job 31:33

Proverbs 28:13
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
Acts 5:8
And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.
Genesis 3:12
And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
Hosea 6:7
But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.
1 John 1:8-10
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Joshua 7:11
Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.
Genesis 3:7-8
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

covered.
Ge 3:7,8,12; Jos 7:11; Pr 28:13; Ho 6:7; Ac 5:8; 1Jo 1:8-10
as Adam. or, after the manner of men.
Ho 6:7

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

Context

Job 31:32
The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveller.
Job 31:33
If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:
Job 31:34
Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door?

Read all of Job 31

Job 31:33 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Si encubrí, como los hombres mis prevaricaciones, escondiendo en mi seno mi iniquidad;
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Si j’ai couvert ma transgression comme Adam, en cachant mon iniquité dans mon sein,
German Elberfelder 1871	wenn ich, wie Adam, meine Übertretungen zugedeckt habe, verbergend in meinem Busen meine Missetat,
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Si abscondi quasi homo peccatum meum, et celavi in sinu meo iniquitatem meam;