Job 31 · Verse 9

Job 31:9

If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door;

Job 31:9, King James Version

Job 31:9 in other translations

BSB	If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife, or I have lurked at his door,
WEB	“If my heart has been enticed to a woman, and I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door,
ASV	If my heart hath been enticed unto a woman, And I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door;
YLT	If my heart hath been enticed by woman, And by the opening of my neighbour I laid wait,
DARBY	If my heart have been enticed unto a woman, so that I laid wait at my neighbour's door,
BBE	If my heart went after another man's wife, or if I was waiting secretly at my neighbour's door;
Webster	If my heart hath been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbor's door;

What does Job 31:9 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Job 31:9-12

9-12. Job asserts his innocence of adultery. deceived--hath let itself be seduced (Pr 7:8; Ge 39:7-12). laid wait--until the husband went out.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 9 If mine heart have been deceived by a woman - The Septuagint add, ανδρος ἑτερου, another man's wife.

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 numerous household, and he managed it well. He considered that he had a Master in heaven; and as we are undone if God should be severe with us, we ought to be mild and gentle towards all with whom we have to do.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Job 31:9 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

נִפְתָּ֣הnif.Tahit has been deceivedH6601

לִ֭בִּיLi.biheart myH3820

עַל\־'al-onH5921

אִשָּׁ֑ה'i.Shaha womanH802

וְעַל\־ve.'al-and atH5921

פֶּ֖תַחPe.tach[the] doorway ofH6607

רֵעִ֣יre.'Ineighbor myH7453

אָרָֽבְתִּי\׃'a.Ra.ve.tiI have lain in waitH693

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

Cross references for Job 31:9

1 Kings 11:4
For 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.
Judges 16:5
And 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.
Ecclesiastes 7:26
And 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.
Proverbs 2:16-19
To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
Jeremiah 5:8
They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.
Nehemiah 13:26
Did 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.
Job 24:15-16
The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face. In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.
Hosea 7:4
They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.
Proverbs 6:25
Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
Proverbs 22:14
The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein.
Proverbs 7:21
With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.
Proverbs 5:3-23
For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them. …

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

If mine.
Jud 16:5; 1Ki 11:4; Ne 13:26; Pr 2:16-19; 5:3-23; 6:25; 7:21; 22:14
Ec 7:26
if I.
24:15,16; Jer 5:8; Ho 7:4

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

Context

Job 31:8
Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.
Job 31:9
If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door;
Job 31:10
Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.

Read all of Job 31

Job 31:9 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Si fué mi corazón engañado acerca de mujer, y si estuve acechando á la puerta de mi prójimo:
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Si mon cœur s’est laissé attirer vers une femme et que j’aie fait le guet à la porte de mon prochain,
German Elberfelder 1871	Wenn mein Herz zu einem Weibe verlockt worden ist und ich an der Tür meines Nächsten gelauert habe:
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Si deceptum est cor meum super muliere, et si ad ostium amici mei insidiatus sum,