The Pulpit Commentary on Job 31:1

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

I made a covenant with mine eyes; rather, for mine eyes. The covenant must have been with himself. Job means that be came to a fixed resolution, by which he thenceforth guided his conduct, not even to "look upon a woman to lust after her" (Matthew 5:28).

We must suppose this resolution come to in his early youth, when the passions are strongest, and when so many men go astray. How then should I look upon a maid! Having made such a resolution, how could I possibly break it by "looking upon a maid"?

Job assumes that he could not be so weak as to break a solemn resolution.

More for Job 31:1

Continue with other commentaries and DiscipleDeck content connected to this verse, chapter, or topic.

Other commentaries

commentaryMatthew Henry on Job 31:1-8Job did not speak the things here recorded by way of boasting, but in answer to the charge of hypocrisy. He understood the spiritual nature of God's commandments, as reaching to the thoughts and intents of the heart. It…Matthew Henry commentaryJob's Vindication of Himself. (b. c. 1520.)JOB'S VINDICATION OF HIMSELF. (B. C. 1520.) The lusts of the flesh, and the love of the world, are the two fatal rocks on which multitudes split; against these Job protests he was always careful to stand upon his guard.…Matthew Henry commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Job 31:1-40Solemn assurances of innocence. Job can discover no connection between his present sufferings and those well-founded hopes of his former life to which he has been referring; but there remains the assumption of his guilt…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Job 31:1-40Job's second parable: 4. A solemn protestation of innocence. I. WITH RESPECT TO THE LAW OF CHASTITY. (Verses 1-4.) 1. The wickedness he eschewed. Not alone the crime of seduction, or the actual defilement of virginal in…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Job 31:1-40The consciousness of integrity. The Divine solution of the riddle of human life is being wrought out in this poem, although at times it seems as though the entanglement became more and more confused. The case, as put in…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Job 31:1-40EXPOSITION The conclusion of Job's long speech (ch. 26-31.) is now reached. He winds it up by a solemn vindication of himself from all the charges of wicked conduct which have been alleged or insinuated against him. per…Joseph S. Exell and contributors