The Book of Job

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- Kapitel 31 -

I reached an agreement with my eyes, that I would not so much as think about a virgin.

For what portion should God from above hold for me, and what inheritance should the Almighty from on high keep?

Is not destruction held for the wicked and repudiation kept for those who work injustice?

Does he not examine my ways and number all my steps?

If I have walked in vanity, or if my foot has hurried towards deceitfulness,

let him weigh me in a just balance, and let God know my simplicity.

If my steps have turned aside from the way, or if my heart has followed my eyes, or if a blemish has clung to my hands,(a)

then may I sow, and let another consume, and let my offspring be eradicated.

If my heart has been deceived over a woman, or if I have waited in ambush at my friend’s door,

then let my wife be the harlot of another, and let other men lean over her.

For this is a crime and a very great injustice.

It is a fire devouring all the way to perdition, and it roots out all that springs forth.

If I have despised being subject to judgment with my servant or my maid, when they had any complaint against me,

then what will I do when God rises to judge, and, when he inquires, how will I respond to him?

Is not he who created me in the womb, also he who labored to make him? And did not one and the same form me in the womb?(b)

If I have denied the poor what they wanted and have made the eyes of the widow wait;

if I have eaten my morsel of food alone, while orphans have not eaten from it;

(for from my infancy mercy grew with me, and it came out with me from my mother’s womb;)

if I have looked down on him who was perishing because he had no clothing and the poor without any covering,

if his sides have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

if I have lifted up my hand over an orphan, even when it might seem to me that I have the advantage over him at the gate;

then may my shoulder fall from its joint, and may my arm, with all its bones, be broken.

For I have always feared God, like waves flowing over me, whose weight I was unable to bear.

If I have considered gold to be my strength, or if I have called purified gold ‘my Trust;’

if I have rejoiced over my great success, and over the many things my hand has obtained;

if I gazed upon the sun when it shined and the moon advancing brightly,(c)

so that my heart rejoiced in secret and I kissed my hand with my mouth,

which is a very great iniquity and a denial against the most high God;

if I have been glad at the ruin of him who hated me and have exulted that evil found him,

for I have not been given my throat to sin by asking for a curse on his soul;

if the men around my tabernacle have not said: “He might give us some of his food, so that we will be filled,”(d)

for the foreigner did not remain at the door, my door was open to the traveler;

if, as man does, I have hidden my sin and have concealed my iniquity in my bosom;

if I became frightened by an excessive crowd, and the disrespect of close relatives alarmed me, so that I would much rather have remained silent or have gone out the door;

then, would he grant me a hearing, so that the Almighty would listen to my desire, and he who judges would himself write a book,(e)

which I would then carry on my shoulder and wrap around me like a crown?

With each of my steps, I would pronounce and offer it, as if to a prince.

So, if my land cries out against me, and if its furrows weep with it,

if I have used its fruits for nothing but money and have afflicted the souls of its tillers,(f)

then, may thistles spring forth for me instead of grain, and thorns instead of barley. (This ended the words of Job.)(g)

Fußnoten

(a)31:7 The Latin word ‘et’ is usually translated as ‘and,’ but in this and certain other contexts, it clearly means ‘or.’ Job is not saying: ‘If I have done all three of these things,’ but rather, ‘If I have done any one of these things.’ Therefore, the translation is ‘or’ not ‘and.’(Conte)

(b)31:15 The word ‘utero’ is more general in meaning in Latin than the word ‘uterus’ is in English. The Latin ‘utero’ can refer to a male’s abdomen or to a woman’s womb. So, why does the Latin use two words, utero and vulva, and two questions (or a two-part question) to ask the same thing? Because the masculine singular word utero refers, not to the womb, but to the father’s (not well understood during Job’s day) genitive capability, and the word vulva refers to the mother’s genitive capability.(Conte)

(c)31:26 If I beheld the sun, etc:If I behold the sun and moon with admiration, knowing them to be created and governed by the power of God, I call on my adversaries to produce any thing against me, whereby I could be charged with worshipping the sun or moon.(Challoner)

(d)31:31 Job is listing sinful things that he has not done, so this good deed is spoken of in the negative: ‘Si non dixerunt....’ The good deed is that any men who came around his tabernacle (or tent or home) knew that they might obtain food from him if they were hungry. The Latin is here translated loosely, because a strict literal translation would be more difficult to understand. Here ‘carnibus’ does not specifically refer to meat (or flesh), but to food or a meal. Notice that ‘Quis’ is not to be understood as the word ‘Who’ introducing a question, but as a pronoun, better translated as ‘He’ than as ‘Who.’ Latin uses ‘quis’ as a pronoun in a way that English rarely uses the word ‘who.’ The quote here, beginning with ‘Quis’ could be translated as a question, but it is more clearly understood in its proper meaning when translated as a statement. The hungry knew that they could count on Job for food when they were hungry. Notice also that the genitive ‘tabernaculi mei,’ referring to ‘viri’ does not connotate possession (the men of my tabernacle), for the next verse clearly indicates that these men are foreigners or travelers, not the men working or living at Job’s home. The genitive case can occasionally mean ‘among’ or ‘around’ rather than ‘of.’(Conte)

(e)31:35 Again, the word ‘quis’ in Latin does not always mean ‘who,’ even when used in a question. In this case, Job is referring to all of the previous ‘if...’ propositions, saying, if all of these faults had been found in Job, would He still grant Job a favorable hearing and a clear vindication? No, He would not. ‘Quis’ is here used as a pronoun referring to God.(Conte)

(f)31:39 This verse does not say: ‘if I have eaten of its fruits without money,’ but rather: ‘if I have used its fruits for nothing except money.’ The first translation does not make any sense. The second translation makes sense and fits with the theme of this part of the Book of Job, wherein Job lists the faults he doesn’t have. The word ‘comedi’ can refer to eating, but it can also refer to other kinds of consuming or the using of something. The word ‘absque’ can be translated as ‘without,’ but it can also mean ‘except for’ or ‘nothing but.’ Job is saying that it would be a sin to use the land as nothing but a source of money for himself.(Conte)

(g)31:40 The words of Job are ended.(Challoner)

Ich habe einen Bund mit meinen Augen geschlossen, nicht einmal einen Gedanken auf eine Jungfrau zu richten.

Denn welches Los bereitete mir Gott dann von oben und welches Erbe der Allmächtige aus der Höhe?

Gebührt nicht Verderben dem Bösen und Verstoßung denen, die Ungerechtigkeit tun?

Gibt er nicht acht auf meine Wege und zählt er nicht alle meine Schritte?

Wenn ich in Falschheit gewandelt bin und mein Fuß zum Betrug geeilt ist,

so wäge er mich auf gerechter Waage und Gott erkenne meine Unschuld.

Wenn mein Schritt von dem Wege abwich, wenn mein Herz meinen Augen nachfolgte, und wenn ein Makel an meinen Händen haftete,

so esse ein anderer, was ich säe, und mein Geschlecht werde entwurzelt!

Wenn mein Herz betört ward wegen eines Weibes und ich heimlich an der Tür meines Freundes gelauert habe,

so möge mein Weib die Buhlerin eines andern sein und andere mögen sich auf sie hinbeugen;

denn eine Schandtat ist das und der ärgste Frevel,

ein Feuer ist es, das bis zur Vernichtung verzehrt und alle Gewächse entwurzelt.

Fürwahr, ich habe es nicht verschmäht, mich dem Gerichte zu unterziehen mit meinem Knechte und meiner Magd, wenn sie Klage wider mich führten!

Was sollte ich denn tun, wenn sich Gott zum Gerichte erhebt? Und wenn er fragt, was sollte ich ihm antworten?

Hat nicht, der mich im Mutterleibe bildete, auch ihn erschaffen und der eine mich im Mutterschoße gestaltet?

Wahrlich, ich habe den Armen nicht versagt, was sie begehrten, und ließ die Augen der Witwe nicht schmachten;

ich habe meinen Bissen nicht allein gegessen, dass die Waise nicht davon mitgenoß.

(Von meiner Kindheit an wuchs ja das Erbarmen mit mir auf, aus meiner Mutter Leib kam es mit mir.)

Fürwahr, ich habe den nicht verachtet, der umkam, weil er kein Gewand hatte, und den Armen, weil er ohne Bedeckung war;

wahrlich, seine Hüften segneten mich und er ward erwärmt von den Fellen meiner Schafe;

gegen eine Waise erhob ich nicht meine Hand, auch da, als ich mich in der Torhalle überlegen sah:

sonst möge meine Schulter aus ihrem Gelenke fallen und mein Arm werde gebrochen mit seinen Knochen.

Denn wie Fluten, die über mir anschwellen, so fürchtete ich immer Gott und seine Last vermochte ich nicht zu ertragen.

Wahrlich, auf Gold setzte ich nicht meine Kraft und zu dem funkelnden Metalle sprach ich nicht: Du bist meine Zuversicht!

An der Menge meiner Reichtümer habe ich mich nicht ergötzt, und dass meine Hand soviel erworben.

Ich habe nicht zur Sonne emporgeschaut, wie sie strahlte, noch zum Monde, da er so klar einherschritt,

und nicht freute sich dann im stillen mein Herz noch führte ich dann meine Hand zum Kusse an meinen Mund.

Das wäre ein übergroßer Frevel und eine Verleugnung Gottes, des Allerhöchsten.

Ich habe mich nicht gefreut bei dem Untergang dessen, der mich hasste, und frohlockte nicht, dass ihn Unglück traf;

denn ich gestattete meinem Munde nicht zu sündigen, dass ich ihm fluchend den Tod gewünscht hätte.

Wahrlich, die Männer meines Zeltes sprachen: Wer möchte uns von seinem Fleische geben, dass wir satt werden?

Nie durfte ein Fremdling draußen bleiben, meine Tür stand dem Wanderer offen.

Nicht verhehlte ich nach Menschenart meine Sünde oder verbarg in meinem Busen meine Missetat.

Ich erschrak nicht vor der großen Menge und die Schmähung meiner Nächsten schreckte mich nicht, ich schwieg vielmehr und ging zur Tür hinaus.

Wer gibt mir jemanden, der mich verhört, dass der Allmächtige mein Verlangen höre und er selber, der richtet, die Klageschrift schreibe.

Ich wollte sie auf meiner Schulter tragen und wie eine Krone auf mich legen!

Über alle meine Schritte will ich sie verkünden und wie einem Fürsten sie ihm vorlegen!

Wenn mein Land wider mich schreit und seine Furchen mit ihm weinen,

wenn ich seinen Ertrag gegessen habe ohne Zahlung und die Seele seiner Bebauer betrübt habe:

so sollen mir Disteln statt Korn wachsen und Dornengestrüpp statt Gerste. Ende der Worte Jobs.