Глава 31

Job's third speech to his friends. 1–40. Job was punished for no reason and undeservedly, since in his previous life he represented an example of purity possible for a person in moral and religious relations. Job 31:1. I made a covenant with my eyes, so that I would not think about the girl. First of all, Job was so chaste that he avoided adulterous thoughts. He agreed with the eyes (“he made a covenant”), through which corruption penetrates the soul (Gen. 3.6; Proverbs 23.33), not to cast unclean glances on the maiden (Proverbs 6.25; Sir 9.5, 8). Job 31:2. What is my fate from God above? And what is the inheritance from the Almighty from heaven? Job 31:3. Is it not destruction for the wicked, and destruction for the evildoer? Job 31:4. Did He not see my ways, and did He not count all my steps? The motivation to suppress sin in the bud was the thought of punishment (“fate”, “inheritance”; cf. Job 20.29, 27.13) for unchastity (Gen. 39.9), which, given the idea of ​​God as an omniscient Judge (v. 4; cf. Ps. 138.2), was inevitable. Job 31:5. If I walked in vanity, and if my foot hastened to deceit, Job 31:6. let me be weighed in the scales of righteousness, and God will know my integrity. Job was further alien to untruth in the form of hidden, disguised lies (Hebrew “shave”; cf. Job 11.11; Synodal – “vanity”) and deception (Hebrew “myrma”). The most impartial court cannot detect such vices in him (“let them weigh... in the balance”; cf. Dan 5.27); he will come out of it blameless (cf. Job 1.1, 2.3). Job 31:7. If my steps have wandered from the path and my heart has followed my eyes, and if anything unclean has stuck to my hands, Job 31:8. then let me sow and another eat, and let my branches be uprooted. For deviating from the path of the truth indicated by God (Job 23.11), starting with the desire of the eyes (Gen. 3.6; 1Jn 2.16), leading the soul to the path of sin (Proverbs 23.33), which in turn affects the hands, forcing them to defile themselves with something unclean (“it has stuck to my hands”; cf. Deut. 13.17), in this case by acquiring someone else’s property, Job ready to suffer a well-deserved punishment. Another must take advantage of his crops (v. 8: cf. Job 5.5; Lev. 26.16; Deut. 28.30, etc.), and all the products of the land that belonged to him must be destroyed. The synodal expression “branches” conveys the Hebrew word “tzeetsaim”, which means, firstly, “descendants” (Job 5.25, 21.8, 27.14), and secondly, “the products of the earth” (Isaiah 34.1, 42.5). Judging by the context, it is used here in the latter sense. Job 31:9. If my heart was enticed by a woman and I built forts at my neighbor’s door, Job 31:10. let my wife talk about someone else, and let others mock her, Having avoided adulterous thoughts (v. I), Job is all the more not guilty of adultery itself. His heart was not seduced by his neighbor's wife and he did not seek cunning means ("built forges"; cf. Proverbs 7.12) to desecrate his family hearth. The punishment for this was to be the loss of one’s own wife, turning her into a slave - the concubine of another: “grinds against another” (cf. Exodus 11.5; Isaiah 47.2). Job 31:11. because this is a crime, this is lawlessness, subject to trial; Job 31:12. this is a fire that consumes to the point of destruction, which would uproot all my goodness. The inevitability of such punishment is explained by the fact that adultery is a crime (Hebrew “dhimma” - sin of the flesh; Lev. 18.17, 19.29), subject to retribution according to the judgment of God (Lev. 20.10). In terms of its consequences, it is an all-consuming fire that knows no boundaries ("devouring to the point of destruction" - to "Abaddon"; cf. Job 26.6) fire (cf. Proverbs 6.26-29; Sir 9.9), accompanied by the destruction of the entire property of the adulterer (Proverbs 5.9, 6.35). Job 31:13. If I neglected the rights of my servant and maidservant when they had a dispute with me, Job 31:14. what would I do if God rose? And when He looked at me, what could I answer Him? Job 31:15. Was it not He, who created me in the womb, who also created him and likewise formed us in the womb? Job never abused the rights of the strong in relation to his servants and maids - he did not deny them a fair trial. The motivation for this was the fear of divine punishment. With all their inequality and differences in position, master and servant are identical creations of God, and children of the same Heavenly Father, brothers among themselves (Mal 2.10; Eph 6.9). And God would not leave the offender of his children without vengeance. Job 31:16. Have I refused the needy their request and made the widow's eyes weary? Job 31:17. Am I the only one who ate my morsel, and did not the orphan also eat from it? Job 31:18. For from childhood he grew up with me as with a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow. Job 31:19. If I saw someone dying without clothes and a poor person without a covering, - Job 31:20. did not his loins bless me, and was he not warmed by the wool of my sheep? Without refusing to help all sorts of people in need (cf. Job 22.7), without exhausting the patience of a widow asking for help with unrealistic promises (“to weary his eyes”; cf. 1 Samuel 2.33), Job was the patron saint of orphans, widows and the poor. With the first he shared bread, was their father, the second from the earliest period of his life replaced his son, and the third he warmed from the cold by delivering clothes (cf. Job 29.13). Job 31:21. If I raised my hand to the orphan, when I saw help at the gate, Moreover, Job was not an oppressor of orphans (“raise his hand”; cf. Isa 10.32, 11.15, 19.16; Zech 2.9), although he could do this, hoping for impunity on the part of the judges (“when he saw help for himself at the gate”; cf. Job 29.7), with whom he enjoyed influence (Ibid., v. 8, etc.). Job 31:22. then let my shoulder fall from my back, and let my arm be broken off from my elbow, The rapist, let him lose the organ of violence - his hands. Job 31:23. for the punishment from God is terrible for me: I could not resist His greatness. Violence was impossible for Job: he was held back from it by fear of the greatness of God. Job 31:24. Did I place my support in gold and say to the treasure: You are my hope? Job 31:25. Did I rejoice that my wealth was great, and that my hand had gained much? A generous benefactor (vv. 17–20), Job was alien to greed and did not consider earthly treasures to be the greatest good, the basis of his well-being (cf. Job 22.25; Ps 61.11; 1 Tim 6.17). Therefore, joy in increasing wealth was unusual for him. Job 31:26. Looking at the sun as it shines and the moon as it moves majestically, Job 31:27. Have I been deceived in the secret of my heart, and have my lips kissed my hand? Alien to the service of gold (Col. 3.5), Job cannot be accused of real idolatry, the worship of the sun and moon shining like gold and silver. He “was not seduced” (cf. Deut. 4.19, 11.16) by their majestic appearance and, as a sign of respect for them, “he did not kiss his hand.” “Kissing the hand” is a sign of veneration among the ancients. Lucian represents the Indians worshiping the sun, τὴν χεῖρα κύσαντες περὶ ὁρχὴσεως ... Inter adorandum, notes Pliny, dexteram ad osculum referimus. Job 31:28. This would also be a crime subject to trial, because I would then have renounced God Most High. Deification of a creature, transferring to it those honors that should be given only to God alone, is a renunciation of Him, subject to punishment by a crime (cf. Deut. 4.24, 6.15; Josh. 24.19; Isa. 13.3, 48.11). Job 31:29. Did I rejoice at the death of my enemy and triumph when misfortune befell him? Job 31:30. I did not allow my lips to sin by cursing his soul. The pinnacle of Job’s virtues was kindness towards his enemies, which excluded gloating at the sight of their misfortunes (Proverbs 24.17) and the desire for evil at the sight of prosperity. He avoided all this, especially calling death on the enemy (v. 30), as if it were a sin. Job 31:31. Did not the men of my tent say, O that we were not filled with his meat? Job 31:32. The wanderer did not spend the night on the street; I opened my doors to passers-by. Goodwill towards enemies was a manifestation of Job’s characteristic love for mankind, which extended to people completely alien to him (strangers) and was expressed in broad hospitality. Witnesses of this are “the people of his tent,” the servants, who say that there was not a person who was not satisfied with his dishes. Job 31:33. If I hid my transgressions, like a man, hiding my vices in my chest, Job 31:34. then I would be afraid of large society, and the contempt of my fellow tribesmen would frighten me, and I would remain silent and would not go out the door. Job's piety and morality were not ostentatious. If he, in reality vicious, hid, like Adam (Heb. “keadam”; synod, “man”), his misdeeds (Gen. 3.12), then the fear of being exposed, of arousing the contempt of his fellow citizens, would force him to hide, would not allow him to go beyond the doors of his tent (cf. Gen. 3.8–10). But he enjoyed honor and respect, took part in solving public affairs (Job 29.7–10, 21–25), therefore, hypocrisy was alien to him. Job 31:35. Oh, if only someone would listen to me! This is my desire, that the Almighty will answer me, and that my protector will make a record. Job's defensive speech refers to everything he had previously said about his innocence, like a sealing signature certifying the letter. “This is my desire” in Hebrew: “gen tavp” - “here is my tav”, the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, used to testify to something (Ezek 9.4). Having presented evidence of his innocence, Job wants his rival, i.e. God, to appear in court with him with an indictment document. Instead of: “so that my defender writes a record,” literally from Hebrew it should be translated: “and let my opponent write his indictment.” Job 31:36. I would carry it on my shoulders and lay it on like a crown; Conscious of his rightness, Job cannot allow the thought that this “indictment” will prove his guilt. On the contrary, it would serve as evidence of his innocence: it would restore his dignity (“carried ... on his shoulders”; cf. Isaiah 9.6) and honor (“would lay it on like a crown”; cf. Zechariah 6.11). Job 31:37. I would tell him the number of my steps, I would become close to him as to a prince. Therefore, Job would answer God, not like a timid Adam, trembling at the thought of punishment, but like a prince, that is, boldly and fearlessly (“approached Him like a prince”). Job 31:38. If my land cried out against me and its furrows complained against me; Job 31:39. if I ate its fruits without payment and burdened the lives of farmers, Job 31:40. then let thistle grow instead of wheat and cockle instead of barley. Job's words ended. If everything said by Job is incorrect, if he is the greatest sinner, whose punishment is demanded by inanimate nature (Job 20.27; Hab 2.11, etc.), the soil is depleted by his greed (cf. Ps. 64.11); if he made the life of its former owners unbearable (cf. Job 22.8), then let the curse that struck the first man fall on him with all its force (v. 40; cf. Gen. 3.17–18). May he, like him, be rejected by God. You might be interested in: