Job 31:9
New International Version
“If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,

New Living Translation
“If my heart has been seduced by a woman, or if I have lusted for my neighbor’s wife,

English Standard Version
“If my heart has been enticed toward a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,

Berean Standard Bible
If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife, or I have lurked at his door,

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

New King James Version
“If my heart has been enticed by a woman, Or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,

New American Standard Bible
“If my heart has been enticed by a woman, Or I have lurked at my neighbor’s doorway,

NASB 1995
“If my heart has been enticed by a woman, Or I have lurked at my neighbor’s doorway,

NASB 1977
“If my heart has been enticed by a woman, Or I have lurked at my neighbor’s doorway,

Legacy Standard Bible
“If my heart has been enticed by a woman, Or I have lied in wait at my neighbor’s doorway,

Amplified Bible
“If my heart has been enticed and I was made a fool by a woman, Or if I have [covetously] lurked at my neighbor’s door [until his departure],

Christian Standard Bible
If my heart has gone astray over a woman or I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
If my heart has been seduced by my neighbor’s wife or I have lurked at his door,

American Standard Version
If my heart hath been enticed unto a woman, And I have laid wait at my neighbor's door;

Contemporary English Version
If I have desired someone's wife and chased after her,

English Revised Version
If mine heart have been enticed unto a woman, and I have laid wait at my neighbour's door:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"If I have been seduced by a woman or I have secretly waited near my neighbor's door,

Good News Translation
If I have been attracted to my neighbor's wife, and waited, hidden, outside her door,

International Standard Version
"If my heart has been seduced by a woman and I've laid in wait at my friend's door,

Majority Standard Bible
If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife, or I have lurked at his door,

NET Bible
If my heart has been enticed by a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door,

New Heart English Bible
"If my heart has been enticed to a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door,

Webster's Bible Translation
If my heart hath been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbor's door;

World English Bible
“If my heart has been enticed to a woman, and I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door,
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
If my heart has been enticed by a woman, "" And I laid wait by the opening of my neighbor,

Young's Literal Translation
If my heart hath been enticed by woman, And by the opening of my neighbour I laid wait,

Smith's Literal Translation
If my heart was seduced by woman, and I laid wait at the door of my neighbor;
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
If my heart hath been deceived upon a woman, and if I have laid wait at my friend's door:

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

New American Bible
If my heart has been enticed toward a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door;

New Revised Standard Version
“If my heart has been enticed by a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door;
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And if my heart has been enticed by a strange woman, or if I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door;

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And if my heart was enticed by an estranged woman, or if I lay in wait at the door of my neighbor
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
If my heart have been enticed unto a woman, And I have lain in wait at my neighbour's door;

Brenton Septuagint Translation
If my heart has gone forth after another man's wife, and if I laid wait at her doors;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Job's Final Appeal
8then may another eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted. 9If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife, or I have lurked at his door, 10then may my own wife grind grain for another, and may other men sleep with her.…

Cross References
Proverbs 6:25-29
Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes. / For the levy of the prostitute is poverty, and the adulteress preys upon your very life. / Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned? ...

Matthew 5:28
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Exodus 20:14
You shall not commit adultery.

Proverbs 7:6-27
For at the window of my house I looked through the lattice. / I saw among the simple, I noticed among the youths, a young man lacking judgment, / crossing the street near her corner, strolling down the road to her house, ...

1 Corinthians 6:18
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.

Leviticus 20:10
If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death.

2 Samuel 11:2-4
One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman. / So David sent and inquired about the woman, and he was told, “This is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” / Then David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. (Now she had just purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned home.

James 1:14-15
But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed. / Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Genesis 39:7-12
and after some time his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.” / But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has entrusted everything he owns to my care. / No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?” ...

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality; / each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, / not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God;

Deuteronomy 5:18
You shall not commit adultery.

Romans 13:13-14
Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. / Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

Proverbs 5:3-5
Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil, / in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword. / Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to Sheol.

Galatians 5:19-21
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; / idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, / and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

2 Peter 2:14
Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed.


Treasury of Scripture

If my heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbor's door;

If mine

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.

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.

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.

if I

Job 24:15,16
The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face…

Jeremiah 5:8
They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife.

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.

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Job 31
1. Job makes a solemn protestation of his integrity in several duties














If my heart
The Hebrew word for "heart" is "לֵב" (lev), which often signifies the inner self, including emotions, will, and intellect. In the ancient Near Eastern context, the heart was seen as the center of moral and spiritual life. Job is introspectively examining his innermost thoughts and desires, emphasizing the importance of purity not just in actions but in intentions. This reflects a deep understanding that sin begins in the heart, aligning with Jesus' teaching in Matthew 5:28 about lustful intent.

has been enticed
The Hebrew root "פָּתָה" (pathah) means to be seduced or deceived. This word suggests a passive yielding to temptation, highlighting the subtlety and danger of sin. Job is asserting his vigilance against being led astray by desires, which is a call for believers to guard their hearts diligently, as Proverbs 4:23 advises.

by my neighbor’s wife
The phrase underscores the sanctity of marriage and the respect for one's neighbor, which is a core tenet of the Mosaic Law (Exodus 20:17). In Job's time, as now, the family unit was foundational to societal stability. Job's commitment to avoiding adultery reflects his adherence to God's commandments and his respect for the covenant of marriage.

or I have lurked
The verb "lurking" implies premeditation and deceit. The Hebrew "אָרַב" (arab) conveys the idea of lying in wait, often with malicious intent. Job is declaring his innocence of any secretive or deceitful behavior, which is a testament to his integrity. This aligns with the biblical principle that righteousness involves both public and private conduct.

at his door
The "door" symbolizes the threshold of another's private life and home. In ancient cultures, the door was a place of vulnerability, where one could either enter with permission or intrude unlawfully. Job's statement indicates his respect for boundaries and his commitment to not overstepping them, which is a reflection of loving one's neighbor as oneself (Leviticus 19:18).

Verse 9. - If mine heart have been deceived by a woman; rather, enticed, or allured unto a woman. If, that is, I have suffered myself at any time to be enticed by the wiles of a "strange woman" (Proverbs 5:3; Proverbs 6:24, etc.), and have so far yielded as to go after her; and if I have laid wait at my neighbour's door - watching for an opportunity to enter unseen, while the goodman is away (Proverbs 7:19) Job is not speaking of what he has done, but of what men may suspect him of having done.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
If
אִם־ (’im-)
Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

my heart
לִ֭בִּי (lib·bî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 3820: The heart, the feelings, the will, the intellect, centre

has been enticed
נִפְתָּ֣ה (nip̄·tāh)
Verb - Nifal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6601: To open, be, roomy, to be, simple, delude

by
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

my neighbor’s
רֵעִ֣י (rê·‘î)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 7453: Friend, companion, fellow

wife,
אִשָּׁ֑ה (’iš·šāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female

or I have lurked
אָרָֽבְתִּי׃ (’ā·rā·ḇə·tî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 693: To lie in wait

at
וְעַל־ (wə·‘al-)
Conjunctive waw | Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

his door,
פֶּ֖תַח (pe·ṯaḥ)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 6607: An opening, door, entrance way


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OT Poetry: Job 31:9 If my heart has been enticed (Jb)
Job 31:8
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