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Commentary on Job 31 verses 1–8
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.
I. Against the lusts of the flesh. He not only kept himself clear from adultery, from defiling his neighbour's wives (Job 31:9), but from all lewdness with any women whatsoever. He kept no concubine, no mistress, but was inviolably faithful to the marriage bed, though his wife was none of the wisest, best, or kindest. From the beginning it was so, that a man should have but one wife and cleave to her only; and Job kept closely to that institution and abhorred the thought of transgressing it; for, though his greatness might tempt him to it, his goodness kept him from it. Job was now in pain and sickness of body, and under that affliction it is in a particular manner comfortable if our consciences can witness for us that we have been careful to preserve our bodies in chastity and to possess those vessels in sanctification and honour, pure from the lusts of uncleanness. Now observe here,
1.What the resolutions were which, in this matter, he kept to (Job 31:1): I made a covenant with my eyes, that is, "I watched against the occasions of the sin; why then should I think upon a maid?" that is, "by that means, through the grace of God, I kept myself from the very first step towards it." So far was he from wanton dalliances, or any act of lasciviousness, that, (1.) He would not so much as admit a wanton look. He made a covenant with his eyes, made this bargain with them, that he would allow them the pleasure of beholding the light of the sun and the glory of God shining in the visible creation, provided they would never fasten upon any object that might occasion any impure imaginations, much less any impure desires, in his mind; and under this penalty, that, if they did, they must smart for it in penitential tears. Note, Those that would keep their hearts pure must guard their eyes, which are both the outlets and inlets of uncleanness. Hence we read of wanton eyes (Isa 3:16) and eyes full of adultery, Pe2 2:14. The first sin began in the eye, Gen 3:6. What we must not meddle with we must not lust after; and what we must not lust after we must not look at; not the forbidden wealth (Pro 23:5), not the forbidden wine (Pro 23:31), not the forbidden woman, Mat 5:28. (2.) He would not so much as allow a wanton thought: "Why then should I think upon a maid with any unchaste fancy or desire towards her?" Shame and sense of honour might restrain him from soliciting the chastity of a beautiful virgin, but only grace and the fear of God would restrain him from so much as thinking of it. Those are not chaste that are not so in spirit as well as body, Co1 7:34. See how Christ's exposition of the seventh commandment agrees with the ancient sense of it, and how much better Job understood it than the Pharisees, though they sat in Moses's chair.
2.What the reasons were which, in this matter, he was governed by. It was not for fear of reproach among men, though that is to be considered (Pro 6:33), but for fear of the wrath and curse of God. He knew very well, (1.) That uncleanness is a sin that forfeits all good, and shuts us out from the hope of it (Job 31:2): What portion of God is there from above? What blessing can such impure sinners expect from the pure and holy God, or what token of his favour? What inheritance of the Almighty can they look for from on high? There is no portion, no inheritance, no true happiness, for a soul, but what is in God, in the Almighty, and what comes from above, from on high. Those that wallow in uncleanness render themselves utterly unfit for communion with God, either in grace here or in glory hereafter, and become allied to unclean spirits, which are for ever separated from him; and then what portion, what inheritance, can they have with God? No unclean thing shall enter into the New Jerusalem, that holy city. (2.) It is a sin that incurs divine vengeance, Job 31:3. It will certainly be the sinner's ruin if it be not repented of in time. Is not destruction, a swift and sure destruction, to those wicked people, and a strange punishment to the workers of this iniquity? Fools make a mock at this sin, make a jest of it; it is with them a peccadillo, a trick of youth. But they deceive themselves with vain words, for because of these things, how light soever they make of them, the wrath of God, the unsupportable wrath of the eternal God, comes upon the children of disobedience, Eph 5:6. There are some sinners whom God sometimes out of the common road of Providence to meet with; such are these. The destruction of Sodom is a strange punishment. Is there not alienation (so some read it) to the workers of iniquity? This is the sinfulness of the sin that it alienates the mind from God (Eph 4:18, Eph 4:19), and this is the punishment of the sinners that they shall be eternally set at a distance from him, Rev 22:15. (3.) It cannot be hidden from the all-seeing God. A wanton thought cannot be so close, nor a wanton look so quick, as to escape his cognizance, much less any act of uncleanness so secretly done as to be out of his sight. If Job was at any time tempted to this sin, he restrained himself from it, and all approaches to it, with this pertinent thought (Job 31:4), Doth not he see my ways; as Joseph did (Gen 39:9), How can I do it, and sin against God? Two things Job had an eye to: - [1.] God's omniscience. It is a great truth that God's eyes are upon all the ways of men (Pro 5:20, Pro 5:21); but Job here mentions it with application to himself and his own actions: Doth not he see my ways? O God! thou hast searched me and known me. God sees what rule we walk by, what company w walk with, what end we walk towards, and therefore what ways we walk in. [2.] His observance. "He not only sees, but takes notice; he counts all my steps, all my false steps in the way of duty, all my by-steps into the way of sin." He not only sees our ways in general, but takes cognizance of our particular steps in these ways, every action, every motion. He keeps account of all, because he will call us to account, will bring every work into judgment. God takes a more exact notice of us than we do of ourselves; for who ever counted his own steps? yet God counts them. Let us therefore walk circumspectly.
II. He stood upon his guard against the love of the world, and carefully avoided all sinful indirect means of getting wealth. He dreaded all forbidden profit as much as all forbidden pleasure. Let us see,
1.What his protestation is. In general, he had been honest and just in all his dealings, and never, to his knowledge, did any body any wrong. (1.) He never walked with vanity (Job 31:5), that is, he never durst tell a lie to get a good bargain. It was never his way to banter, or equivocate, or make many words in his dealings. Some men's constant walk is a constant cheat. They either make what they have more than it is, that they may be trusted, or less than it is, that nothing may be expected from them. But Job was a different man. His wealth was not acquired by vanity, though now diminished, Pro 13:11. (2.) He never hasted to deceit. Those that deceive must be quick and sharp, but Job's quickness and sharpness were never turned that way. He never made haste to be rich by deceit, but always acted cautiously, lest, through inconsideration, he should do an unjust thing. Note, What we have in the world may be either used with comfort or lost with comfort if it was honestly obtained. (3.) His steps never turned out of the way, the way of justice and fair dealing; from that he never deviated, Job 31:7. He not only took care not to walk in a constant course and way of deceit, but he did not so much as take one step out of the way of honesty. In every particular action and affair we must closely tie ourselves up to the rules of righteousness. (4.) His heart did not walk after his eyes, that is, he did not covet what he saw that was another's, nor wish it his own. Covetousness is called the lust of the eye, Jo1 2:16. Achan saw, and then took, the accursed thing. That heart must needs wander that walks after the eyes; for then it looks no further than the things that are seen, whereas it ought to be in heaven whither the eyes cannot reach: it should follow the dictates of religion and right reason: if it follow the eye, it will be misled to that for which God will bring men into judgment, Ecc 11:9. (5.) That no blot had cleaved to his hands, that is, he was not chargeable with getting any thing dishonestly, or keeping that which was another's, whenever it appeared to be so. Injustice is a blot, a blot to the estate, a blot to the owner; it spoils the beauty of both, and therefore is to be dreaded. Those that deal much in the world may perhaps have a blot come upon their hands, but they must wash it off again by repentance and restitution, and not let it cleave to their hands. See Isa 33:15.
2.How he ratifies his protestation. So confident is he of his own honesty that, (1.) He is willing to have his goods searched (Job 31:6): Let me be weighed in an even balance, that is, "Let what I have got be enquired into and it will be found to weigh well" - a sign that it was not obtained by vanity, for then Tekel would have been written on it - weighed in the balance and found too light. An honest man is so far from dreading a trial that he desires it rather, being well assured that God knows his integrity and will approve it, and that the trial of it will be to his praise and honour. (2.) He is willing to forfeit the whole cargo if there be found any prohibited or contraband goods, any thing but what he came honestly by (Job 31:8): "Let me sow, and let another eat," which was already agreed to be the doom of oppressors (Job 5:5), "and let my offspring, all the trees that I have planted, be rooted out." This intimates that he believed the sin did deserve this punishment, that usually it is thus punished, but that though now his estate was ruined (and at such a time, if ever, his conscience would have brought his sin to his mind), yet he knew himself innocent and would venture all the poor remains of his estate upon the issue of the trial.
Nobody can say, Job says, either that I was hankering after pleasures, luxuries and that kind of lustful life, or, on the other hand, that by becoming too hard and austere in my heart I finally fell into those vices that are contrary to that sort of life, that is, the vices of malice and deceit. No! I kept away from both of those two vices!
11. ‘God to know’ is said for His making us to know by a customary mode of our speech, who speak of ‘a happy day,’ by which it happens that we are made happy. For hence it is the Lord saith to Abraham, Now I know that thou fearest God. [Gen. 22, 12] For it is not that the Creator of the periods of time learnt any thing from time, but His knowing is His affording the knowledge to us by the instant of each particular case emerging. But who is there represented by the name of ‘balances,’ saving the Mediator between God and man? in Whom all our merits are weighed with an even scale, and in Whose precepts we find what we have short in our own life. Now we are weighed in these balances as often as we are incited after the examples of His life. Thus it is hence that it is written; Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example, that ye should follow His steps, Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth; Who when He was reviled, reviled not again, when He suffered, He threatened not. [1 Pet. 2, 21-23] Hence it is said by Paul, Let us run with patience the race that is set before us: looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, Who for the glory set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame. [Heb. 12, 1. 2.] Accordingly to this end the Lord appeared in the flesh, that the life of man he might by dealing admonitions arouse, by giving examples kindle, by suffering death redeem, by rising again renew. And so whereas blessed Job finds in himself nothing justly deserving to he blamed, he extends the eyes of the mind to the life of the Redeemer, which surpasses all things, that he may learn by that how much he comes short, where he says, If I have walked in vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit; let Him weigh me in an even balance, and let God know my simpleness. As though he said in plain speech; ‘If I have ever done aught lightly, if ever mischievously, may the Mediator between God and man appear, that in His life I may read whether I myself am really and truly simple.’ For as we have said, he who had surpassed the men of his own times, sought for the Mediator between God and man, that by being weighed in Him he might find out whether he truly maintained a life of simplicity. Therefore let him say, Let Him weigh me in an even balance, and let God know my simpleness, which means, ‘let Him cause me to know.’ As though he made open confession, saying, ‘As far as to the measure of man’s life, I see now no points in myself deserving to be found fault with, but except the Mediator between God and man appear accompanied with the precepts of an exacter life, I discover not how much I am at variance with true simplicity.’ Now the right order is observed if the foot be said first to have ‘hasted on in vanity,’ and afterwards ‘in deceit.’ For ‘vanity’ bears relation to levity, but ‘deceit’ to wickedness. And there are often persons, who are brought afterwards to things mischievous, because they do not in the first instance avoid what is light.
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SUMMARY
Job 31:5 serves as a powerful declaration within Job's most extensive and final defense of his integrity before God and his accusers. In this pivotal verse, Job adamantly denies having pursued a life characterized by emptiness, worthlessness, or active deceit, thereby affirming his unwavering commitment to truth and righteousness in both his conduct and his innermost intentions. This statement is an integral part of a larger oath of purgation, where Job systematically enumerates various moral failings he claims to be innocent of, courageously inviting divine scrutiny to validate his blamelessness in the face of immense and inexplicable suffering.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Job 31:5 employs several potent literary devices to underscore Job's emphatic declaration of innocence. The most prominent is Hypothetical Oath, where Job presents a condition ("If I have...") that implicitly invites a self-curse or divine judgment if the condition is proven true. This solemn, legalistic structure pervades the entire chapter, lending a powerful weight and gravity to his defense. Metonymy is evident in the phrase "my foot hath hasted," where "foot" stands for Job's actions, movements, or the direction of his life, emphasizing the active and intentional nature of his conduct. The pairing of "vanity" and "deceit" creates a strong Parallelism, specifically a synonymous parallelism, where the second clause ("my foot hath hasted to deceit") reinforces and elaborates on the first ("I have walked with vanity"). Both phrases speak to the absence of falsehood and moral emptiness in Job's life, creating a comprehensive picture of his profound integrity. The use of strong, negative terms like "vanity" and "deceit" further highlights Job's deep moral conviction and his clear distinction between righteous and unrighteous living.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Job 31:5 is a profound statement on personal integrity and the nature of truth in the eyes of God. Theologically, it underscores the biblical emphasis on sincerity of heart and consistency of walk, not merely outward conformity to a set of rules. Job's refusal to "walk with vanity" resonates with the wisdom tradition's constant warning against futility and the pursuit of things that do not last or truly satisfy, while his rejection of "deceit" aligns perfectly with God's character as truth and His absolute abhorrence of falsehood. This verse posits that true righteousness involves both the rejection of empty, worthless pursuits and the active, conscious avoidance of dishonest practices. It challenges the simplistic notion that suffering is always a direct result of specific, unconfessed sin, forcing a deeper theological reflection on the complexities of divine justice and the human experience of unmerited suffering.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Job's powerful declaration in Job 31:5 serves as a profound mirror for self-examination, challenging believers to scrutinize the true nature of their daily walk before God. Do we, like Job, actively strive to avoid paths characterized by "vanity"—empty pursuits, superficial values, or a life devoid of spiritual substance and eternal meaning? Are our steps truly directed by integrity, or do we find ourselves quickly inclining towards "deceit," whether in subtle forms of dishonesty, exaggeration, manipulation in our interactions, or even self-deception in our private thoughts? This verse calls us to a radical honesty before God, prompting us to evaluate not just our outward actions but the very inclinations of our hearts and the motivations behind our choices. It encourages a life lived with intentionality, rooted in truth and substance, rather than chasing fleeting illusions or compromising our character for temporary gain. Such a life, marked by integrity, is a powerful testimony to the transforming power of God's grace.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What does "walked with vanity" truly mean in the context of Job 31:5?
Answer: "Walked with vanity" (הָלַךְ עִם־שָׁוְא) signifies a life characterized by emptiness, falsehood, or worthlessness. It's not merely about occasional missteps but about the overall direction and nature of one's conduct. Job is denying that his life has been built on deceitful foundations, pursued futile goals, or been devoid of genuine moral substance. It implies a rejection of a life lived for superficial gains or based on lies, emphasizing a commitment to truth and meaningful purpose, as opposed to the "vanity of vanities" described in Ecclesiastes 1:2.
How does Job's denial of "hasting to deceit" relate to his overall character?
Answer: Job's denial of "hasting to deceit" (יָחוּשׁ לְמִרְמָה) indicates that he has not been quick or eager to engage in fraudulent or treacherous behavior. It's a strong statement about his moral inclination—he doesn't just avoid deceit; he actively shuns any swift move towards it. This reinforces the biblical portrayal of Job as a man of exceptional integrity, "blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil" (Job 1:1). It highlights his conscious and deliberate choice to live honestly, even when faced with immense pressure and suffering, demonstrating a profound internal commitment to righteousness.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
While Job's declaration in Job 31:5 powerfully asserts his human integrity, it ultimately points to the perfect and sinless walk of Jesus Christ. Job, though righteous for a human, still lived under the shadow of a fallen world, needing a redeemer. Jesus, however, truly "walked with no vanity," for His life was utterly devoid of emptiness, falsehood, or futility. Every step He took was purposeful, aligned perfectly with the will of the Father, and filled with divine substance and truth (John 8:29). He never "hasted to deceit"; rather, He was the embodiment of truth, the very Word made flesh, in whom "no deceit was found" (1 Peter 2:22). Unlike Job, who could only appeal to his own relative innocence, Jesus's perfect walk and absolute truthfulness qualified Him as the spotless Lamb of God (John 1:29) whose sacrifice fully atoned for the "vanity" and "deceit" that characterize fallen humanity. Thus, Job's aspiration for a blameless life finds its ultimate and complete fulfillment in the perfect life and atoning work of Christ, who enables believers, through His Spirit, to walk in newness of life, progressively freed from the dominion of vanity and deceit (Romans 6:4).