Job Chapter 31

“I made a covenant with mine eyes, etc.] Not to look upon a woman, and wantonly gaze at her beauty, lest his heart should be drawn thereby to lust after her; for the eyes are inlets to many sins, and particularly to uncleanness, of which there have been instances, both in bad men and good men, (<013402>Genesis 34:2 <101102>2 Samuel 11:2); so the poet f1120 represents the eye as the way through which the beauty of a woman passes swifter than an arrow into the hearts of men, and makes impressions there; (see <610214>2 Peter 2:14); hence Zaleucus ordered adulterers to be punished, by plucking out the eyes of the…”

“(Job 31:1-40) Job proceeds to prove that he deserved a better lot. As in the twenty-ninth chapter, he showed his uprightness as an emir, or magistrate in public life, so in this chapter he vindicates his character in private life. He asserts his guarding against being allured to sin by his senses. think--rather, "cast a (lustful) look." He not merely did not so, but put it out of the question by covenanting with his eyes against leading him into temptation (Pro 6:25; Mat 5:28).”

“I made a covenant with mine eyes - The first virtue of his private life to which Job refers is chastity. Such was his sense of the importance of this, and of the danger to which man was exposed, that he had solemnly resolved not to think upon a young female. The phrase here, “I made a covenant with mine eyes,” is poetical, meaning that he solemnly resolved. A covenant is of a sacred and binding nature; and the strength of his resolution was as great as if he had made a solemn compact. A covenant or compact was usually made by slaying an animal in sacrifice, and the compact was ratified over the animal that was…”

“I made - So far have I been from any gross wickedness, that I have abstained from the least occasions and appearances of evil. Job 31:2”

“31:1-40 Job called down curses on himself if he were guilty of the accusations made against him. Except for his mention of idolatry (31:26-27), Job addressed his fidelity to God in terms of the second half of the Ten Commandments, summarized by the command to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev 19:18; Rom 13:9). 31:1 Job’s covenant with his eyes included a self-cursing oath (cp. Matt 5:28-29). Perhaps lust of the eyes was at the head of Job’s list because the eye is the first instrument of sin (Gen 3:6). • To look with lust at a young woman violates the spirit of the seventh (Deut 5:18, see Matt 5:27-28), and…”

“a covenant: Gen 6:2; Sa2 11:2-4; Psa 119:37; Pro 4:25, Pro 23:31-33; Mat 5:28, Mat 5:29; Jo1 2:16 think: Pro 6:25; Jam 1:14, Jam 1:15 Job 31:2”

“1 I have made a covenant with mine eyes, And how should I fix my gaze upon a maiden! 2 What then would be the dispensation of Eloah from above, And the inheritance of the Almighty from the heights - 3 Doth not calamity overtake the wicked, And misfortune the workers of evil? 4 Doth He not see my ways And count all my steps? After Job has described and bewailed the harsh contrast between the former days and the present, he gives us a picture of his moral life and endeavour, in connection with the character of which the explanation of his present affliction as a divinely decreed punishment becomes impossible, and…”