Job 31:3

Old Testament Wisdom/Poetry ASV (1901)

What does Job 31:3 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, And disaster to the workers of iniquity?” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, And disaster to the workers of iniquity?
Job 31:3 — American Standard Version

Context — Job 31

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
3Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, And disaster to the workers of iniquity?

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“[Is] not destruction to the wicked? etc.] It is even to such wicked men, who live in the sin of fornication, and make it their business to ensnare and corrupt virgins; and which is another reason why Job was careful to avoid that sin; wickedness of every sort is the cause of destruction, destruction and misery are in the ways of wicked men, and their wicked ways lead unto it, and issue in it, even destruction of soul and body in hell, which is swift and sudden, and will be everlasting: this is laid up for wicked men among the treasures of God’s wrath, and they are reserved that, and there is no way of deliverance from it but by Christ: and a strange [punishment] to the workers of iniquity;…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Answer to the question in Job 31:2. strange--extraordinary.”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Is not destruction to the wicked? - That is, Job says that he was well aware that destruction would overtake the wicked, and that if he had given indulgence to impure desires he could have looked for nothing else. Well knowing this, he says, he had guarded himself in the most careful manner from sin, and had labored with the greatest assiduity to keep his eyes and his heart pure. And a strange punishment - - ונכר weneker. The word used here, means literally strangeness - a strange thing, something with which we were unacquainted. It is used here evidently in the sense of a strange or unusual punishment; something which does not occur in the ordinary course of events. The sense is, that for…”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“destruction: Job 21:30; Psa 55:23, Psa 73:18; Pro 1:27, Pro 10:29, Pro 21:15; Mat 7:13; Rom 9:22; Th1 5:3; Th2 1:9; Pe2 2:1 a strange: Isa 28:21; Jde 1:7 Job 31:4”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification