Barnes' Notes on Job 31:9

A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.

Notes on the Whole Bible
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · 19th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.

If mine heart have been deceived by a woman - If I have been enticed by her beauty. The word rendered “deceived” פתה pâthâh means to open, to expand. It is then applied to that which is open or ingenuous; to that which is unsuspicious - like a youth; and thence is used in the sense of being deceived, or enticed; Deuteronomy 11:16; Exodus 22:16; Proverbs 1:10; Proverbs 16:29. The word “woman” here probably means a married woman, and stands opposed to “virgin” in ver. 1. The crime which he here disclaims is adultery, and he says that his heart had never been allured from conjugal fidelity by the charms or the arts of a woman. Or if I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door - That is, to watch when he would be absent from home. This was a common practice with those who were guilty of the crime referred to here; compare Proverbs 7:8-9. return to 'Top of Page'

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