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Job 31:33

New American Standard Bible (NASB ©1995) [2]
— “Have I covered my transgressions like Adam, By hiding my iniquity in my bosom,
King James Version (KJV 1769) [2]
— If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:
English Revised Version (ERV 1885)
— If like Adam I covered my transgressions, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom;
American Standard Version (ASV 1901) [2]
— If like Adam I have covered my transgressions, By hiding mine iniquity in my bosom,
Webster's Revision of the KJB (WEB 1833)
— If I have covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom:
Darby's Translation (DBY 1890)
— If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom,
Rotherham's Emphasized Bible (EBR 1902)
— If I covered, like Adam, my transgressions, by hiding in my bosom mine iniquity,
Young's Literal Translation (YLT 1898)
— If I have covered as Adam my transgressions, To hide in my bosom mine iniquity,
Douay-Rheims Challoner Revision (DR 1750)
— If as a man I have hid my sin, and have concealed my iniquity in my bosom.
Geneva Bible (GNV 1560)
— If I haue hid my sinne, as Adam, concealing mine iniquitie in my bosome,
Original King James Bible (AV 1611) [2]
— If I couered my transgressions, as Adam: by hiding mine iniquitie in my bosome:
Lamsa Bible (1957)
— If I have covered up my sins like some men, or if I have hid my guilt in secret places;
Brenton Greek Septuagint (LXX, Restored Names)
— or if too having sinned unintentionally, I hid my sin;
Full Hebrew Names / Holy Name KJV (2008) [2] [3]
— If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:

Strong's Numbers & Hebrew NamesHebrew Old TestamentColor-Code/Key Word Studies
If x518
(0518) Complement
אִם
'im
{eem}
A primitive particle; used very widely as demonstrative, lo!; interrogitive, whether?; or conditional, if, although; also Oh that!, when; hence as a negative, not.
I covered 3680
{3680} Prime
כָּסָה
kacah
{kaw-saw'}
A primitive root; properly to plump, that is, fill up hollows; by implication to cover (for clothing or secrecy).
z8765
<8765> Grammar
Stem - Piel (See H8840)
Mood - Perfect (See H8816)
Count - 2121
my transgressions 6588
{6588} Prime
פֶּשַׁע
pesha`
{peh'-shah}
From H6586; a revolt (national, moral or religious).
as ´Äđäm אָדָם, 121
{0121} Prime
אָדָם
'Adam
{aw-dawm'}
The same as H0120; Adam, the name of the first man, also of a place in Palestine.
by hiding 2934
{2934} Prime
טָמַן
taman
{taw-man'}
A primitive root; to hide (by covering over).
z8800
<8800> Grammar
Stem - Qal (See H8851)
Mood - Infinitive (See H8812)
Count - 4888
mine iniquity 5771
{5771} Prime
עָוֹן
`avon
{aw-vone'}
From H5753; perversity, that is, (moral) evil.
in my bosom: 2243
{2243} Prime
חֹב
chob
{khobe}
By contraction from H2245; properly a cherisher, that is, the bosom.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary

Job 31:33

_ _ Adam — translated by Umbreit, “as men do” (Hosea 6:7, where see Margin). But English Version is more natural. The very same word for “hiding” is used in Genesis 3:8, Genesis 3:10, of Adam hiding himself from God. Job elsewhere alludes to the flood. So he might easily know of the fall, through the two links which connect Adam and Abraham (about Job’s time), namely, Methuselah and Shem. Adam is representative of fallen man’s propensity to concealment (Proverbs 28:13). It was from God that Job did not “hide his iniquity in his bosom,” as on the contrary it was from God that “Adam” hid in his lurking-place. This disproves the translation, “as men”; for it is from their fellow men that “men” are chiefly anxious to hide their real character as guilty. Magee, to make the comparison with Adam more exact, for my “bosom” translates, “lurking-place.”

Matthew Henry's Commentary

Job 31:33-40

_ _ We have here Job's protestation against three more sins, together with his general appeal to God's bar and his petition for a hearing there, which, it is likely, was intended to conclude his discourse (and therefore we will consider it last), but that another particular sin occurred, from which he thought it requisite to acquit himself. He clears himself from the charge,

_ _ I. Of dissimulation and hypocrisy. The general crime of which his friends accused him was that, under the cloak of a profession of religion, he had kept up secret haunts of sin, and that really he was as bad as other people, but had the art of concealing it. Zophar insinuated (Job 20:12) that he hid his iniquity under his tongue. “No,” says Job, “I never did (Job 31:33), I never covered my transgression as Adam, never palliated a sin with frivolous excuses, nor made fig-leaves the shelter of my shame, nor ever hid my iniquity in my bosom, as a fondling, a darling, that I could by no means part with, or as stolen goods which I dreaded the discovery of.” It is natural to us to cover our sins; we have it from our first parents. We are loth to confess our faults, willing to extenuate them and make the best of ourselves, to devolve the blame upon others, as Adam on his wife, not without a tacit reflection upon God himself. But he that thus covers his sins shall not prosper, Proverbs 28:13. Job, in this protestation, intimates two things, which were certain evidences of his integrity: — 1. That he was not guilty of any great transgression or iniquity, inconsistent with sincerity, which he had now industriously concealed. In this protestation he had dealt fairly, and, while he denies some sins, was not conscious to himself that he allowed himself in any. 2. That what transgression and iniquity he had been guilty of (Who is there that lives and sins not?) he had always been ready to own it, and, as soon as ever he perceived he had said or done amiss, he was ready to unsay it and undo it, as far as he could, by repentance, confessing it both to God and man, and forsaking it: this is doing honestly.

_ _ II. From the charge of cowardice and base fear. His courage in that which is good he produces as an evidence of his sincerity in it (Job 31:34): Did I fear a great multitude, that I kept silence? No, all that knew Job knew him to be a man of undaunted resolution in a good cause, that boldly appeared, spoke, and acted, in defence of religion and justice, and did not fear the face of man nor was ever threatened or brow-beaten out of his duty, but set his face as a flint. Observe, 1. What great conscience Job had made of his duty as a magistrate, or a man of reputation, in the place where he lived. He did not, he durst not, keep silence when he had a call to speak in an honest cause, or keep within doors when he had a call to go abroad to do good. The case may be such that it may be our sin to be silent and retired, as when we are called to reprove sin and bear our testimony against it, to vindicate the truths and ways of God, to do justice to those who are injured or oppressed, or in any way to serve the public or to do honour to our religion. 2. What little account Job made of the discouragements he met with in the way of his duty. He valued not the clamours of the mob, feared not a great multitude, nor did he value the menaces of the mighty: The contempt of families never terrified him. He was not deterred by the number or quality, the scorns or insults, or the injurious from doing justice to the injured; no, he scorned to be swayed and biassed by any such considerations, nor ever suffered a righteous cause to be run down by a high hand. He feared the great God, not the multitude, and his curse, not the contempt of families.

_ _ III. From the charge of oppression and violence, and doing wrong to his poor neighbours. And here observe,

_ _ 1. What his protestation is — that the estate he had he both got and used honestly, so that his land could not cry out against him nor the furrows thereof complain (Job 31:38), as they do against those who get the possession of them by fraud and extortion, Habakkuk 2:9-11. The whole creation is said to groan under the sin of man; but that which is unjustly gained and held cries out against a man, and accuses him, condemns him, and demands justice against him for the injury. Rather than his oppression shall go unpunished the very ground and the furrows of it shall witness against him, and be his prosecutors. Two things he could say safely concerning his estate: — (1.) That he never ate the fruits of it without money, Job 31:39. What he purchased he paid for, as Abraham for the land he bought (Genesis 23:16), and David, 2 Samuel 24:24. The labourers that he employed had their wages duly paid them, and, if he made use of the fruits of those lands that he let out, he paid his tenants for them, or allowed it in their rent. (2.) That he never caused the owners thereof to lose their life, never got an estate, as Ahab got Naboth's vineyard, by killing the heir and seizing the inheritance, never starved those that held lands of him nor killed them with hard bargains and hard usage. No tenant, no workman, no servant, he had, could complain of him.

_ _ 2. How he confirms his protestation. He does it, as often before, with a suitable imprecation (Job 31:40): “If I have got my estate unjustly, let thistles grow instead of wheat, the worst of weeds instead of the best of grains.” When men get estates unjustly they are justly deprived of the comfort of them, and disappointed in their expectations from them. They sow their land, but they sow not that body that shall be. God will give it a body. It was sown wheat, but shall come up thistles. What men do not come honestly by will never do them any good. Job, towards the close of his protestation, appeals to the judgment-seat of God concerning the truth of it (Job 31:35-37): O that he would hear me, even that the Almighty would answer me! This was what he desired and often complained that he could not obtain; and, now that he had drawn up his own defence so particularly, he leaves it upon record, in expectation of a hearing, files it, as it were, till his cause be called.

_ _ (1.) A trial is moved for, and the motion earnestly pressed: “O that one, any one, would hear me; my cause is so good, and my evidence so clear, that I am willing to refer it to any indifferent person whatsoever; but my desire is that the Almighty himself would determine it.” An upright heart does not dread a scrutiny. He that means honestly wishes he had a window in his breast, that all men might see the intents of his heart. But an upright heart does particularly desire to be determined in every thing by the judgment of God, which we are sure is according to the truth. It was holy David's prayer, Search me, O God! and know my heart; and it was blessed Paul's comfort, He that judgeth me is the Lord.

_ _ (2.) The prosecutor is called, the plaintiff summoned, and ordered to bring in his information, to say what he has to say against the prisoner, for he stands upon his deliverance: “O that my adversary had written a book — that my friends, who charge me with hypocrisy, would draw up their charge in writing, that it might be reduced to a certainty, and that we might the better join issue upon it.” Job would be very glad to see the libel, to have a copy of his indictment. He would not hide it under his arm, but take it upon his shoulder, to be seen and read of all men, nay, he would bind it as a crown to him, would be pleased with it, and look upon it as his ornament; for, [1.] If it discovered to him any sin he had been guilty of, which he did not yet see, he should be glad to know it, that he might repent of it and get it pardoned. A good man is willing to know the worst of himself and will be thankful to those that will faithfully tell him of his faults. [2.] If it charged him with what was false, he doubted not but to disprove the allegations, that his innocency would be cleared up as the light, and he should come off with so much the more honour. But, [3.] He believed that, when his adversaries came to consider the matter so closely as they must do if they put the charge in writing, the accusations would be trivial and minute, and every one that saw them would say, “If this was all they had to say against him, it was a shame they gave him so much trouble.”

_ _ (3.) The defendant is ready to make his appearance and to give his accusers all the fair play they can desire. He will declare unto them the number of his steps, Job 31:37. He will let them into the history of his own life, will show them all the stages and scenes of it. He will give them a narrative of his conversation, what would make against him as well as what would make for him, and let them make what use they pleased of it; and so confident he is of his integrity that as a prince to be crowned, rather than a prisoner to be tried, he would go near to him, both to his accuser to hear his charge and to his judge to hear his doom. Thus the testimony of his conscience was his rejoicing.

Hic murus aheneus esto, nil conscire sibi
Be this thy brazen bulwark of defence,
Still to preserve thy conscience innocence.

_ _ Those that have kept their hands without spot from the world, as Job did, may lift up their faces without spot unto God, and may comfort themselves with the prospect of his judgment when they lie under the unjust censures of men. If our hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God.

_ _ Thus the words of Job are ended; that is, he has now said all he would say in answer to his friends: he afterwards said something in a way of self-reproach and condemnation (Job 40:4, Job 40:5, Job 42:2, etc.), but here ends what he had to say in a way of self-defence and vindication. If this suffice not he will say no more; he knows when he has said enough and will submit to the judgment of the bench. Some think the manner of expression intimates that he concluded with an air of assurance and triumph. He now keeps the field and doubts not but to win the field. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

Job 31:33

As Adam — As Adam did in Paradise.

Geneva Bible Translation Notes

Job 31:33

If I covered (x) my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:

(x) Not confessed it freely, by which it is evident that he justified himself before men, and not before God.

Cross-Reference Topical ResearchStrong's Concordance
covered:

Genesis 3:7-8 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. ... And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
Genesis 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest [to be] with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
Joshua 7:11 Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put [it] even among their own stuff.
Proverbs 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh [them] shall have mercy.
Hosea 6:7 But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.
Acts 5:8 And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.
1 John 1:8-10 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ... If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

as Adam:
or, after the manner of men,
Hosea 6:7 But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me.
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Chain-Reference Bible SearchCross References with Concordance

Gn 3:7, 12. Jsh 7:11. Pv 28:13. Ho 6:7. Ac 5:8. 1Jn 1:8.

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