Thomas Aquinas Commentary Job 31:1-23

"I made a covenant with mine eyes; How then should I look upon a virgin? For what is the portion from God above, And the heritage from the Almighty on high? Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, And disaster to the workers of iniquity? Doth not he see my ways, And number all my steps? If I have walked with falsehood, And my foot hath hasted to deceit (Let me be weighed in an even balance, That God may know mine integrity); If my step hath turned out of the way, And my heart walked after mine eyes, And if any spot hath cleaved to my hands: Then let me sow, and let another eat; Yea, let the produce of my field be rooted out. If my heart hath been enticed unto a woman, And I have laid wait at my neighbor`s door; Then let my wife grind unto another, And let others bow down upon her. For that were a heinous crime; Yea, it were an iniquity to be punished by the judges: For it is a fire that consumeth unto Destruction, And would root out all mine increase. If I have despised the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant, When they contended with me; What then shall I do when God riseth up? And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him? Did not he that made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb? If I have withheld the poor from [their] desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof (Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, And her have I guided from my mother`s womb); If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering; If his loins have not blessed me, And if he hath not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep; If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, Because I saw my help in the gate: Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, And mine arm be broken from the bone. For calamity from God is a terror to me, And by reason of his majesty I can do nothing." — Job 31:1-23 (ASV)

After Job recounted his former prosperity (Job 29) and his subsequent hardship (Job 30), he now demonstrates his innocence so that no one would believe he had fallen into these hardships because of his sins. He begins by showing his innocence from the sin of lust, which ensnares most people.

One easily slips into this sin, for unless a person avoids its beginnings, he can hardly escape what follows. Job identifies five stages:

1. The first step is the glance of the eyes, looking at a beautiful woman, especially a virgin.
2. The second is the thought.
3. The third is the pleasure.
4. The fourth is the consent.
5. The fifth is the deed.

Job wanted to cut off the very beginnings of this sin so that he would not get entangled in it. So he says, “I made a covenant”—meaning, I confirmed it in my heart like treaties are confirmed—“with my eyes,” from whose sight the eager desire for women comes. He covenanted to abstain from looking at women in order “to not think about a virgin,” that is, so as not to arrive at even the first internal stage: thought. For he saw that if he fell into the first stage of thought, it would be difficult to keep from stumbling into the others, namely, desire and consent.

Next, he shows why he was so careful to avoid this sin. He gives three reasons.

1. First, he gives a reason based on the fact that a person seems to depart from God especially through the sin of lust. A person draws near to God through spiritual actions, which are especially hindered by sexual pleasures. And so he asks, “What part does God above have in me?” as if to say: God above has a part in me in proportion to my mind's elevation to higher things; but if my mind is cast down to carnal pleasure by lust, God above will have no part in me. Even the lustful may happen to think about God spiritually for a while, but they are soon called back down by the desire for pleasure, and so God’s portion cannot be steadfast in them like an inheritance. So he then says, “and what inheritance” can “the Almighty on high” have? That is, what firm hold can God, who lives on high, have in me after I am drawn down to lower things? It is necessary, therefore, that His inheritance be in those who seek lofty, spiritual things, not in those who descend toward carnal things.
2. The second reason he shunned the sin of lust is the harm it brings upon people, which is twofold. One is physical, when a person, because of the sin of lust, endangers his person and property; and so he says, “Is it not damnation for the wicked?” as if to say: The evil man who is involved in this sin rushes toward damnation. Another harm is the hindrance to doing good works, and so he says, “and aversion for those doing evil,” for violent pleasure draws the soul more to itself. Therefore, men given to lust abandon good works and even good conversation.
3. Third, he gives the reason from the perspective of divine providence, which attentively watches all the deeds of men. Thus, no one can be immune from punishment, and so he says, Does he not consider my ways, and does he not number all my steps? He is asking, does God not see the course of my works in order to reward them? Not only does He know the entire process, but also the stages of that process. He asks, “and does he not number all my steps?” because He examines everything with His judgment, even the smallest details in my actions that seem blameworthy, and so I will not go unpunished for them.

Second, he clears himself of the sin of deceit, using an oath that invokes a curse upon himself, as he does in all the following arguments. In such an oath, a man binds himself to a penalty, so that if what he says is not true, he obligates himself to punishment. So he says, “If I walked,” meaning if I acted, “in vanity,” that is, in some falsehood. For things that lack solidity are called vain, and solidity consists especially in truth. He shows how one walks in vanity when he adds, “and my foot hastened to deception,” referring to his affection and any other power of the soul that is a source of motion. He says his foot “hastened to deception” because a person intends by some deceitful means to obtain quickly what he might have obtained only with great difficulty by means of the truth.

One can consider walking without deceit by examining the righteousness of justice, from which the deceitful man turns aside. And so he says, “let him (God) weigh me in a just balance,” to determine by His justice if I have acted deceitfully. Since deceit consists especially in the intention of the heart, only God, to whom the heart's intention is open, can judge deceit. So he then says, “and let God know my simplicity,” which is the opposite of the duplicity of deceit. He says, “let God know,” not as if God were about to learn something new, but in the sense that God makes it known to others, or because He has known it from eternity in the logic of His justice.

Since he has excluded deceit from himself in general, he moves on to specific sins in which a person deceitfully plots against another's goods. This happens in both theft and adultery. In theft, one plots by deceit against the possessions of his neighbor, and he excludes this from himself, saying, “If my step has turned aside from the way,” by disdaining justice. This disdain has the effect that a person looks with a covetous eye at his neighbor's goods to steal them. So he says, “if my eye (my desire) had followed my heart,” as if to say: If my eye intended to have what my heart desired. Third, from contempt of justice and a direct intention to acquire what his heart desires, a man may happen to use his hand to rob another's goods, and so the text continues, “and if any spot clings to my hands,” by taking the things of another.

Now, it is just that if one takes another's goods, he should also have his own goods stripped by others, and so he says, “let me sow and another reap,” as if to say: If I have stolen another’s goods, let others take my goods away. This is an oath invoking a curse. Men often steal another's goods so that they can amass wealth for their children, as the prophet Nahum said, the lion seized what was sufficient for his cubs (Nahum 2:12). Therefore, it is just that the man who steals another's things should not only have his own goods taken from him, but also that his children should die. And so he says, “and my children be uprooted,” for whom the plunder seems to have been preserved.

In adultery, however, a man deceitfully plots against his neighbor's wife. This plot is preceded by a certain deception of the heart, as long as reason is darkened by sinful desire, and so he says, “If my heart has been deceived by a woman,” referring to the desire for another's wife. From the fact that the heart is conquered by sinful desire for a woman, one tries to possess the desired woman by any deceitful means whatever. And so he says, “and if I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,” to take advantage of his wife.

The man who defiles another's wife through adultery is justly punished when his own wife is defiled by others, and so he says, “let my wife be the prostitute of another,” let her offer herself for sale to others. From this it follows that others abuse her, and so he then says, “and others bend down over her,” to commit adultery. He shows why he avoided this sin, saying, “This is a sinful thing,” because it is against the law of God which bound a man and a woman in matrimony . “And,” if one considers human justice, it is “the greatest evil,” because the greater the good taken away, the greater the injustice. If someone should steal a cow, it will be a greater injustice than if he should steal a sheep, and so it is punished by a greater penalty, as Exodus says. The man who commits adultery takes away the greatest thing from a man: his wife, who is one flesh with him (Genesis 2:24). He also takes away the certainty of his offspring and, consequently, the entire succession of his inheritance, which, because of adultery, sometimes passes to strangers. So the text continues, “it (adultery) is a fire, which devours even to consuming,” because it cheats a man of his whole inheritance, as has been said, “and eradicates all seed,” when it makes the succession of his sons uncertain. And so Sirach says, Every woman leaving her husband will sin, and give him an heir by marrying another man .

So after he has cleared himself of injustice by showing he did not injure others, either by stealing their things or by abusing persons joined to them, he consequently defends himself from the charge of having committed injustice through a failure of justice. And so he says, “If I despised subjecting myself to judgment with my servant and my handmaid when they wanted to settle some complaint against me,” as if to say: If I despised rendering justice to those beneath me, let these and other grave consequences happen to me.

He shows why he did not despise submitting to judgment with his servants, saying, “When the Lord God rises up to judge me,” that is, when He Himself comes to judge, what will I do? If I now despise His judgment, I would have no one to whose help or counsel I could go for refuge. Nor would I even be able to rationally answer God in judgment. And so he says, “and when he questions,” when He examines my deeds, “what will I answer him?” What reason could I give for not being willing to submit to judgment with my servants? He implies the answer is “none.”

He then proves that all people naturally share the same condition, and so he says, “Did he not make me in the womb who also made him?” He means: I have the same soul created by God as my servants. My body has also been formed by the same divine power, and so he continues, “and did not one God”—namely, the God who formed him—“form me in the womb?” So it is clear that it matters to God how I treat others.

After he showed that he was not lustful (verse 1) or unjust (verse 5), he next shows that he was not merciless. He first shows this from the fact that he did not take benefits away from the poor. For some people deny alms to the poor who are seeking them from the beginning. He excluded this from himself, saying, “If I denied the poor what they sought.” Some do not refuse them but delay giving the gift. He excludes this from himself, saying, “and if I made the eyes of the widow wait.” Others do not refuse or delay giving what is asked, but they give nothing on their own initiative. He excludes this from himself, showing that he did not wish to use even his smallest possessions alone, but rather to share them with others. And so he continues, “if I ate my piece of bread alone and the orphan did not share it.” Here he implies the curse: “Let these and other grave consequences happen to me.”

Notice that he speaks here with great precision. For the poor do not usually just ask, but they plead earnestly, and therefore one cannot take away from them the benefit of mercy without completely denying it. Widows ask, but they are afraid to plead earnestly, and so, unless one aids them quickly, they are deprived of the benefit of mercy. Orphans do not even dare to ask, and thus it is necessary to bestow mercy on them even without their asking.

He shows why he was merciful in this way for two reasons. First, from a long-practiced habit he began in childhood, and so he says, “Since mercy has increased in me from my infancy.” As he grew in years, so he practiced the works of mercy more. Second, because he had a natural inclination to mercy, just as other people commonly have certain inclinations to different virtues, and so he says, “it came forth with me from the womb of my mother,” because from the first days of my birth I was disposed to give mercy promptly.

There are usually two obstructions to mercy. One is contempt for the poor, whom one judges not worthy of mercy. One usually despises those who dress in poor clothes and honors those who dress in rich clothes, as Sirach says, the clothes of the body reveal the man . But he excludes this obstacle to mercy from himself, saying, “If I despised the man passing by,” any stranger passing by on the road, “and the poor,” someone I know, because he was “without covering.” He implies here: Let these and other consequences happen to me. Not only did I not despise those who were poorly clothed, but I even provided them with clothes, and so he then says, “If his sides have not blessed me,” because I covered them when they were naked, and this was the occasion when he blessed me. He shows the reason for this, saying, “and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,” by the clothing offered to him, let the same punishment happen to me (verse 22).

Another impediment to mercy is the confidence a person has in their own power. This seems to make a person think they can harm others, and especially people beneath them, without punishment. He excludes this from himself, saying, “If I have raised my hand against the orphan,” to cause him to suffer, “even when they saw me at the gate,” the place of judgment, “elevated,” as one who is more powerful. It is just that a person should be deprived of the limbs which he uses for injustice. And so he speaks not only of the loss of his hand as a punishment, but also the arm to which the hand is attached, and of the shoulder to which the arm is connected. So he says, “let my shoulder fall from its joint and let my arm be crushed with its bones,” if I have misused my hand to oppress the poor.

He then shows why, although he was in a higher place in society, he did not raise his hand against orphans. Even though he did not refrain from oppressing them out of fear of men, he did refrain because of God, whose judgments he feared. And so he then says, “For I always feared God like the swelling of waves over me.” He speaks using the comparison of those sailing on the sea who, when the swelling waves rise over the height of the ship, fear that the ship will be submerged by them. In the same way, he feared divine threats, like waves swelling up. He also submitted to divine authority, which forbids the oppression of orphans, and so he says, “and his weight”—the authority of God who protects the orphans—“I could not bear,” without submitting my will to Him.