the Week of Proper 16 / Ordinary 21
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THE MESSAGE
Job 31:24
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- BakerEncyclopedias:
- InternationalParallel Translations
If I placed my confidence in goldor called fine gold my trust,
"If I have made gold my hope, And have said to the fine gold, 'You are my confidence;'
If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;
"If I have made gold my trust or called fine gold my confidence,
"I have not put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security.'
"If I have put my confidence in gold or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security!'
"If I have put my trust and confidence in gold, Or have declared fine gold my hope and assurance,
"If I have put my confidence in gold, And called fine gold my trust,
"If I have made gold my hope, And have said to the fine gold, 'You are my confidence;'
If I made gold mine hope, or haue sayd to the wedge of golde, Thou art my confidence,
"If I have put my confidence in gold,And called fine gold my trust,
If I have put my trust in gold or called pure gold my security,
I have never trusted the power of wealth,
"If I made gold my hope, if I said to fine gold, ‘You are my security,'
If I have made gold my hope, or said to the fine gold, My confidence!
"I have never trusted in riches. I never said even to pure gold, ‘You are my hope.'
If I have made gold my trust, or said about the precious stones, You are my confidence; or have said about fine gold, You are my hope;
I have never trusted in riches
"If I have made gold my trust, or I have called fine gold my security,
If I have made gold my hope or have called fine gold my trust;
Haue I put my trust in golde? Or, haue I sayde to the fynest golde of all: thou art my cofidence?
If I have made gold my hope, And have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;
If I made gold my hope, or if I ever said to the best gold, I have put my faith in you;
If I have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold: 'Thou art my confidence';
If I haue made golde my hope, or haue said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence:
Haue I put my trust in golde? or haue I sayde to the wedge of golde, thou art my confidence?
If I made gold my treasure, and if too I trusted the precious stone;
If I have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;
If Y gesside gold my strengthe, and if Y seide to purid gold, Thou art my trist;
If I have made gold my hope, And have said to the fine gold, [You are] my confidence;
If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, [Thou art] my confidence;
"If I have made gold my hope, Or said to fine gold, "You are my confidence';
"Have I put my trust in money or felt secure because of my gold?
"If I have put my faith in gold and said fine gold is my trust,
"If I have made gold my trust, or called fine gold my confidence;
If I made gold my stay, and, to precious metal, said, My confidence!
If I have thought gold my strength, and have said to fine gold: My confidence:
"If I have made gold my trust, or called fine gold my confidence;
If I have made gold my confidence, And to the pure gold have said, `My trust,'
"If I have put my confidence in gold, And called fine gold my trust,
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Genesis 31:1, Deuteronomy 8:12-14, Psalms 49:6, Psalms 49:7, Psalms 49:17, Psalms 52:7, Psalms 62:10, Proverbs 10:15, Proverbs 11:28, Proverbs 30:9, Mark 10:24, Luke 12:15, Colossians 3:5, 1 Timothy 6:10, 1 Timothy 6:17
Reciprocal: Esther 5:11 - the glory Psalms 10:3 - and blesseth Proverbs 18:11 - General Jeremiah 9:23 - rich Ezekiel 28:5 - and thine Hosea 12:8 - Yet Matthew 6:19 - General Matthew 19:23 - That Luke 12:19 - Soul Luke 18:23 - he was very sorrowful Galatians 6:14 - that I
Cross-References
Laban and Bethuel answered, "This is totally from God . We have no say in the matter, either yes or no. Rebekah is yours: Take her and go; let her be the wife of your master's son, as God has made plain."
So Isaac sent Jacob off. He went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
"Once, while the flocks were mating, I had a dream and saw the billy goats, all of them streaked, speckled, and mottled, mounting their mates. In the dream an angel of God called out to me, ‘Jacob!' "I said, ‘Yes?'
Rachel and Leah said, "Has he treated us any better? Aren't we treated worse than outsiders? All he wanted was the money he got from selling us, and he's spent all that. Any wealth that God has seen fit to return to us from our father is justly ours and our children's. Go ahead. Do what God told you."
Jacob did it. He put his children and his wives on camels and gathered all his livestock and everything he had gotten, everything acquired in Paddan Aram, to go back home to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.
As time went on, it happened that the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt crossed their master, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the head cupbearer and the head baker, and put them in custody under the captain of the guard; it was the same jail where Joseph was held. The captain of the guard assigned Joseph to see to their needs. After they had been in custody for a while, the king's cupbearer and baker, while being held in the jail, both had a dream on the same night, each dream having its own meaning. When Joseph arrived in the morning, he noticed that they were feeling low. So he asked them, the two officials of Pharaoh who had been thrown into jail with him, "What's wrong? Why the long faces?" They said, "We dreamed dreams and there's no one to interpret them." Joseph said, "Don't interpretations come from God? Tell me the dreams." First the head cupbearer told his dream to Joseph: "In my dream there was a vine in front of me with three branches on it: It budded, blossomed, and the clusters ripened into grapes. I was holding Pharaoh's cup; I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup, and gave the cup to Pharaoh." Joseph said, "Here's the meaning. The three branches are three days. Within three days, Pharaoh will get you out of here and put you back to your old work—you'll be giving Pharaoh his cup just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. Only remember me when things are going well with you again—tell Pharaoh about me and get me out of this place. I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews. And since I've been here, I've done nothing to deserve being put in this hole." When the head baker saw how well Joseph's interpretation turned out, he spoke up: "My dream went like this: I saw three wicker baskets on my head; the top basket had assorted pastries from the bakery and birds were picking at them from the basket on my head." Joseph said, "This is the interpretation: The three baskets are three days; within three days Pharaoh will take off your head, impale you on a post, and the birds will pick your bones clean." And sure enough, on the third day it was Pharaoh's birthday and he threw a feast for all his servants. He set the head cupbearer and the head baker in places of honor in the presence of all the guests. Then he restored the head cupbearer to his cupbearing post; he handed Pharaoh his cup just as before. And then he impaled the head baker on a post, following Joseph's interpretations exactly. But the head cupbearer never gave Joseph another thought; he forgot all about him.
Two years passed and Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile River. Seven cows came up out of the Nile, all shimmering with health, and grazed on the marsh grass. Then seven other cows, all skin and bones, came up out of the river after them and stood by them on the bank of the Nile. The skinny cows ate the seven healthy cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.
God came to Balaam that night and said, "Since these men have come all this way to see you, go ahead and go with them. But make sure you do absolutely nothing other than what I tell you."
God 's angel blocked the way yet again—a very narrow passage this time; there was no getting through on the right or left. Seeing the angel, Balaam's donkey sat down under him. Balaam lost his temper; he beat the donkey with his stick.
Are you going to repeat the life of your ancestor Jacob? He ran off guilty to Aram, Then sold his soul to get ahead, and made it big through treachery and deceit. Your real identity is formed through God-sent prophets, who led you out of Egypt and served as faithful pastors. As it is, Ephraim has continually and inexcusably insulted God. Now he has to pay for his life-destroying ways. His Master will do to him what he has done.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
If I have made gold my hope,.... Job here purges himself from idolatry in a figurative sense, as he afterwards does from it, taken in a literal sense; for covetousness is idolatry, and a covetous man is an idolater; he worships his gold and silver, placing his affections on them, and putting his trust and confidence in them, Ephesians 5:5; for to make gold the object or ground of hope is to place it in the room of God, who is the Hope of Israel, and in whom every good man should trust, and whom he should make his hope, Jeremiah 14:8; not gold on earth, but glory in heaven, is what the good man is hoping for; and not riches, but Christ and his righteousness, are the foundation of such an hope; to make gold our hope, is to have hope in this life, and to make a thing present the object of it; whereas true hope is of things not seen and future, and if only in this life good men have hope, they are of all most miserable; but they have in heavens better and a more enduring substance, and a better ground for hope of that substance, than worldly wealth and riches can give:
or have said to the fine gold, [thou art] my confidence; as bad men do, and good men are prone unto, and therefore to be cautioned against it,
Psalms 49:6; for this is not only to trust in uncertain riches, and in unsatisfying ones, but to put them in the stead of God, who is or ought to be the confidence of the ends of the earth: not gold, but the living God, who gives all things richly to enjoy, is to be trusted in; when men covet riches, and trust in them as their security from evil, and that they may live independent of the providence of God, it is virtually to deny it, and carries in it secret atheism; as well as such a confidence is destruction of the worship of God, and such a temper makes a man an unprofitable hearer, plunges him into errors and hurtful lusts, and endangers his everlasting happiness, Habakkuk 2:9; in later times the Romans worshipped the goddess "Pecunia", or money, as Austin z relates.
z De Civitate Dei, l. 4. c. 21.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
If I have made gold my hope - That is, if I have put my trust in gold rather than in God; if I have fixed my affections with idolatrous attachment on riches rather than on my Maker. Job here introduces another class of sins, and says that his conscience did not charge him with guilt in respect to them. He had before spoken mainly of social duties, and of his manner of life toward the poor, the needy, the widow, and the orphan. He here turns to the duty which he owed to God, and says that his conscience did not charge him with idolatry in any form. He had indeed been rich, but he had not fixed his affections with idolatrous attachment on his wealth.
Or have said to fine gold - The word used here (כתם kethem) is the same which is employed in Job 28:16, to denote the gold of Ophir. It is used to express that which was most pure - from the verb כתם kâtham - to hide, to hoard, and then denoting that which was hidden, hoarded, precious. The meaning is, that he had not put his trust in that which was most sought after, and which was deemed of the highest value by people.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Job 31:24. Gold my hope — For the meaning of זהב zahab, polished gold, and כתם kethem, stamped gold, see on Job 28:15-17.
