Job 31:3 — Word Study
WLCהֲלֹא־ אֵ֥יד לְעַוָּ֑ל וְ֝נֵ֗כֶר לְפֹ֣עֲלֵי אָֽוֶן׃
BSADoes notlôʼ [certainly, without a doubt] disasterʼêyd [calamity, misfortune] come to the unjustʻavvâl [morally evil, wicked] and calamityneker [destruction, strange punishment] to the workerspâʻal [those who habitually do] of iniquityʼâven [evil, wickedness]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| הֲלֹא־ | ¿ not | Particle, particle |
| אֵ֥יד | [does] calamity | Noun common, masculine singular absolute |
| לְעַוָּ֑ל | [belong] to an evil-doer | Preposition, noun common masculine singular absolute |
| וְ֝נֵ֗כֶר | and misfortune | Conjunction, noun common masculine singular absolute |
| לְפֹ֣עֲלֵי | to [those who] do | Preposition, verb qal participle (active) masculine plural common |
| אָֽוֶן׃ | wickedness | Noun common, masculine singular absolute |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Does not disaster come to the unjust and calamity to the workers of iniquity? |
| KJV | Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity? |
| ASV | Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, And disaster to the workers of iniquity? |
| YLT | Is not calamity to the perverse? And strangeness to workers of iniquity? |
| WEB | Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, and disaster to the workers of iniquity? |
| BBE | Is it not trouble for the sinner, and destruction for the evil-doers? |
The translations agree on the terms used for calamity and misfortune.
The sentence presents a main question followed by a parallel inquiry, emphasizing the fate of two groups.
8 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them ›
clause
subjectאֵיד
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Job 31:3
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — Job's Reflection on Justicegenerated
Job 31:3 raises a rhetorical question about the fate of the unjust, suggesting that calamity is the inevitable outcome for those who commit iniquity. This verse is part of Job's defense of his integrity and his challenge to the idea that the wicked escape punishment. It reflects the broader theme of divine justice found throughout the book of Job, where the righteous suffer while the wicked seem to prosper.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Job 21:30 | Indeed, the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, delivered from the day of wrath. |
| 2 | Psalm 55:23 | But You, O God, will bring them down to the Pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You. |
| 3 | Psalm 73:18 | Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin. |
| 4 | Proverbs 1:27 | when your dread comes like a storm, and your destruction like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish overwhelm you. |
| 5 | Proverbs 10:29 | The way of the LORD is a refuge to the upright, but destruction awaits those who do evil. |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 13 references, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — עַוָּל, le.'a.Valgenerated
The word עַוָּל (avval) refers to an unjust or unrighteous person, derived from a root meaning evil or morally wrong. It emphasizes moral implications and is often associated with wickedness and wrongdoing.
In this verse, it describes those who are morally corrupt and highlights the expectation that they will face disaster. Job's use of this term underscores his belief in divine justice, questioning whether the unjust truly escape calamity.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
This study reads the verse in the Berean Standard Bible, which uses disaster and calamity to convey the meaning of אֵיד and נֶכֶר respectively, aligning with the KJV and ASV.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The structure of the verse revolves around two main clauses, with the finite verb 'come' implied in both. The first clause addresses the unjust, while the second addresses the workers of iniquity, presenting a parallelism in the inquiry about their fate.
This arrangement highlights the contrast between the two groups and the certainty of their impending disaster, reinforcing Job's rhetorical questioning.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
In the Septuagint, the Hebrew words are translated with ἀδίκῳ for the unjust and ἀνομίαν for iniquity. This choice reflects a consistent interpretation of moral wrongdoing and emphasizes the consequences faced by such individuals.
The Greek terms used suggest a similar understanding of justice and punishment, aligning closely with the Hebrew original.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Job 31:3 asks whether disaster comes to the unjust and calamity to those who do wrong. Job is reflecting on the nature of justice, questioning if the wicked truly face consequences for their actions.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
Calamity refers to disaster or misfortune that befalls individuals, particularly those who are unjust.
Job is asserting that he believes in divine justice, suggesting that the unjust should not escape punishment.
This verse encapsulates Job's struggle with the concept of justice, especially in light of his own suffering.
Job's inquiry encourages reflection on the nature of justice and the fate of the wicked in the world.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- In what ways do I see justice served in the world around me?
- How can I understand the relationship between actions and consequences in my own life?
- What does this verse teach about the nature of God’s justice?
- How do I reconcile the existence of suffering with the belief in a just God?
The early church on this verse — how the Fathers read it
Gregory the Dialogist references this verse to discuss the fate of the wicked and the justice of God, illustrating the moral implications of Job's questioning.
Is not destruction to the wicked? and estrangement to the workers of iniquity? The speedy comforting of the good is the end of the wicked had regard to.Early Church Fathers on Job 31 →
Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Job 31:3 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible[Is] not destruction to the wicked?.... 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
Read John Gill on Job 31 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryFor what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? He asserts his guarding against being allured to sin by his senses. Verse 1. Think - cast a (lustful) look [ 'etbowneen (H995)].
Read Robert Jamieson on Job 31 →Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy BibleDestruction is their portion, and a strange punishment, some extraordinary and dreadful judgment, which of right and course belongs to them, and only to such as they are, although it hath pleased God out of his sovereign power to inflict it upon me, who have lived in all good conscience before him. Heb. an alienation or estrangement, to wit, from God and from his favour. Had I been such a one, I neither could nor should have expected any kindness or mercy from God, as now I do.
Read Matthew Poole on Job 31 →John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New TestamentsJob 31:3 [Is] not destruction to the wicked? and a strange [punishment] to the workers of iniquity?Ver. 3. Is not destruction to the wicked?] Yes, that is their portion, their inheritance; and so Job makes answer to his own question proposed in the preceding verse. The ruin of impure souls is infallible, unsupportable, unavoidable; if God hath aversion from all other sinners, he hath hatred and horror for the unchaste; such stinking goats shall be set on the left hand, and sent to hell; where they shall have so much the more of punishment as they had here of sensual and sinful pleasure, as sour sauce to their sweet meats, Revelation 18:7. Not to speak of the miseries they meet with here…
Read John Trapp on Job 31 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(3) Is not—i.e., Is not this the portion of Job 31:2?
Read Charles John Ellicott on Job 31 →AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the BibleVerse 3. Is not destruction to the wicked] If I had been guilty of such secret hypocritical proceedings, professing faith in the true God while in eye and heart an idolater, would not such a worker of iniquity be distinguished by a strange and unheard-of punishment?
Read AdamClarke on Job 31 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1–12. Job clears himself of cherishing or yielding to sensuous desires. This idea is pursued through a series of instances; (1) simple desire, excited by the eye, Job 31:1-4; (2) actual yielding to such desire in word or deed, Job 31:5-8; (3) the grossest form of sensual sin, Job 31:9-12.
Read Cambridge on Job 31 →Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the BibleIs 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.
Read Albert Barnes on Job 31 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
Does not disaster come to the unjust and calamity to the workers of iniquity?
Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, and disaster to the workers of iniquity?
Does not disaster come to the unjust and calamity to the workers of iniquity?
Is it not misfortune for the unjust, and disaster for those who work iniquity?
Tyndale line
Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?
Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, And disaster to the workers of iniquity?
Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, and disaster to the workers of iniquity?
Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?
Is not destruction to the wicked and strange punishment to the workers of iniquitie?
Strictly literal
Is not calamity for the unrighteous? and misfortune for the workers of iniquity?
Is not calamity to the perverse? And strangeness to workers of iniquity?
Is not calamity to the perverse? And strangeness to workers of iniquity?
Is not calamity [ready] for the unjust? and misfortune for the wrong-doers?
I used to think that calamity is for unrighteous people, and that disaster is for doers of wickedness.
From the Latin
Is not destruction to the wicked, and aversion to them that work iniquity?
Simplified
Isn't it disaster for the wicked and destruction for those who do wrong?
Is it not trouble for the sinner, and destruction for the evil-doers?
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text and the Septuagint agree in their wording for this verse, with all six words in the Hebrew matched in the Greek translation. This consistency indicates a shared understanding of the text's meaning across these traditions.
הֲלֹא־ אֵ֥יד לְעַוָּ֑ל וְ֝נֵ֗כֶר לְפֹ֣עֲלֵי אָֽוֶן׃
6 of the 6 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Job 31:3
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
לֹא (lo') is a Hebrew word meaning 'not' or 'no.' It serves as a simple negation and can imply absence or prohibition. The word can also be used in various contexts, often combined with other particles for emphasis or clarification. Its Aramaic equivalent is לָא (la), which also means 'not.'
לֹא or לוֹא adv. not
base
H3808 לֹא or לוֹא not
3808 lo' lo
or lowi {lo}; or loh (Deut. 3:11) {lo}; a primitive particle;
not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often
used with other particles (as follows):--X before, + or else,
ere, + except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never,
no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), (X as though...,(can-), for) not (out
of), of nought, otherwise, out of, + surely, + as truly as, +
of a truth, + verily, for want, + whether, without.
לֹא (lo) — not.
1) not, no
1a) not (with verb-absolute prohibition)
1b) not (with modifier-negation)
1c) nothing (subst)
1d) without (with particle)
1e) before (of time)
Aramaic equivalent: la (לָא "not" H3809)
Part | Part — Particle · particleHTi/Tn
אֵיד (eyd) refers to distress or calamity, encompassing various forms of misfortune such as national calamities, burdens of the righteous, and disasters affecting the wicked. It is derived from a root meaning to bend down, indicating oppression or ruin. The term appears in contexts related to suffering and disaster.
אֵיד n.m. distress, calamity
national calam. of Isr. (apostate)
of righteous sufferer
oft. of wicked
base
H343 אֵיד distress, calamity
343 'eyd ade
from the same as 181 (in the sense of bending down);
oppression; by implication misfortune, ruin:--calamity,
destruction.
see HEBREW for 0181
אֵיד (ed) — calamity.
1) distress, burden, calamity
1a) burden (of the righteous)
1b) calamity (of nation)
1c) disaster (of wicked)
1d) day of calamity
N-ms — Noun common · masculine singular absoluteHNcmsa
ka-lam'-i-ti ('edh, "a load" or "burden" under which one is crushed, hence, "misfortune"; hayyah, hawwah, "fall," "ruin," the latter word used only in the plural; ra`, "evil in essence" hence, "adversity," once only, Ps 141:5, the Revised Version (British and American) "wickedness"): Purely an Old Testament term, signifying adversities--natural, but more often those that result from wickedness or moral evil. Various kinds:
עַוָּל (avval) refers to an unjust or unrighteous person. It is derived from a root meaning evil or morally wrong. The entries consistently emphasize its moral implications, describing it as perverse or wicked.
עַוָּל n.m. unjust, unrighteous one
base
H5767 עַוָּל
5767 `avval av-vawl'
intensive from 5765; evil (morally):--unjust, unrighteous,
wicked.
see HEBREW for 05765
עַוָּל (av.val) — unjust.
unjust one, perverse one, unrighteous one
Prep | N-ms — Preposition · noun common masculine singular absoluteHR/Ncmsa
→ OF THE WORD Mt 7:21; 12:50; Lu 11:28; Ro 2:13-15; 2Co 8:11; Jas 1:22-27; 4:11
See HEARERS
נֶ֫כֶר (neker) refers to misfortune or calamity, indicating something unexpected or strange. The word is derived from a root that suggests a sense of strangeness or unexpectedness, and it encompasses the idea of disaster. It appears in contexts related to misfortune in the Old Testament.
נֶ֫כֶר, [נֹ֫כֶר] n.[m.] misfortune, calamity
base
H5235 נֶ֫כֶר, נֹ֫כֶר
5235 neker neh'-ker
or noker {no'-ker}; from 5234; something strange, i.e.
unexpected calamity:--strange.
see HEBREW for 05234
נֶ֫כֶר (ne.kher) — misfortune.
calamity, disaster, misfortune
Conj | N-ms — Conjunction · noun common masculine singular absoluteHC/Ncmsa
פָּעַל (pa'al) is a Hebrew verb meaning to do or make, often used in a systematic or habitual sense. It encompasses actions like committing, ordaining, and working, with a poetic nuance compared to the more common verb for 'to do' (עָשָׂה). The entries consistently highlight its usage in the Qal stem, emphasizing its foundational role in expressing action.
פָּעַל 67 vb. do, make (poet. for עָשָׂה)
Qal
do
make
base
H6466 פָּעַל do, make (poet. for עָשָׂה)
6466 pa`al paw-al'
a primitive root; to do or make (systematically and
habitually), especially to practise:--commit, (evil-)
do(-er), make(-r), ordain, work(-er).
פָּעַל (pa.al) — to work.
1) to do, make
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to do
1a2) to make
Prep | V-Qal — Preposition · verb qal participle (active) masculine plural commonHR/Vqrmpc
אָ֫וֶן (aven) encompasses meanings related to trouble, sorrow, and wickedness. It may also refer to idolatry and the concept of vanity or nothingness. The entries suggest a range of negative connotations, including affliction and iniquity, indicating a strong moral or ethical dimension. There are no significant disagreements among the lexicons.
אָ֫וֶן 85 n.m. trouble, sorrow, wickedness
trouble, sorrow
idolatry
trouble of iniquity, wickedness
base
H205 אָ֫וֶן trouble, sorrow, wickedness
205 'aven aw-ven'
from an unused root perhaps meaning properly, to pant (hence,
to exert oneself, usually in vain; to come to naught);
strictly nothingness; also trouble. vanity, wickedness;
specifically an idol:--affliction, evil, false, idol,
iniquity, mischief, mourners(-ing), naught, sorrow, unjust,
unrighteous, vain ,vanity, wicked(-ness). Compare 369.
see HEBREW for 0369
אָ֫וֶן (a.ven) — evil: wickedness.
1) trouble, wickedness, sorrow
1a) trouble, sorrow
1b) idolatry
1c) trouble of iniquity, wickedness
Also means: a.ven (אָ֫וֶן ": trouble" H0205H)
אָ֫וֶן (a.ven) — evil: trouble.
1) trouble, wickedness, sorrow
1a) trouble, sorrow
1b) idolatry
1c) trouble of iniquity, wickedness
N-ms — Noun common · masculine singular absoluteHNcmsa
wik'-ed-nes:
1. In the Old Testament:
The state of being wicked; a mental disregard for justice, righteousness, truth, honor, virtue; evil in thought and life; depravity; sinfulness; criminality. See SIN. Many words are rendered "wickedness." There are many synonyms for wickedness in English and also in the Hebrew. Pride and vanity lead to it: "All the proud, and all that work wickedness (rish`ah) shall be stubble" (Mal 4:1). Akin to this is the word `awen, "iniquity," "vanity": "She eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness" (Pr 30:20). Then we have the word hawwah, meaning "mischief," "calamity," coming from inward intent upon evil: "Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in…