Jó 31

Jó 31:1

Job 31:1 COMMENTARY Making a Covenant With My Eyes These notes deal primarily with Job 31:1 which is given below in several different translations. I dictated a covenant (an agreement) to my eyes; how then could I look [lustfully] upon a girl? (Amplified) I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid? (KJV) I made a covenant with mine eyes; and how should I fix my regard upon a maid? (Darby) But I made an agreement with my eyes not to look with desire at a girl. (ICB) I made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I ogle at a girl? (MLB) I made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin? (NET) I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl. (NIV) I had made an agreement with my eyes not to linger on any virgin. (NJB) I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust upon a young woman. (NLT) I have made a solemn promise never to look with lust at a woman. (TEV) A covenant I made for mine eyes, And what--do I attend to a virgin? (YLT) Slow Fade by Casting Crowns Casting Crowns sings a song that is more that a song -- it is a description of a culture which has lost it's moral moorings, and sadly has slowly crept into the church, impacting especially the men! The internet is either a bane or a boon! If we toy with it, we do so at great risk dear (male) reader (I know as I am also a male). The song says it all… Slow Fade, which would be a good description of this sin. Play this song by Casting Crowns asking the Holy Spirit to search your heart and see if there is any hurtful way in it and to remove it far from you. (Ps 139:23-24). Be careful little eyes what you see It's the second glance that ties your hands as darkness pulls the strings Be careful little feet where you go For it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow It's a slow fade when you give yourself away It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid When you give yourself away People never crumble in a day It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade Be careful little ears what you hear When flattery leads to compromise, the end is always near Be careful little lips what you say For empty words and promises lead broken hearts astray It's a slow fade when you give yourself away It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid When you give yourself away People never crumble in a day The journey from your mind to your hands Is shorter than you're thinking Be careful if you think you stand You just might be sinking It's a slow fade when you give yourself away It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid When you give yourself away People never crumble in a day Daddies never crumble in a day Families never crumble in a day Oh be careful little eyes what see Oh be careful little eyes what you see For the Father up above is looking down in love Oh be careful little eyes what you see Related Resources: Devotionals on Job - Today in the Word (Moody Bible Institute) Devotionals on Job - G Campbell Morgan Devotionals on Job - F B Meyer Job Commentaries Piper's - "ANTHEM" - Strategies for Fighting Lusts COMMENTS The English of the Lxx reads something like - I (myself - middle voice) made a covenant with my eyes that I will absolutely not (Greek uses "ou" not "me" the latter being less definite negation) understand Comment: The word "understand" is sunesis (from suniemi [word study] = to comprehend, reason out in turn derived from sun = with + hiemi = send) literally means a sending together or a bringing together. And so sunesis describes the putting together, grasping or exhibiting quick comprehension. Think about this meaning in the context of looking at a virgin. Interesting! Sunesis is the ability to understand concepts and see relationships between them and thus describes the faculty of comprehension, intelligence, acuteness. A glance is unavoidable. A gaze is avoidable. HOW THEN COULD I GAZE AT A WOMAN: "Gaze" is the Hebrew word biyn (in the hithpolel or reflexive perfect) and signifies to consider carefully, diligently consider, discern, get understanding, look carefully, observe, paid close attention, pay heed. Show oneself attentive, consider diligently: Do you get the picture that Job is trying to convey? He's not talking about a casual glance (cp Achan's look which turned to lust which ultimately cost him his life in Joshua 7:21ff) or an accidental viewing of a sensual woman (that would be virtually impossible in America… but it is possible to make certain provisions, enabled by the Spirit Ro 8:13-note and such provisions include not going to PG-13 movies or even PG ratings… they have all become too sensual as the moral compass of Americans, especially the media moguls goes due south, heading straight toward the abyss. We can chose not to watch talk shows that bring up "lusty" subjects so commonly these days. So Job is saying don't stare at her because if you do Jesus says you've already committed adultery in your heart! Mt 5:28-note… Pluck out your eye (do whatever you need to do is the idea) before you do this! That is how enslaving this sin can be… it requires radical surgery and complete extirpation! Don't just biopsy it! Cut it out completely!. (cp Col 3:5-note, Pr 5:22-note; note) The combination of these words, "discern between" is used in 1Ki 3:9, "That I may discern between good and evil." The Hebrew word biyn includes the concept of distinguishing that leads to understanding. The verb refers to knowledge which is superior to the mere gathering of data. Life Application Study Bible - Job had not only avoided committing the great sin of adultery; he had not even taken the first step toward that sin by looking at a woman with lust. Job said he was innocent of both outward and inward sins. In chapter 29, Job reviewed his good deeds. Here in chapter 31 he listed sins he had not committed-in his heart (31:1-12), against his neighbors (31:13-23), or against God (31:24-34). Voyeurism • Abstain from. Job 31:1. • David and Bathsheba. 2Sam 11:2. • Same as adultery. Mt 5:28. Related Resources: Commentary on 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 KJV Bible Commentary - Covenant with mine eyes conveys the truth that lustful acts are preceded by lustful looks and thoughts. Job determined in his heart to exercise the will power necessary not to think lustful thoughts about young maidens. He disciplined himself not to take the second look that leads to lust. The verb used here does not mean to “glance briefly,” but rather to “gaze, stare or look intently.” Jamieson - think (KJV)—rather, “cast a (lustful) look.” He not merely did not so, but put it out of the question by covenanting with his eyes against leading him into temptation (Pr 6:25; Mt 5:28). New Living Translation Study Bible - Perhaps lust of the eyes was at the head of Job’s list because the eye is the first instrument of sin (Gen 3:6). • To look with lust at a young woman violates the spirit of the seventh (Deut 5:18, see Matt 5:27–28), and potentially the tenth (Deut 5:21), commandment. Gary Everett - Job made a quality decision in his heart before he encountered temptation that he would not gaze and stare upon a woman. A man cannot stop himself from seeing things and people. But a person can make a decision not to focus his attention upon it. A person can turn his eyes away from temptation and focus his thoughts upon something else. This is the decision that Job made. Note that Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount that gazing upon a woman will turn our hearts towards adulterous thoughts (Matt 5:27–28). This is what Job was avoiding. It is through the sense gate of the eyes that our minds receive information. What ever we focus our eyes upon, our mind gives it attention and processes what is seen. Thus, the first step in sin would be to focus our eyes upon something immoral. The second step in sin is to think about what is being seen. Job made the decision to stop this process at its inception. (Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures) Mark it down dear reader - When the wrong images are allowed in through the eyes, it will not be long until they find their way to the heart. It will not be long from there until you find yourself tempted and falling into sin. That is why we must guard our eyes at all times. Live, therefore, Coram Deo (as before the face of God) and await the benediction of God upon your life and words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter into your rest.” Jon Courson - Job begins by declaring he has not been guilty of lust. “I will put no unclean thing before my eyes,” the psalmist declares (see Ps 101:3). Here, we learn that Job said the same thing. Reformation Study Bible - Job explains that he determined not to sin with his eyes (1 John 2:16). He may be speaking of more than ordinary lust, that is of the worship of the fertility goddesses so popular in Old Testament times. The word translated “virgin” (v. 1) is used of the goddess of fertility in Canaanite writings. She was a kind of Venus and was called the “maiden Anat” in Ugarit. John Hartley - Job begins his oath of innocence with an affirmation. He states that he had made a covenant with his eyes that he would never look longingly after a maiden or a virgin (bətulah). He has resolutely controlled his eyes to keep any sinful longing from entering his heart. In the OT the eyes were considered the gateway to the heart, for their gaze may arouse the deepest desires and so spur their owner to transgress God’s laws (e.g., Ge 3:6; 2Sa 11:2; cf. Sir. 9:8; Mt 5:28). The people were, therefore, enjoined to remember God’s commandments and not prostitute themselves by following the lusts of their hearts and eyes (Nu 15:39). Job’s concern with the potential hazard in a lustful gaze points toward the standard set by Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount: whoever looks lustfully on a woman sins (Mt 5:28). But as Driver-Gray observe, Job differs from Jesus, for he does not consider the gaze a sinful act but acknowledges that it is liable to result in wrongdoing. (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) Albert