Job 31:33

If I covered my transgressions as Adam,.... Job could not be understood, by this account he had given of the holiness of his life, that he thought himself quite free from sin; he had owned himself to

If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom: Adam. Translated by Umbreit 'as men do,' (Hosea 6:7, where see the margin). But the English version is more natural. Job elsewhere alludes to the flood.

This he adds to prevent or answer an objection. So the sense is, either, 1. And whereas amongst these and other virtues it may well be presumed that I had divers failings, as I do not now deny them, so I never covered them, but was forward to confess them to God or to men, as I had occasion. Or, (which I propose with submission to better judgments,) 2. If I used all this care and caution in my carriage towards strangers, and enemies, and others only as a cloak to any secret and subtle way of wickedness, such as you accuse me of, and did not seek to purge out all sin as in God’ s sight, but only to hide my sins from men, and to have the better opportunity for oppressing others, or indulging myself in any other close sin, under a colour, and with a reputation of justice and holiness. As Adam; either, 1. As Adam did in Paradise; which history is recorded by Moses, , &c., and was doubtless imparted by the godly patriarchs to their children before Moses’ s time. Or, 2. Like a man, or after the manner of men in their corrupt estate. Compare . In my bosom; in my own breast, and from the sight of all men.

Job 31:33 If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:Ver. 33. If I covered my transgression as Adam] A transgressor then Job yieldeth himself; the lives of the best alive are fuller of sins than the firmament is of stars, or the furnace of sparks. But he did not act like Adam, or after the manner of men, cover or conceal them, extenuate or excuse them, denying them, as Cain did, Genesis 4:9, and Gehazi, 2 Kings 5:25, and Ananias, Acts 5:8, or at least, dealing with them as the unjust steward did, who for a hundred set down fifty. Adam went about to hide his sin, alleging, non causam pro causa, that for the cause of his flight that was not the true cause thereof, viz. the voice of God, his fear thereupon, his nakedness, &c.: thus sin and shifting came into the world together. Secondly, when that would not do, but that he was driven from that κρησφυγετον, then he seeks to excuse it, by accusing God, and transferring the blame upon him, for giving him a woman to tempt him, Genesis 3:12. The like thereunto do they that plead predestination, or constellations, or natural inclination, &c., that put God to his proofs, as they did, Jeremiah 2:35. Job was none such; but made it his daily practice to acknowledge his iniquities against himself, Psalms 32:5, and with utmost aggravation from all the circumstances; laying open how many transgressions were wrapped up in each sin, as it is Leviticus 16:21, lest, as Samuel once said to Jesse, Are here all thy sons? so God should say to Job, Are these all thy sins? and, there being but one only uncovered, that one should prove destructive to his soul, as that bastard Abimelech did to all his brethren. But now that he freely and fully confesseth his offences, he is sure to find mercy, Proverbs 28:18. No man was ever kept out of heaven for his confessed badness; many are for their supposed goodness. By hiding mine iniquity in my bosom] As silly men think to do, 1. From God, who is all eye, and every man before God is all window, so that he needs not a window in his bosom (as the heathen Momus wished) for God to look in at, Job 34:22 2. From the world; which yet they cannot always do; for God, that descrieth, will also discover all, sooner or later; else how should that be fulfilled, The name of the wicked shall rot? Broughton rendereth it, By hiding mine iniquity of self love. So Kimchi also readeth it. Tremellius to the same sense, Ex dilectione mei. And surely it is this sinful self love that closeth up men’ s lips, and keepeth them from poaring out their souls as water before the Lord.

(33) As Adam.—Or, as man, i.e., commonly does. There may or may not be here some indication of acquaintance with the narrative of Genesis. (See the margin.)

Verse 33. If I covered my transgressions as Adam] Here is a most evident allusion to the fall. Adam transgressed the commandment of his Maker, and he endeavoured to conceal it; first, by hiding himself among the trees of the garden: "I heard thy voice, and went and HID myself;" secondly, by laying the blame on his wife: "The woman gave me, and I did eat;" and thirdly, by charging the whole directly on God himself: "The woman which THOU GAVEST ME to be with me, SHE gave me of the tree, and I did eat." And it is very likely that Job refers immediately to the Mosaic account in the Book of Genesis. The spirit of this saying is this: When I have departed at any time from the path of rectitude, I have been ready to acknowledge my error, and have not sought excuses or palliatives for my sin.

24–34. Repudiation of another class of secret sins, that would have dishonoured him: (1) secret joy in the possession of wealth—that love of gain which is idolatry (Colossians 3:5), Job 31:24-25; (2) a momentary impulse to salute the rising sun or the moon in her splendour and thus be false to the true spiritual God on high, Job 31:26-28; (3) secret joy of heart at the misfortune of his enemy, Job 31:29-30; (4) narrowness of soul and niggardliness, Job 31:31-32; and finally, hypocrisy, Job 31:33-34.

If I covered my transgressions as Adam - That is, if I have attempted to hide or conceal them; if, conscious of guilt, I have endeavored to cloak my sins, and to appear righteous.

33. As Adam — Hosea 6:7. Many expositors translate as in the margin; but others, Samuel Wesley. (Diss.