Job 31:33–31:40, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Job 31:33–31:40
Job Seals His Case and Invites the Indictment
He will not hide, and he wants the indictment in his hand
If he covered his transgressions as Adam, by hiding iniquity in his bosom, because he feared a great multitude or the contempt of families, so that he kept silence and did not go out the door: he would still have the sign that he is ready. Oh that someone would hear him. His desire is that the Almighty would answer him, and that his adversary had written a book.
If the charge-sheet existed, Job would take it on his shoulder and bind it as a crown. He would declare the number of his steps. As a prince he would go near. The legal climax is visibility: no secret sin-management, no unsigned accusations.
Land and workers are invited to testify, then the words stop
If his land cries against him, if its furrows weep, if he has eaten its fruit without money, or caused the owners thereof to lose their life, let thistles grow instead of wheat and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.
Even the ground and the laborers are granted a voice. Several lines remain difficult, and the abrupt ending is part of the book's design: the human lawsuit rests. What follows will not be Eliphaz returning with better evidence. A younger voice will interrupt, and then a whirlwind. Job's willingness to be indicted is still not a confession of the friends' case.
How this should shape us
Ask for specific charges, and be willing to wear them if they are true. Do not hide behind reputation, and do not call a sufferer's demand for a written indictment arrogance. Land and workers still have a case when the powerful eat unpaid fruit.
Teach it back
Explain Job 31:33–31:40 in your own words. Name the speaker, the unit's place in Job, one source-controlled textual or literary observation, one uncertainty, and one harmful use the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do responsible readings differ?
Best judgment: The legal climax seeks evidence rather than vague accusation; the abrupt ending and several lines remain difficult, and Job's willingness to answer is not self-condemnation.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Job 31:33–31:40, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Job.xml, OSIS 31:33–31:40
Supports: Verse-level controls for Job's difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, textual issues, speech boundaries, and alternatives in Job 31:33–31:40.
Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 31:33–31:40
Supports: Book-level and passage-level literary, historical, theological, and pastoral synthesis with speaker distinctions and visible uncertainty.
Enter the Bible Job course, Outline and Theological Themes: wisdom poem and Job's final defense; applied to Job 31:33–31:40
Supports: A fully inspected critical alternative on the framework, litigation, human condition, divine speeches, and moral evaluation.
Harvey, 'Questions on the Book of Job,' Religious Studies 59.S1 (2023), pp. S7-S16, framework-versus-dialogue argument and Job's litigation; applied to Job 31:33–31:40
Supports: Polyphony, retribution critique, justice, Job's response, divine verdict, and the book's interpretive openness.
Ausloos, 'A Matter of Justice,' OTE 36.1 (2023), pp. 151-165, poetic dialogue, protest, retribution, and polyphony; applied to Job 31:33–31:40
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Job 31:33–31:40, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Job
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Job.xml, OSIS 31:33–31:40
Open the fixed Hebrew Job file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Job
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006; current official PDF
Supports: Verse-level controls for Job's difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, textual issues, speech boundaries, and alternatives in Job 31:33–31:40.
Exact location: Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 31:33–31:40
Open the official NET Job PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Job course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Daniel J. Simundson and Kathryn Schifferdecker
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, current online edition inspected 2026
Supports: Book-level and passage-level literary, historical, theological, and pastoral synthesis with speaker distinctions and visible uncertainty.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Job course, Outline and Theological Themes: wisdom poem and Job's final defense; applied to Job 31:33–31:40
Open the Enter the Bible Job course ↗open access philosophical and literary article
Questions on the Book of Job
Warren Zev Harvey
Religious Studies 59, Special Issue S1, 2023
Supports: A fully inspected critical alternative on the framework, litigation, human condition, divine speeches, and moral evaluation.
Exact location: Harvey, 'Questions on the Book of Job,' Religious Studies 59.S1 (2023), pp. S7-S16, framework-versus-dialogue argument and Job's litigation; applied to Job 31:33–31:40
Open the Cambridge Job article ↗peer reviewed open access literary and theological article
A Matter of Justice: The Openness of the Book of Job
Hans Ausloos
Old Testament Essays 36.1, 2023
Supports: Polyphony, retribution critique, justice, Job's response, divine verdict, and the book's interpretive openness.
Exact location: Ausloos, 'A Matter of Justice,' OTE 36.1 (2023), pp. 151-165, poetic dialogue, protest, retribution, and polyphony; applied to Job 31:33–31:40
Open Ausloos on Job and justice ↗