Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Job 31:10 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 10. 10Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Job 31:10 advances the thought unit with the words “Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.” Job invokes an ancient retaliatory curse involving his wife to deny that he committed adultery.
Read It With
- Job 31:9–31:15
Read Job 31:10 with 31:9–31:15. Read alone, “Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her” could lose its speaker, the question or claim it develops, and the unit's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Job invokes judgment if his heart was enticed toward a neighbor's wife, then says he could not answer God if he rejected a male or female servant's case because one Creator formed them all.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Job continues from Job 31:1–31:8: Job begins his oath of clearance with a covenant governing his gaze and asks to be weighed on honest scales, accepting loss if he has walked falsely. Job 31:9–31:15 now develops the next distinct movement: Job invokes judgment if his heart was enticed toward a neighbor's wife, then says he could not answer God if he rejected a male or female servant's case because one Creator formed them all. Within that relationship, Job 31:10 advances the thought unit through “Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.”
Read Job 31:9–15 together
Why these verses belong together: Job 31:9–31:15 follows the pinned KJV paragraphing and holds together one sustained speech movement: “Job Denies Adultery and Grounds Servant Justice in One Creator.” The next unit begins with a new stanza, question sequence, scene, speaker response, or rhetorical turn.
Verse 9. 9 If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door;
Verse 10. 10 Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.
Verse 11. 11 For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.
Verse 12. 12 For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.
Verse 13. 13 If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;
Verse 14. 14 What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
Verse 15. 15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?
Follow the Context
- Identify Job's stated claim in Job 31:9–31:15.
- Job invokes judgment if his heart was enticed toward a neighbor's wife, then says he could not answer God if he rejected a male or female servant's case because one Creator formed them all.
- Keep this interpretive control visible: The oath condemns exploitation but retains ancient household structures; it does not legitimate slavery, sexual retaliation, ownership of persons, or unequal justice.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
Job 31:10 does not permit “Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her” to be detached from its named speaker and complete thought unit. Job 31:10 does not authorize sexual retaliation, forced labor, treating Job's wife as property, or punishing one person for another's conduct.
What Remains True
Job invokes an ancient retaliatory curse to deny adultery; the image belongs to the oath's severe rhetoric rather than an ethical prescription. Job 31:10 keeps that conclusion accountable to the line “Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.”
How It Can Shape Life
- Name the ancient sexual and labor humiliation plainly, reject retaliation against spouses or dependents, and pursue accountable processes that protect every affected person. Keep the selected wording “Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her” and Job 31:9–31:15's complete movement visible while acting.
Teach It Back
Explain why Job 31:10 advances the thought unit. Paraphrase “Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her,” identify Job, use 31:9–31:15, state one material uncertainty when present, and reject one conclusion this verse does not authorize.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Job 31:9–31:15 — Job Denies Adultery and Grounds Servant Justice in One CreatorSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
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 31:9–31:15, 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 31:9–31:15
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 31:9–31:15.
Exact location: Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 31:9–31:15
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 31:9–31:15
Open the Enter the Bible Job course ↗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 31:9–31:15
Open Ausloos on Job and justice ↗