Logos Bible Study

Job 31:10

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31:10then let my wife turn the millstone15 for another man,

and may other men have sexual relations with her.16

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Footnotes

  1. 15 Job interpreted the verb טָחַן (takhan, “grind”) in a sexual sense, and this has influenced other versions and commentaries. But the literal sense fits well in this line. The idea is that she would be a slave for someone else. The second line of the verse then might build on this to explain what kind of a slave—a concubine (see A. B. Davidson, Job, 215).
  2. 16 Heb “bow down over her,” an idiom for sexual relations. The idea is that if Job were guilty of adultery it would be an offense against the other woman’s husband, and so by talionic justice another man’s adultery with Job’s wife would be an offense against him. He is not wishing something on his wife; rather, he is simply looking at what would be offenses in kind.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

then let my wife grind for another,

and let others bow down on her.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

then may my wife grind another man’s grain,

and may other men sleep with her.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

let my own wife grind grain for another man,

and let other men sleep with her.

NLTNew Living Translation

then let my wife serve another man;

let other men sleep with her.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

let my wife grind for another,

and let other men kneel over her,

KJV 1900King James Version

Then let my wife grind unto another,

And let others bow down upon her.