Job 31:13 Study Bible: "If I have despised the cause of my male servant or of my female servant, when they contended with me;

◄ Job 31:13 ►

If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or maidservant when they made a complaint against me,

If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or maidservant
This phrase highlights Job's concern for justice and fairness, reflecting the biblical principle of treating servants with dignity and respect. In the ancient Near Eastern context, servants were often vulnerable to mistreatment. The Mosaic Law provided protections for servants (Exodus 21:1-11), emphasizing fair treatment. Job's statement aligns with these laws, showing his adherence to God's standards. This concern for justice is echoed in the New Testament, where masters are instructed to treat their servants justly (Ephesians 6:9, Colossians 4:1).

when they made a complaint against me
Job acknowledges the right of his servants to bring grievances, which was not commonly recognized in ancient cultures. This reflects a progressive view of servant-master relationships, emphasizing accountability and the importance of hearing and addressing complaints. The biblical narrative often highlights God's concern for the oppressed and marginalized (Proverbs 31:8-9, Isaiah 1:17). Job's willingness to listen to complaints prefigures Christ's teaching on humility and servanthood (Mark 10:42-45), where leaders are called to serve others and address their needs compassionately.

Persons / Places / Events

1. Job
A wealthy and righteous man from the land of Uz, known for his patience and faithfulness amidst severe trials.

2. Manservant and Maidservant
Servants in Job's household, representing those under his authority and care.

3. Complaint
A grievance or accusation brought by the servants against Job, highlighting issues of justice and fairness in relationships.

Teaching Points

Justice and Fairness
Job's statement reflects a commitment to justice and fairness, even towards those in subordinate positions. As Christians, we are called to treat everyone with equity and respect, recognizing their inherent dignity.

Accountability to God
Job acknowledges that he is accountable to God for how he treats others. This serves as a reminder that our actions towards others are ultimately seen and judged by God.

Listening to Complaints
Job's willingness to hear complaints from his servants demonstrates humility and openness. We should be willing to listen to grievances and address them justly.

Servant Leadership
Job exemplifies servant leadership by considering the needs and rights of those under his care. As leaders, we should prioritize the well-being of those we lead.

Integrity in Relationships
Maintaining integrity in all relationships, especially with those who may be vulnerable or dependent on us, is crucial for a life that honors God.

Bible Study Questions

1. How does Job's approach to his servants' complaints reflect his understanding of justice and fairness?

2. In what ways can we apply the principles of justice and fairness in our own relationships, particularly in positions of authority?

3. How does the concept of being accountable to God for our treatment of others influence our daily interactions?

4. What are some practical steps we can take to ensure we are listening and responding to complaints or grievances in a Christ-like manner?

5. How can the example of Job's integrity in relationships inspire us to live out our faith in our communities and workplaces?

Connections to Other Scriptures

Exodus 21:1-11
Discusses laws regarding the treatment of servants, emphasizing justice and fair treatment.

Colossians 4:1
Encourages masters to treat their servants justly and fairly, knowing they also have a Master in heaven.

James 5:4
Warns against defrauding laborers, highlighting God's concern for justice and fair treatment of workers.

Sermons

Guard the Senses	Gurnall, William	Job 31:1-32
Methods of Moral Life	Joseph Parker, D. D.	Job 31:1-32
Solemn Assurances of Innocence	E. Johnson	Job 31:1-40
The Consciousness of Integrity	R. Green	Job 31:1-40

People

Abaddon, Adam, Job

Places

Topics

Bondmaid, Bondman, Cause, Claim, Complaint, Contended, Contending, Denied, Despise, Despised, Female, Filed, Grievance, Handmaid, Justice, Law, Maidservant, Maid-servant, Maidservants, Male, Manservant, Man-servant, Menservants, Rejected, Servant, Slaves, Woman-servant, Wrong

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Job 31:13-14

     5348   injustice, nature and source
     5361   justice, human
     8242   ethics, personal

Job 31:13-15

5308 equality
5404 masters

Library

Thou Shalt not Steal.
This Commandment also has a work, which embraces very many good works, and is opposed to many vices, and is called in German Mildigkeit, "benevolence;" which is a work ready to help and serve every one with one's goods. And it fights not only against theft and robbery, but against all stinting in temporal goods which men may practise toward one another: such as greed, usury, overcharging and plating wares that sell as solid, counterfeit wares, short measures and weights, and who could tell all the …
Dr. Martin Luther—A Treatise on Good Works

Question of the Active Life
I. Do all Acts of the Moral Virtues come under the Active Life? II. Does Prudence pertain to the Active Life? III. Does Teaching belong to the Active or to the Contemplative Life? IV. Does the Active Life continue after this Life? I Do all Acts of the Moral Virtues come under the Active Life? S. Isidore says[407]: "In the active life all the vices are first of all to be removed by the practice of good works, so that in the contemplative life a man may, with now purified mental gaze, pass to the …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

Whether virtue is in us by Nature?
Objection 1: It would seem that virtue is in us by nature. For Damascene says (De Fide Orth. iii, 14): "Virtues are natural to us and are equally in all of us." And Antony says in his sermon to the monks: "If the will contradicts nature it is perverse, if it follow nature it is virtuous." Moreover, a gloss on Mat. 4:23, "Jesus went about," etc., says: "He taught them natural virtues, i.e. chastity, justice, humility, which man possesses naturally." Objection 2: Further, the virtuous good consists …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether after Christ, it was Proper to the Blessed virgin to be Sanctified in the Womb?
Objection 1: It would seem that it was proper for the Blessed Virgin, after Christ, to be sanctified in the womb. For it has been said [4131](A[4]) that the Blessed Virgin was sanctified in the womb, in order that she might be worthy to be the mother of God. But this is proper to her. Therefore she alone was sanctified in the womb. Objection 2: Further, some men seem to have been more closely connected with Christ than Jeremias and John the Baptist, who are said to have been sanctified in the womb. …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether Corporal Alms are of More Account than Spiritual Alms?
Objection 1: It would seem that corporal alms are of more account than spiritual alms. For it is more praiseworthy to give an alms to one who is in greater want, since an almsdeed is to be praised because it relieves one who is in need. Now the body which is relieved by corporal alms, is by nature more needy than the spirit which is relieved by spiritual alms. Therefore corporal alms are of more account. Objection 2: Further, an alms is less praiseworthy and meritorious if the kindness is compensated, …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether Confession is According to the Natural Law?
Objection 1: It would seem that confession is according to the natural law. For Adam and Cain were bound to none but the precepts of the natural law, and yet they are reproached for not confessing their sin. Therefore confession of sin is according to the natural law. Objection 2: Further, those precepts which are common to the Old and New Law are according to the natural law. But confession was prescribed in the Old Law, as may be gathered from Is. 43:26: "Tell, if thou hast anything to justify …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether one Can, Without a Mortal Sin, Deny the Truth which Would Lead to One's Condemnation?
Objection 1: It would seem one can, without a mortal sin, deny the truth which would lead to one's condemnation. For Chrysostom says (Hom. xxxi super Ep. ad Heb.): "I do not say that you should lay bare your guilt publicly, nor accuse yourself before others." Now if the accused were to confess the truth in court, he would lay bare his guilt and be his own accuser. Therefore he is not bound to tell the truth: and so he does not sin mortally if he tell a lie in court. Objection 2: Further, just as …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

The Advanced Christian Reminded of the Mercies of God, and Exhorted to the Exercise of Habitual Love to Him, and Joy in Him.
1. A holy joy in God, our privilege as well as our duty.--2. The Christian invited to the exercise of it.--3. By the consideration of temporal mercies.--4. And of spiritual favors.--5. By the views of eternal happiness.--6. And of the mercies of God to others, the living and the dead.--7. The chapter closes with an exhortation to this heavenly exercise. And with an example of the genuine workings of this grateful joy in God. 1. I WOULD now suppose my reader to find, on an examination of his spiritual …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul

Trials of the Christian
AFFLICTION--ITS NATURE AND BENEFITS. The school of the cross is the school of light; it discovers the world's vanity, baseness, and wickedness, and lets us see more of God's mind. Out of dark afflictions comes a spiritual light. In times of affliction, we commonly meet with the sweetest experiences of the love of God. The end of affliction is the discovery of sin; and of that, to bring us to a Saviour. Doth not God ofttimes even take occasion, by the hardest of things that come upon us, to visit …
John Bunyan—The Riches of Bunyan

The Christian Business World
Scripture references: Proverbs 22:29; Romans 12:11; Psalms 24:1; 50:10-12; Haggai 2:8; Psalm 49:6,10,16,17; 62:10; Matthew 13:22; Mark 10:23,24; Job 31:24-26; Proverbs 3:9; Matthew 25:14-30; 24:45-51; 6:19-21; Luke 12:16-21. THE IDEAL IN THE BUSINESS WORLD There is often a wide difference between the methods actually employed in doing business and when they should be. Good men who are in the thick of the battle of competition and rivalry with other firms in the same line of trade, are the quickest …
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

The Seventh Commandment
Thou shalt not commit adultery.' Exod 20: 14. God is a pure, holy spirit, and has an infinite antipathy against all uncleanness. In this commandment he has entered his caution against it; non moechaberis, Thou shalt not commit adultery.' The sum of this commandment is, The preservations of corporal purity. We must take heed of running on the rock of uncleanness, and so making shipwreck of our chastity. In this commandment there is something tacitly implied, and something expressly forbidden. 1. The …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Tit. 2:06 Thoughts for Young Men
WHEN St. Paul wrote his Epistle to Titus about his duty as a minister, he mentioned young men as a class requiring peculiar attention. After speaking of aged men and aged women, and young women, he adds this pithy advice, "Young men likewise exhort to be sober-minded" (Tit. 2:6). I am going to follow the Apostle's advice. I propose to offer a few words of friendly exhortation to young men. I am growing old myself, but there are few things I remember so well as the days of my youth. I have a most …
John Charles Ryle—The Upper Room: Being a Few Truths for the Times

Thoughts Upon Worldly-Riches. Sect. Ii.
TIMOTHY after his Conversion to the Christian Faith, being found to be a Man of great Parts, Learning, and Piety, and so every way qualified for the work of the Ministry, St. Paul who had planted a Church at Ephesus the Metropolis or chief City of all Asia, left him to dress and propagate it, after his departure from it, giving him Power to ordain Elders or Priests, and to visit and exercise Jurisdiction over them, to see they did not teach false Doctrines, 1 Tim. i. 3. That they be unblameable in …
William Beveridge—Private Thoughts Upon a Christian Life

Job
The book of Job is one of the great masterpieces of the world's literature, if not indeed the greatest. The author was a man of superb literary genius, and of rich, daring, and original mind. The problem with which he deals is one of inexhaustible interest, and his treatment of it is everywhere characterized by a psychological insight, an intellectual courage, and a fertility and brilliance of resource which are nothing less than astonishing. Opinion has been divided as to how the book should be …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

Links

Job 31:13 NIV
Job 31:13 NLT
Job 31:13 ESV
Job 31:13 NASB
Job 31:13 KJV

Job 31:13 Commentaries

Bible Hub