Chapter 31 is the chapter in which Iyov returns to detailing and explaining that there is no iniquity in him. His companions argued against him that he harbored sins and transgressions - whether overt or hidden - and that is why troubles befell him. Iyov stands up and details his righteous deeds to refute all their claims: I will recount to you a bit of my deeds, and you will see that I do not deserve all these punishments I received.
בְּרִית כָּרַתִּי לְעֵינָי וּמָה אֶתְבּוֹנֵן עַל־בְּתוּלָה׃ - I made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I look upon a maiden?
Iyov previously stated, "My harp has turned to mourning." Why did Iyov have a harp? To bring joy with it to a bridegroom and bride as they entered the chuppah. Once his children died, his harp turned to mourning, and his harp fell silent. And lest one suggest: while playing before the bride and groom, perhaps he cast his eyes upon the bride and coveted her? To this Iyov responds: how could anyone suspect me of such a thing? Behold, I made a covenant with my eyes never to gaze upon anything that does not belong to me. Moreover, I did not follow my eyes even regarding an unmarried maiden, who is of a lesser degree of prohibition than a married woman. My sole intention was purely to bring joy to the bridegroom and bride.
The Gemara in Masechet Bava Batra (16a) states: Rava said, dust into the mouth of Iyov - let his mouth be filled with dust. He refrained regarding other women, but Avraham did not even look at his own wife. That is to say: what are you praising yourself for, that you did not gaze upon an unmarried maiden? But at your own wife you did? And in this you take pride? Avraham Avinu did not even look at his own wife, as it is written, "Behold, now I know that you are a woman of beautiful appearance" - implying that previously he did not know it, meaning that until then he was not conscious of her beauty. If Avraham did not look at his own wife, how can you come along and boast, "I did not look upon a maiden"? Where do you stand compared to Avraham?
Before explaining why he deserves dust in his mouth on this account, one must ask: how is it possible that Avraham did not look at his wife? After all, a person who marries a woman must see her beforehand. Some explain (as seems to be the Maharsha there) that he looked at her once - only before marrying her, and from then on did not gaze at her again. And "Behold, now I know" means that after all these years you still retain your beauty, for on that occasion he looked and saw her reflection in the water, and then said, "Behold, now I know that you are a woman of beautiful appearance."
However, there is another explanation. Why must a person look at a woman before marrying her at all? What practical difference does it make? A woman is taken for children and for adornment, and if she lacks great beauty, what of it? Rather, the concern is lest he look at her afterward and she become repulsive in his eyes, causing him to say: How did I marry such a woman? He would feel distress, and from that, animosity might enter his heart, Heaven forbid. Therefore, Chazal instructed that he should first see what he is marrying. According to this, Avraham Avinu - who never intended to gaze at his wife - had no need to see her beforehand at all. The entire concern is only that she might become repulsive in his eyes, and with him there was no such concern, since he never intended to gaze upon her.
Yet the greatest difficulty here is what the Maharsha asks: Rava said, let Iyov's mouth be filled with dust - you did not look at a maiden, whereas Avraham did not look even at his wife; well, what of it? Just because Avraham was more righteous than I am, should my mouth be filled with dust? Suppose I am not a tzaddik on the level of one hundred, but rather ninety-eight - is that not sufficient? Is that not worthy of praise? Not only do they not praise him, but they even tell him: Be silent, better to fill your mouth with dust and not speak at all!
Rather, the explanation is this: Iyov came to complain about his troubles - why do I deserve this? I never gazed upon a maiden; Master of the Universe, You are not treating me justly! Rava comes and tells him: Come and see. Avraham said, "Behold, now I know that you are a woman of beautiful appearance" - when did he say this? When they went down to Egypt. The Holy One, blessed be He, had told him to go up to the Land of Israel, promising him, "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing." He arrived in the Land - and Master of the Universe, the time for fulfillment had arrived. And what did he receive? A famine, nothing to eat, and Avraham wandered from place to place. Where were all the promises? Is this the welcome he receives? Even so, Avraham Avinu did not complain or protest, and he was such a tzaddik that you are as nothing compared to him, for he did not even look at his own wife. That is the meaning of "dust into the mouth of Iyov": your righteousness is far lesser than Avraham's, yet you come and say, "Master of the Universe, I do not deserve this, I am such a tzaddik" - whereas Avraham, who was vastly more righteous than you, never lodged a complaint against the Holy One, blessed be He.
Incidentally, this is one of the explanations for the words, "Behold, now I know": Until today you did not know - so what happened today? How did this stumbling block come about? Rather, you are approaching Egypt, and Egypt is steeped in depravity. Once he drew close to them, even Avraham was subtly affected. Until today he had never looked at his wife, but today even Avraham sees his wife. From here a person can learn how far one must distance oneself from places of abomination, for mere proximity exerts an influence.
A story is told of Rav Chatzkel Levenstein, who once passed by a movie theater, lowered his head, and covered his eyes with his hands. They asked him: Why is the Rav so frightened? He replied: I fear the light coming out of this theater, lest such light reach me; one cannot fathom the negative influence of this. He was able to sense that even the light emanating from the theater was like a burn from fire, without having seen a thing - this is an exalted level. Similarly, it is related of Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman, who was once traveling in a closed car, immersed in the Gemara, and suddenly sensed that they had entered a neighborhood of impurity, and asked that they drive the car out of there at once. And if such was true of them, Avraham Avinu also experienced a slight decline as he drew near to Egypt - to the point where he now saw his wife.
וּמֶה חֵלֶק אֱלוֹהַּ מִמָּעַל וְנַחֲלַת שַׁדַּי מִמְּרֹמִים׃ - For what is the portion of God from above, and the heritage of the Almighty from on high?
Iyov says: In return for this righteousness of mine, that I made a covenant with my eyes and did not gaze even upon a maiden - what portion did the Holy One, blessed be He, give me? What is the reward? And what has the Almighty bequeathed to me from on high? That my children died, that I lost my possessions, and all these afflictions. Come and see what a righteous man I was, and what I received in return.
הֲלֹא־אֵיד לְעַוָּל וְנֵכֶר לְפֹעֲלֵי אָוֶן׃ - Is not ruin for the unjust, and disaster for the workers of iniquity?
Eid means ruin, as noted in the expression: one must not rejoice in another person's eid - that is, in his downfall. Iyov says: This ruin that has befallen me was fitting for a man of injustice, for a worker of iniquity, for the wicked and corrupt. "And disaster for the workers of iniquity" - even to workers of iniquity, this ruin would seem something foreign and alien. It is like the saying: "I would not wish this even on my worst enemy." There is suffering that even for the wicked would be considered excessive - how much more so for me.
הֲלֹא־הוּא יִרְאֶה דְרָכָי וְכׇל־צְעָדַי יִסְפּוֹר׃ - Does He not see my ways, and count all my steps?
If you think that I have sinned because you cannot know hidden things and do not know what I did in secret - behold, the Holy One, blessed be He, sees my ways, the inner paths of my soul, and He counts all my steps. Is any deed hidden from His eyes? Whether in terms of my actual deeds, the conduct of my soul, or my innermost thoughts - Hashem knows everything. And if He contends that guilt is found in me, let Him testify against me.
אִם־הָלַכְתִּי עִם־שָׁוְא וַתַּחַשׁ עַל־מִרְמָה רַגְלִי׃ - If I have walked with falsehood, or if my foot has hastened toward deceit.
Hashem knows all my deeds: Did I walk in the paths of vanity, in ways of falsehood? All my actions were done with truth and integrity for the sake of Hashem, not deceitfully and not with flattery. "Vatachash" can be understood from the concept of feeling (techushah), as though my foot felt out a place of deceit; meaning my foot never set foot in a place of deceit, nor did I ever conduct myself dishonestly. And the Malbim brings an additional explanation: "vatachash" comes from the language of haste, as in "maher shalal chash baz" - did my foot hasten to walk in a place of deceit?
יִשְׁקְלֵנִי בְמֹאזְנֵי־צֶדֶק וְיֵדַע אֱלוֹהַּ תֻּמָּתִי׃ - Let Him weigh me in balances of justice, and God will know my integrity.
Hashem has scales and balances of justice with which He can weigh my actions to determine whether they are worthy or not. Let Him please weigh my deeds in balances of justice, and God will know my integrity - my perfection and righteousness.
אִם־תִּטֶּה אַשֻּׁרִי מִנִּי הַדָּרֶךְ וְאַחַר עֵינַי הָלַךְ לִבִּי וּבְכַפַּי דָּבַק מאוּם׃ - If my step has turned from the way, and my heart walked after my eyes, and any blemish cleaved to my hands.
Here Iyov begins to pronounce his judgment upon himself: If it is true, as my companions claim, that there is sin in me - that I strayed from the path of uprightness, from the blessed and proper path (or from the root meaning confirmation and steady footing), and followed my eyes to covet things that do not belong to me, and any taint clung to my hands -
אֶזְרְעָה וְאַחֵר יֹאכֵל וְצֶאֱצָאַי יְשֹׁרָשׁוּ׃ - Then let me sow and another eat, and let my offspring be uprooted.
Then I accept this punishment upon myself: that I sow and another eat what I have planted - meaning that all my material possessions be lost; "and let my offspring be uprooted" - to uproot completely from the source. If that is indeed the case, then everything Hashem did to me was deserved: destroying my possessions, taking my children from me, and uprooting them completely. In that case, judgment came upon me justly and righteously.
אִם־נִפְתָּה לִבִּי עַל־אִשָּׁה וְעַל־פֶּתַח רֵעִי אָרָבְתִּי׃ - If my heart was enticed by a woman, and I lurked at my neighbor's door.
If, Heaven forbid, my heart was seduced and I was enticed by a married woman, and because of this I lurked - lying in ambush - at my fellow's doorway to commit adultery with his wife,
תִּטְחַן לְאַחֵר אִשְׁתִּי וְעָלֶיהָ יִכְרְעוּן אֲחֵרִין׃ - May my wife grind for another, and let others kneel over her.
Then I accept the judgment upon myself: let my wife become like a degraded maidservant grinding at the millstones for another man, as it says, "even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill." "And let others kneel over her" - measure for measure: just as I, Heaven forbid, desired my fellow's wife, so let it be done to me.
כִּי־הִיא זִמָּה וְהוּא עָוֺן פְּלִילִים׃ - For it is depravity, and it is an iniquity to be judged by the magistrates.
Now he explains the reason for the punishment. A soul that immerses itself deeply in lustful thoughts - this is "zimah" (depravity), from the word zomeim (scheming), a person who constantly schemes thoughts of immorality, which indicates an evil trait in the soul. "An iniquity of pelilim" - from the concept of judgment, as in "and he shall give as the judges (bifelilim) determine": even on earth there are judges and magistrates who adjudicate such an act, upon the claim of the husband.
כִּי אֵשׁ הִיא עַד־אֲבַדּוֹן תֹּאכֵל וּבְכׇל־תְּבוּאָתִי תְשָׁרֵשׁ׃ - For it is a fire that consumes unto destruction, and it would root out all my increase.
The deed itself is like a fire that consumes the body of the sinner unto destruction, and also "it would root out all my increase" - causing his children and his possessions to be lost, like a fire that consumes and destroys everything. Therefore Iyov says: it is unthinkable that I did such a thing; and had I done so, I would have deserved such a dreadful and terrible punishment, for the act of immorality and the seduction of a married woman is so terrible that it warrants the punishment of the loss of all possessions and the uprooting of all children from the world.
אִם־אֶמְאַס מִשְׁפַּט עַבְדִּי וַאֲמָתִי בְּרִבָם עִמָּדִי׃ - If I despised the cause of my manservant or my maidservant when they contended with me.
Eliphaz had told him that he sent widows away empty-handed - perhaps, in your wealth, you did not act properly toward the destitute, the poor, and the lonely. Iyov answers him: Not only did I not rob widows and orphans, but even my manservant and maidservant, who were my monetary acquisition and belonged to me - if they had a dispute with me, I did not despise their claim. I did not say to a slave, "Work and keep quiet, I have nothing to discuss with you, you are a slave and do what I tell you." Rather, even a slave who came with a grievance against me - I would hear out his words.
וּמָה אֶעֱשֶׂה כִּי־יָקוּם אֵל וְכִי־יִפְקֹד מָה אֲשִׁיבֶנּוּ׃ - What then shall I do when God rises up? And when He visits, what shall I answer Him?
And the reason for this: after all, I too have, as it were, a lawsuit with God, contending with Him over the afflictions He brought upon me without cause. And if I do not take up the cause of my servant - what will I do when the Holy One, blessed be He, rises and brings a claim against me, saying: How can you cry out against Me and demand justice from Me, when your servant cried out against you and you did not properly judge his case? Iyov says: This was reason enough for me to plead the cause of my servant, for the closeness between me and the servant is far greater than the closeness between me and God; and if the servant could not open his mouth against you, his master - how can you open your mouth against Hashem?
הֲלֹא־בַבֶּטֶן עֹשֵׂנִי עָשָׂהוּ וַיְכֻנֶנּוּ בָּרֶחֶם אֶחָד׃ - Did not He that made me in the womb make him? And did not One fashion us in the womb?
This is the claim that Hashem would have brought against me: After all, both of you, you and your servant, are close to one another - both of you were formed and born from a woman's womb, yet even so, you would not hear his cry, though he is so close and similar to you; so how could you expect to enter into judgment with God? The Malbim explains that the "belly" (beten) symbolizes the pregnancy and the "womb" (rechem) symbolizes the birth - "the opening of the womb" (peter rechem). Therefore, "Did not He that made me in the belly make him" speaks of the formation during pregnancy; "and did not One fashion us in the womb" - of the birth.
אִם־אֶמְנַע מֵחֵפֶץ דַּלִּים וְעֵינֵי אַלְמָנָה אֲכַלֶּה׃ - "If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or caused the eyes of a widow to pine."
Zophar the Naamathite alleged that he crushed and abandoned the poor. Iyov responds to him: Not only did I never rob the impoverished, the poor, and the destitute, but I did not even withhold from them their request or desire. "Or caused the eyes of a widow to pine" - her eyes longing to receive something from me, only to be turned away empty-handed.
וְאֹכַל פִּתִּי לְבַדִּי וְלֹא־אָכַל יָתוֹם מִמֶּנָּה׃ - "Or ate my bread alone, without the orphan eating from it."
Likewise, if you accuse me of eating my bread alone without allowing an orphan to eat and be sustained beside me. After all, concerning all this - "What then will I do when God rises up?" What merit or defense would I have before the Holy One, blessed be He, if I neglected the destitute, widows, and orphans, and ate my bread in isolation? He would say to me: You show no concern for the wretched, so why should I heed your outcry? Out of this apprehension, I took care of everyone I possibly could, aiding anyone in need: I never withheld the desire of the poor, never caused the eyes of a widow to pine, and never ate my bread alone; rather, orphan and widow dined alongside me.
כִּי מִנְּעוּרַי גְּדֵלַנִי כְאָב וּמִבֶּטֶן אִמִּי אַנְחֶנָּה׃ - "For from my youth He reared me like a father, and from my mother's womb I guided her."
The Holy One, blessed be He, raised me from my youth: even though I was an orphan, Hashem reared me like a father. Had I failed to act appropriately, He would have asked me: Why did you not treat the orphan as I treated you? Did I not raise you, Iyov, when you were fatherless, elevating you to such an exalted station, to the wealth and prominence you enjoyed? Why, then, do you not care for My orphans? "And from my mother's womb I guided her" - when my father died, my mother was left a widow, and I guided and provided for her from the time I emerged from my mother's womb, meaning from my youth. All this occurred because Hashem assisted me like a father, watching over me and my mother, which enabled me to guide my mother and sustain her properly. Therefore, I certainly provided for anyone in need, supporting and helping all who required assistance.
אִם־אֶרְאֶה אוֹבֵד מִבְּלִי לְבוּשׁ וְאֵין כְּסוּת לָאֶבְיוֹן׃ - "If I saw anyone perishing for lack of clothing, or that the destitute had no covering;"
אִם־לֹא בֵרְכוּנִי חֲלָצָו וּמִגֵּז כְּבָשַׂי יִתְחַמָּם׃ - "If his loins did not bless me, when he was warmed with the fleece of my sheep;"
His companions had charged, "and stripped the naked of their clothing" - claiming that from people who possessed scarcely any garments, you took away even what little they had. Iyov answers them: How could you accuse me of such conduct? Whenever I saw a person perishing for lack of clothing, or an impoverished soul without a covering, his loins blessed me! The loins are the waist and hips, which until that moment had been exposed and bare, and were now enveloped in warmth. For from the shearings of my sheep - from my own wool - I provided covering and garments for the naked and the destitute to keep them warm. How, then, can you accuse me of stripping the naked? On the contrary, their loins bless me for finally being clothed.
אִם־הֲנִיפוֹתִי עַל־יָתוֹם יָדִי כִּי־אֶרְאֶה בַשַּׁעַר עֶזְרָתִי׃ - If I have raised my hand against an orphan, because I saw my support in the gate:
Iyov used to sit at the city gate, as he recounted earlier that the elders would stand before him. He says: Even if an orphan came before me at the gate of justice, and I saw that by law he was liable to receive lashes - I did not raise my hand against him to strike him with my own hands. Although I saw "my support in the gate," meaning that according to the law I had legal backing and justification to strike him, and I understood that he deserved it - nonetheless, I was careful not to strike him with my hands. And if I indeed struck him, Heaven forbid, I decree this judgment upon myself:
כְּתֵפִי מִשִּׁכְמָהֿ תִפּוֹל וְאֶזְרֹעִי מִקָּנָהֿ תִשָּׁבֵר׃ - May my shoulder fall from its joint, and my arm be broken from its bone.
To understand this, one must know what the kateif (shoulder) is, what the shechem (upper back) is, what the zero'a (upper arm) is, and what the kaneh (forearm) is. The kateif is quite literal - the two outer sides upon which a person carries a burden, like the spies who carried the cluster of grapes on their shoulder; that is where the arms begin. The shechem is the part that connects the two shoulders, behind the neck. Therefore, the Malbim notes, shechem is always mentioned in the singular - "carried upon his shoulder/back" - because it is a single unit beneath the neck toward the nape, whereas "shoulders" (ketefeiyim) is always mentioned in the plural, as there is a shoulder on this side and a shoulder on that side. The zero'a is the part connecting the shoulder to the forearm - where tefillin are donned; and the kaneh is from the elbow to the hand, the place where one wears a watch. And the yad (hand) is called such because it contains fourteen (yud-daled) joints. Now we understand: "May my shoulder fall from its joint" - may the shoulder fall from the shechem that connects the shoulders; "and my arm be broken from its bone" - may the upper arm break in the middle and sever from the forearm.
כִּי פַחַד אֵלַי אֵיד אֵל וּמִשְּׂאֵתוֹ לֹא אוּכָל׃ - For calamity from God was a terror to me, and before His loftiness I could do nothing.
And why was I so careful? "For calamity from God was a terror to me" - I was afraid out of fear of punishment, lest the Holy One, blessed be He, bring eid, meaning ruin, upon me following such an act. "And before His loftiness I could do nothing" - even apart from fear of punishment, I possessed awe of His exaltedness: se'eto derives from ram venisa (high and exalted), and because Hashem is so supreme and exalted, I was simply incapable of committing such an act, out of the profound awe of His majesty that filled me.
In this chapter, Iyov spreads out the vast tapestry of his righteous deeds to prove that he did not deserve his afflictions: he guarded his eyes in a covenant and did not even gaze upon a maiden, he did not walk with vanity or deceit, he was not enticed by his neighbor's wife, he did not despise the legal claim of his manservant or maidservant, he did not withhold the desire of the poor nor wear out the eyes of the widow, he fed orphans and clothed the naked, and he did not raise his hand against an orphan even when the law was on his side - all out of dread of calamity from God and awe of His loftiness. Yet to all of this, the Gemara responded, "Dust to the mouth of Iyov" - not because of any deficiency in his righteousness, but because Avraham Avinu, who was incomparably greater than he, endured famine and wandering after all the Divine promises and never complained against his Creator. And along the way we also learn how far a person must distance himself from places of impurity, for proximity itself exerts an influence - to the extent that "Behold now I know" was said specifically at the gates of Egypt.