In Chapter 31 of the Book of Job, he ends the defense of his case by claiming his innocence in great detail; reading this, we discovered that much of what he says later become foundational to Torah as well as the teachings of Messiah hundreds of years later.
This is important because it challenges the modern idea that righteousness before the Torah was merely based on general morality, common sense, or basic human kindness. Job’s words reveal something deeper: he was not simply following a universal standard of “being a good person,” but was living according to a moral reality established by YHVH Himself:
1. “I made a covenant with my eyes not to pay attention to a maiden.” (v1)
- Exodus 20:17 “You shall not covet..”
- Numbers 15:39 “…you shall not wander after your own heart and after your own eyes, after which you play the harlot.”
- Proverbs 6:25 “Do not desire her beauty in your heart, nor let her capture you with her eyelids.”
- Romans 13:14 “Make no forethought for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman in order to lust after her has already committed adultery in his heart.
Matthew 5:27–28
Greek Word understanding
“You have heard”: ekousate– not only physical hearing, but also what has been understood by hearing; received teaching and interpretation
“To lust after”- epithumesai– to long for and desire; set the heart upon (possessing) that which does not belong to you
2. If my step has strayed from the way…” (v7)
- Deuteronomy 5:32–33 “You shall be careful to do just as YHVH your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left. You shall walk in all the way which YHVH your God has commanded you…”
- Deuteronomy 10:12 “And now, Yisrael, what does YHVH your God require from you, but to fear YHVH your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve YHVH your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”
- Proverbs 4:23–27 “Guard your heart diligently… Watch the path of your feet, and all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right or to the left; turn your foot from evil.”
- Hebrews 12:13 “Make straight paths for your feet…”
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction and many are those entering through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, few are those finding it.
Matthew 7:13-14
3. “If I have denied justice to my male or female servant when they disputed with me, then what could I do when God rises up; when He visits, how will I answer Him? (v13-14)
- Exodus 23:6 “You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute.”
- Deuteronomy 24:14-15 “You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy… You shall give him his wages on his day before the sun sets- for he is poor and is counting on it…”
- Deuteronomy 10:17 “For YHVH your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who does not show partiality…”
- Leviticus 19:18 “You shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am YHVH.”
- Proverbs 14:31 “He who oppresses the poor taunts his Maker, but he who is gracious to the needy honors Him.”
- Colossians 4:1 “Masters, grant your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.”
- Ephesians 6:9 “Masters, do the same things to them, and stop threatening them, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.”
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Matthew 5:7
Therefore, whatever you want people to do for you, so do for them; for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Matthew 7:12
4. Did not He who made me in the womb, make him? Did not the same one form us in the womb? (v15)
- Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
- Proverbs 22:2 “The rich and the poor have a common bond, YHVH is the Maker of them all.”
- Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua.”
- Colossians 3:11 “There is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Messiah is all, and in all.”
- 1 Corinthians 8:6 “Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we unto Him; and one Lord, Yeshua Messiah, through whom are all things, and we exist through Him.”
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may prove yourselves sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
Matthew 5:43–45
5. “If I withheld the desires of the poor or let the eyes of the widow to fail, if I ate my morsel of bread myself, without letting an orphan eat of it- if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing or the needy without a covering, if his heart did not bless me as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep,” (v16-20)
- Exodus 22:22-24 “You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. If you afflict him at all, and if he cries out to Me, I will surely hear his cry…”
- Leviticus 19:9–10 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field… You shall leave them for the poor and the stranger; I am YHVH your God.”
- Deuteronomy 15:7-8 “If there is a poor person among your brothers… you shall not harden your heart nor close your hand from your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need…”
- Deuteronomy 26:12-13 “When you have finished paying all the tithe of your increase… and also have given it to the Levite and the stranger, the orphan and the widow…’”
- Proverbs 22:9 “One who is generous will be blessed, because he gives some of his food to the poor.”
- James 1:27 “Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…”
“Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”
Matthew 5:42
“If you want to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow Me.”
Matthew 19:21
6. “If I have put my confidence in gold or said to fine gold, ‘You are my security,’ if I rejoiced because of my great wealth or because of the abundance my hand acquired,” (v24-25)
- Deuteronomy 8:11-14, 17-18 “Beware that you do not forget YHVH your God by not keeping His commandments… otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them… and all that you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget YHVH your God…
But you shall remember YHVH your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth…” - Proverbs 11:4 “Riches do not benefit on the day of wrath, but righteousness rescues from death.”
- Proverbs 23:4–5 “Do not weary yourself to gain wealth; stop dwelling on it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone…”
- Proverbs 30:8–9 “Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is my portion, so that I do not become full and deny You and say, ‘Who is YHVH?’”
- 1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19 “Godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment… For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil…
Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God…” - Hebrews 13:5 “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever abandon you.’”
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven… for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
“No one can serve two masters… You cannot serve God and wealth.”
Matthew 6:19-21; 24
“The one sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”
Matthew 13:22
“How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!”
Mark 10:23–25
7. if I looked at the sun when it shines, or the moon moving in splendor, so that my heart was secretly enticed, and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth, then this also would be iniquity to be judged, for I would have denied God above.” (v26-28)
- Exodus 20:3-5
“You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol… You shall not worship them or serve them…” - Deuteronomy 4:15-19 “So watch yourselves carefully… so that you do not raise your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the heavenly array, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them…”
- Deuteronomy 17:2-3 “If there is found among you… who has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host…”
- 1 John 5:21 “Little children, guard yourselves from idols.”
“Go away, satan! For it is written: ‘You shall worship YHVH your God, and serve Him only.’”
Matthew 4:10
8. “If I rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune, or gloated because calamity found him- I have not allowed my mouth to sin, by asking for his life with a curse- if anyone in my household has ever said, ‘Who has not been filled with his meat?’ -but no stranger had to spend the night outside for my door was open to the traveler—” (v29-32)
- Exodus 23:4–5 “If you encounter your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him; you shall surely release it with him.”
- Leviticus 19:18 “You shall not take vengeance nor hold any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am YHVH.”
- Deuteronomy 10:18–19 “He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the stranger by giving him food and clothing. So show your love for the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
- Proverbs 24:17–18 “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles, or YHVH will see it and be displeased, and turn His anger away from him.”
- Romans 12:14 “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.”
- 1 Corinthians 4:12–13 “When we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we respond kindly.”
- Ephesians 4:31–32 “All bitterness, wrath, anger, shouting, and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God in Messiah also has forgiven you.”
- James 2:8 “If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well.”
But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? … But love your enemies and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High…
Luke 6:27-28; 32–35
For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in.”
Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did it to Me.
Matthew 25:35; 40
9. “if I have I covered my transgressions like Adam, by hiding my guilt in my bosom because I feared a great multitude, and the contempt of clans terrified me, so that I kept silent and would not go outside-” (V33-34)
- Genesis 3:8 “And they heard the sound of YHVH God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of YHVH God among the trees of the garden.”
- Leviticus 5:5 “So it shall be when a person becomes guilty in one of these ways, that he shall confess that in which he has sinned.”
- Numbers 32:23 “But if you do not do so, behold you have sinned against YHVH, and know your sin will find you.”
- Proverbs 28:13 “One who conceals his wrongdoings will not prosper, but one who confesses and abandons them will find compassion.”
“This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, so that his works will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be known as having been practiced in God.
John 3:19–21
Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What is spoken to you in darkness, speak in the light, and what is reported in the ear, proclaim upon the housetops!
Matthew 10:26–28
The principles Job describes- guarding the eyes, rejecting lust, practicing justice, caring for the poor and vulnerable, treating servants with dignity, refusing idolatry, showing mercy toward enemies, and walking in integrity before God- are not random human ideals. They reflect the character and righteousness of the Creator, which are later defined and contained within His Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers & Deuteronomy).
Job demonstrates that before Sinai, people could still know and respond to God’s moral expectations through His revelation, conscience, and relationship with Him; however, the giving of Torah did not create righteousness- it gave a clearer and more complete revelation of the righteous character of God.
This same foundation is what Messiah later teaches, bringing attention not merely to outward actions but to the heart from which obedience naturally flows.
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