Covenant with Eyes in Job 31
Job 31:1 states, "I made a covenant with my eyes, how then should I look lustfully at a young woman?" [1]. This verse is part of Job's defense of his moral character, where he asserts his innocence and righteousness before God. The passage is situated within Job's larger argument that he has lived a virtuous life, deserving of a better fate than the suffering he endures.
The literary context of Job 31:1 is Job's oath of innocence, where he calls down curses upon himself if he has committed various sins. The chapter is a continuation of Job's vindication of his character, begun in chapter 29, where he described his uprightness in public life, and continued in chapter 30, where he lamented his current suffering. In chapter 31, Job defends his private life, asserting his guard against being allured to sin by his senses [6].
The phrase "covenant with my eyes" is a key term in understanding Job's commitment to moral purity. Rashi, a medieval Jewish commentator, interprets this as a vow not to gaze upon a married woman [2]. However, other commentators understand it more broadly as a commitment to avoid lustful looking at any woman. Matthew Henry, for example, sees it as a guard against all lewdness with any women whatsoever, emphasizing Job's faithfulness to the marriage bed [3].
The eye is considered a critical instrument of sin, as it is often the first point of contact with temptation (Genesis 3:6). Tyndale House notes that Job's covenant with his eyes included a self-cursing oath, similar to Jesus' teaching in Matthew 5:28-29 [4]. John Gill observes that the eyes are inlets to many sins, particularly uncleanness, and that Job's commitment was to avoid wantonly gazing at a woman's beauty [5].
The interpretation of Job 31:1 has been influential in Christian and Jewish traditions. In Christian thought, it is seen as an example of the importance of avoiding lust and maintaining moral purity. Calvin references the importance of self-control in his Institutes, although not directly citing Job 31:1 [8, 9]. In Jewish tradition, Maimonides discusses the permissibility of looking at an unmarried woman to assess her suitability for marriage, highlighting the nuances of interpreting Job's vow in different contexts [7].
The historical setting of Job's statement is uncertain, but it is generally understood to be part of an ancient Israelite or patriarchal context. The language and themes suggest a setting within the wisdom literature of the Hebrew Bible.
Job's "covenant with his eyes" has functioned in tradition as an example of moral discipline and the importance of avoiding temptation. It continues to be referenced in discussions of ethics and morality within both Jewish and Christian traditions.
Sources
- Job ““I made a covenant with my eyes, how then should I look lustfully at a young woman? -- Job 31:1”
- Sefaria (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki) on Job 31:1: I made a covenant with my eyes not to gaze upon a married woman.”
- Job (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Job 31:1: The lusts of the flesh, and the love of the world, are the two fatal rocks on which multitudes split; against these Job protests he was always careful to stand upon his guard. I. Against the lusts of the flesh. He not only kept himself clear from adultery, from defiling his neighbour's wives (Job 31:9), but from all lewdness with any women whatsoever. He kept no concubine, no mistress, but was inviolably faithful to the marriage bed, though his wife was none of the wisest, best, or kindest. From the beginning it was so, that a man should have but one wife and cleave ”
- Job (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Job 31:1: 31:1-40 Job called down curses on himself if he were guilty of the accusations made against him. Except for his mention of idolatry (31:26-27), Job addressed his fidelity to God in terms of the second half of the Ten Commandments, summarized by the command to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev 19:18; Rom 13:9). 31:1 Job’s covenant with his eyes included a self-cursing oath (cp. Matt 5:28-29). Perhaps lust of the eyes was at the head of Job’s list because the eye is the first instrument of sin (Gen 3:6). • To look with lust at a young woman violates the spirit of t”
- Job (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Job 31:1: I made a covenant with mine eyes,.... Not to look upon a woman, and wantonly gaze at her beauty, lest his heart should be drawn thereby to lust after her; for the eyes are inlets to many sins, and particularly to uncleanness, of which there have been instances, both in bad men and good men, Gen 34:2; so the poet (t) represents the eye as the way through which the beauty of a woman passes swifter than an arrow into the hearts of men, and makes impressions there; see Pe2 2:14; hence Zaleucus ordered adulterers to be punished, by plucking out the eyes of the adulterer (u); ”
- Job (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Job 31 (introduction): (Job 31:1-40) Job proceeds to prove that he deserved a better lot. As in the twenty-ninth chapter, he showed his uprightness as an emir, or magistrate in public life, so in this chapter he vindicates his character in private life. He asserts his guarding against being allured to sin by his senses. think--rather, "cast a (lustful) look." He not merely did not so, but put it out of the question by covenanting with his eyes against leading him into temptation (Pro 6:25; Mat 5:28).”
- Mishneh Torah (Maimonides) (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Mishneh Torah (Maimonides), Mishneh Torah%2C Forbidden Intercourse 21:3: These matters are [also] forbidden with regard to women with whom relations are forbidden on the basis of [merely] a negative commandment. It is permitted to look at the face of an unmarried woman and examine [her features] whether she is a virgin or has engaged in relations previously to see whether she is attractive in his eyes so that he may marry her. There is no prohibition in doing this. On the contrary, it is proper to do this. 7 For if a person does not look at a woman before he marries her, he may have an unpleas”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 98: place a manifest indication of favour before his eye, added the promise of possession of the land of Canaan. In the same way we should understand all the terrestrial promises which were given to the Jewish nation, the spiritual promise, as the head to which the others bore reference, always holding the first place. Having handled this subject fully when treating of the difference between the old and the new dispensations, I now only glance at it. 12. Under the appellation of children the difference they observe is this, that the ch”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 34: how, in a common operation, he is exempt from all guilt, and can justly condemn his own ministers. Hence a distinction has been invented between doing and permitting because to many it seemed altogether inexplicable how Satan and all the wicked are so under the hand and authority of God, that he directs their malice to whatever end he pleases, and employs their iniquities to execute his Judgments. The modesty of those who are thus alarmed at the appearance of absurdity might perhaps be excused, did they not endeavour to vindicate t”