Job 31

“Sinlet” isn’t a common word, if a word at all. But “let” means something small, minor, tiny. Sinlet, in theory, would be a tiny sin, when sin is measured by the gram, the bucket, or the damage done.

This verse is written obscurely in Hebrew, but in a way that most scholars agree refers to sex. The verse more literally wishes the woman would “grind for another,” and the men would “kneel over her.” Most Bibles dodge or soften the meaning. Some say “grind” refers to fixing a meal, like fixing a meal would be a terrible thing for them. But that’s not much of a curse for Job’s potential adultery. Whether “grinding” refers to making flour, a meal, or whoopee, scholars agree the man’s kneeling is not for proposing marriage. In this verse, Job seems to be saying that if he cheats on his wife, the curse he places on himself is that his wife would cheat on him or marry another.

If ever a Bible verse illustrated what could have been the patriarchal system’s motto, that men were men and everyone else was pitifully less, this is it. Though a scenario like this would destroy the reputation of a woman, it seems that the writer of this passage would have considered men all the more damaged.

Literally Abaddon, which means dead or destroyed. It’s another name for the grave, or Sheol, the afterlife place of the dead.

The cryptic phrase is more literally “cause the eyes of widows to fail.” Scholars debate what it means to cause a widow’s eyes to fail. Could it mean to withhold help and thereby rob her of any vision for the future or any reason to keep on living? That’s a possibility and a contender. Another possibility is that Job didn’t do anything that would leave a widow in tears—or unable to hold the tears back.

The perplexing phrase is more literally, “my mouth has kissed my hand.” Or who knows, maybe the hand kissed first. Some scholars guess the phrase refers to a person raising their hand as a gesture of acknowledgement. Others describe it as blowing a kiss. Either way, the person would have been treating the earth’s sky lights as gods. But frankly, the idea of a bunch of elderly men walking around blowing kisses to what would appear to be no one might seem unsettling in just about any culture.

The 10 commandments are the most important laws in the Jewish Bible, the Old Testament. And the first and most important of those laws is that God’s people should worship only one God—him (Exodus 20:2-3).

Adam and Eve both hid from God after they broke the one and only rule he ever gave them (Genesis 3:8-10).