What consequences does Job associate with adultery in Job 31:11?

Setting the Scene in Job 31

Job is taking an oath of innocence. One area he singles out is sexual purity. In verse 11 he weighs the gravity of adultery and spells out its outcome.

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Job’s Own Words (Job 31:11–12)

“For that would be a heinous crime,

an iniquity to be judged.

For it is a fire that burns down to Abaddon;

it would root out my entire harvest.”

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Consequences Job Connects to Adultery

• Heinous crime – not a minor lapse but a moral outrage, placed in the same category as violent wrongdoing.

• Iniquity to be judged – it invites formal punishment; God’s court and human courts agree that it must be prosecuted.

• A consuming fire – like flames licking down to the abyss (“Abaddon”), adultery destroys from the inside out.

• Total ruin of one’s harvest – loss of livelihood, reputation, legacy, and family stability.

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Layers of Fallout

1. Legal fallout

– Under Mosaic law adultery carried the death penalty (Deuteronomy 22:22).

– Job’s phrase “to be judged” shows he expects sentencing, not sympathy.

2. Social fallout

– Public shame replaces honor (Proverbs 6:32-35).

– Family fragmentation follows; in verse 10 Job anticipates his own wife being taken by others.

3. Spiritual fallout

– Adultery provokes divine wrath (Hebrews 13:4: “God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers”).

– Persistent adulterers are shut out of God’s kingdom (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

4. Personal fallout

– Consuming regret and inner torment; the “fire” metaphor highlights guilt that keeps burning.

– Economic devastation—“root out my entire harvest” pictures years of work gone in a moment.

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Why Job Uses Such Forceful Language

• He sees marriage as a covenant God Himself witnesses (Malachi 2:14).

• Violating that covenant mocks God’s design and therefore invites divine justice.

• Calling adultery a “crime” elevates it from private indiscretion to public offense against both heaven and earth.

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Putting It All Together

Job treats adultery as…

• Morally outrageous.

• Legally punishable.

• Spiritually lethal.

• Practically ruinous.

His verdict: adultery is a blaze that scorches everything—reputation, family, wealth, and soul—until nothing wholesome remains.