Job 30:31

31 My lyre is [used] for mourning and my flute for the sound of weeping.[a]

Job 30:31 Meaning and Commentary

Job 30:31

My harp also is [turned] to mourning
Which he used, as David, either in religious worship, expressing praise to God thereby, or for his recreation in an innocent way; but now it was laid aside, and, instead of it, nothing was heard from him, or in his house, but the voice of mourning:

and my organ into the voice of them that weep;
another instrument of music, which had its name from the pleasantness of its sound, and was of early use, being first invented by Jubal, ( Genesis 4:21 ) ; but not that we now so call, which is of late invention: those instruments which Job might have and use, both in a civil and in a religious way, were now, through afflictions, become useless to him, and neglected by him; or these expressions in general may signify, that, instead of mirth and joy he was wont to have, there were nothing now to be heard but lamentation and woe; see ( Lamentations 5:15 ) ( Amos 8:10 ) .

Job 30:31 In-Context

29 I have become a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches.
30 My skin blackens and flakes off, and my bones burn with fever.
31 My lyre is [used] for mourning and my flute for the sound of weeping.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Ps 137:2; Isa 24:8; Mt 11:17
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