Job 30:1-6

Job’s Final Defense Continued

1 "But now [those] younger than I, as far as days, laugh at me, whose fathers I rejected for setting with the dogs of my sheep and goats.
2 Moreover, {what use to me is the strength of their hands}? With them, vigor is destroyed.
3 Through want and through barren hunger they are gnawing [in the] dry region [in the] darkness of desolation and waste.
4 They are picking salt herbs, the leaves of bushes, and [the] roots of broom trees to warm themselves.
5 They were driven out from fellow people; they shout at them as [at] a thief,
6 {so that they dwell} [in] holes of [the] ground and [in the] rocks.

Job 30:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 30

Job in this chapter sets forth his then unhappy state and condition, in contrast with his former state of prosperity described in the preceding chapter: things had taken a strange turn, and were just the reverse of what they were before; he that was before in such high esteem and credit with all sorts of men, young and old, high and low, rich and poor, now is had in derision by the meanest and basest of men, whose characters are described, Job 30:1-8; and the instances of their contempt of him by words and gestures are given, Job 30:9-14; he who enjoyed so much ease of mind, and health of body, is now filled with distresses of soul, and bodily diseases, Job 30:15-19; and he who enjoyed so much of the presence of God, and communion with him, and of his love and favour, was now disregarded, and, as he thought, cruelly used by him, who not only had destroyed his substance, but was about to bring him to the grave, Job 30:20-24; all which came upon him, though he had a sympathizing heart with the poor, and them that were in trouble, and when he expected better things, Job 30:25-28; and he close the chapter, lamenting his sad and sorrowful circumstances, Job 30:29-31.

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Literally "the strength of their hands what [is] for me"
  • [b]. Hebrew "the"
  • [c]. Literally "to dwell"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.