Job 30:1-19

1 “But now they mock me, men younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs.
2 Of what use was the strength of their hands to me, since their vigor had gone from them?
3 Haggard from want and hunger, they roamed[a] the parched land in desolate wastelands at night.
4 In the brush they gathered salt herbs, and their food[b] was the root of the broom bush.
5 They were banished from human society, shouted at as if they were thieves.
6 They were forced to live in the dry stream beds, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
7 They brayed among the bushes and huddled in the undergrowth.
8 A base and nameless brood, they were driven out of the land.
9 “And now those young men mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.
10 They detest me and keep their distance; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11 Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they throw off restraint in my presence.
12 On my right the tribe[c] attacks; they lay snares for my feet, they build their siege ramps against me.
13 They break up my road; they succeed in destroying me. ‘No one can help him,’ they say.
14 They advance as through a gaping breach; amid the ruins they come rolling in.
15 Terrors overwhelm me; my dignity is driven away as by the wind, my safety vanishes like a cloud.
16 “And now my life ebbs away; days of suffering grip me.
17 Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never rest.
18 In his great power God becomes like clothing to me[d] ; he binds me like the neck of my garment.
19 He throws me into the mud, and I am reduced to dust and ashes.

Job 30:1-19 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.

Cross References 36

  • 1. S Job 6:14; S Job 11:3; S Psalms 119:21; Job 12:4
  • 2. Isaiah 56:10
  • 3. Isaiah 8:21
  • 4. Job 24:5
  • 5. Jeremiah 17:6
  • 6. Job 39:6
  • 7. S 1 Kings 19:4
  • 8. Isaiah 2:19; Hosea 10:8
  • 9. Job 6:5
  • 10. Job 39:5-6
  • 11. S Judges 9:4
  • 12. S Job 18:18
  • 13. S Job 16:10; Psalms 69:11
  • 14. Job 12:4; Lamentations 3:14,63
  • 15. S Job 17:6
  • 16. Job 19:19
  • 17. Numbers 12:14; S Deuteronomy 25:9; Isaiah 50:6; Matthew 26:67
  • 18. S Job 29:20
  • 19. S Genesis 12:17; S Ruth 1:21
  • 20. Job 41:13; Psalms 32:9
  • 21. Psalms 109:6; Zechariah 3:1
  • 22. S Job 18:9
  • 23. Psalms 140:4-5
  • 24. S Job 16:10; Job 19:12
  • 25. Isaiah 3:12
  • 26. S Job 10:3
  • 27. S 2 Kings 25:4
  • 28. S Job 6:4
  • 29. S Exodus 3:6; Job 10:8; Job 31:2-3,23; Job 31:23; Psalms 55:4-5
  • 30. S Job 3:25; Hosea 13:3
  • 31. S Job 3:24; Psalms 22:14; Psalms 42:4
  • 32. ver 27; S Job 9:17
  • 33. S Deuteronomy 28:35; S Job 16:16
  • 34. S Job 9:4
  • 35. Psalms 40:2; Psalms 69:2,14; Psalms 130:1; Jeremiah 38:6,22
  • 36. S Genesis 3:19; S Job 2:8

Footnotes 4

  • [a]. Or "gnawed"
  • [b]. Or "fuel"
  • [c]. The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  • [d]. Hebrew; Septuagint "power he grasps my clothing"
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