Job 30:20-30

20 I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me.
21 You have 1turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you 2persecute me.
22 3You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.
23 4For I know that you will bring me to death and to the house appointed for 5all living.
24 "Yet does not one in a 6heap of ruins stretch out his hand, and in his disaster cry for help?[a]
25 Did not I 7weep for him whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?
26 But 8when I hoped for good, evil came, and when I waited for light, 9darkness came.
27 My inward parts are in turmoil and never still; days of affliction 10come to meet me.
28 I 11go about darkened, but not by the sun; I stand up in 12the assembly and cry for help.
29 I am a brother of 13jackals and a companion of 14ostriches.
30 My 15skin turns black and falls from me, and my 16bones burn with heat.

Job 30:20-30 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 16

  • 1. Lamentations 4:3; [Isaiah 63:10]
  • 2. Job 16:9
  • 3. [Job 27:21]
  • 4. Job 19:25
  • 5. Job 28:21
  • 6. Psalms 79:1; Jeremiah 26:18; Micah 1:6; Micah 3:12
  • 7. Psalms 35:13, 14; Romans 12:15
  • 8. Jeremiah 8:15; Jeremiah 14:19
  • 9. Job 10:21, 22
  • 10. 2 Samuel 22:6; Psalms 18:5
  • 11. Psalms 38:6; Psalms 42:9; Psalms 43:2
  • 12. Proverbs 26:26
  • 13. Micah 1:8
  • 14. Isaiah 13:21; Isaiah 34:13; Jeremiah 50:39; Micah 1:8
  • 15. [Psalms 119:83; Lamentations 4:8; Lamentations 5:10]
  • 16. Psalms 102:3

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.