Job 30:1-11

1 But now they mock me,[a] men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs.
2 What use to me was the strength of their hands? Their vigor had left them.
3 Emaciated from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, the desolate wasteland by night.
4 They plucked mallow[b] among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.
5 They were expelled from human society; people shouted at them as [if they were] thieves.
6 They are living on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
7 They bray among the shrubs; they huddle beneath the thistles.
8 Foolish men, without even a name! They were forced to leave the land.[c]
9 Now I am mocked by their songs;[d] I have become an object of scorn to them.
10 They despise me and keep their distance from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.[e]
11 Because God has loosened my[f] bowstring[g] and oppressed me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.

Job 30:1-11 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 7

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