Job 30

1 But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.

2 Yea, whereto [should] the strength of their hands [profit] me, [men] in whom vigour hath perished?

3 Withered up through want and hunger, they flee into waste places long since desolate and desert:

4 They gather the salt-wort among the bushes, and the roots of the broom for their food.

5 They are driven forth from among [men] -- they cry after them as after a thief --

6 To dwell in gloomy gorges, in caves of the earth and the rocks:

7 They bray among the bushes; under the brambles they are gathered together:

8 Sons of fools, and sons of nameless sires, they are driven out of the land.

9 And now I am their song, yea, I am their byword.

10 They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, yea, they spare not to spit in my face.

11 For he hath loosed my cord and afflicted me; so they cast off the bridle before me.

12 At [my] right hand rise the young brood; they push away my feet, and raise up against me their pernicious ways;

13 They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, without any to help them;

14 They come in as through a wide breach: amid the confusion they roll themselves onward.

15 Terrors are turned against me; they pursue mine honour as the wind; and my welfare is passed away like a cloud.

16 And now my soul is poured out in me; days of affliction have taken hold upon me.

17 The night pierceth through my bones [and detacheth them] from me, and my gnawing pains take no rest:

18 By their great force they have become my raiment; they bind me about as the collar of my coat.

19 He hath cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.

20 I cry unto thee, and thou answerest me not; I stand up, and thou lookest at me.

21 Thou art changed to a cruel one to me; with the strength of thy hand thou pursuest me.

22 Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to be borne away, and dissolvest my substance.

23 For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and into the house of assemblage for all living.

24 Indeed, no prayer [availeth] when he stretcheth out [his] hand: though they cry when he destroyeth.

25 Did not I weep for him whose days were hard? was not my soul grieved for the needy?

26 For I expected good, and there came evil; and I waited for light, but there came darkness.

27 My bowels well up, and rest not; days of affliction have confronted me.

28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up, I cry in the congregation.

29 I am become a brother to jackals, and a companion of ostriches.

30 My skin is become black [and falleth] off me, and my bones are parched with heat.

31 My harp also is [turned] to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of weepers.

Job 30 Commentary

Chapter 30

Job's honour is turned into contempt. (1-14) Job a burden to himself. (15-31)

Verses 1-14 Job contrasts his present condition with his former honour and authority. What little cause have men to be ambitious or proud of that which may be so easily lost, and what little confidence is to be put in it! We should not be cast down if we are despised, reviled, and hated by wicked men. We should look to Jesus, who endured the contradiction of sinners.

Verses 15-31 Job complains a great deal. Harbouring hard thoughts of God was the sin which did, at this time, most easily beset Job. When inward temptations join with outward calamities, the soul is hurried as in a tempest, and is filled with confusion. But woe be to those who really have God for an enemy! Compared with the awful state of ungodly men, what are all outward, or even inward temporal afflictions? There is something with which Job comforts himself, yet it is but a little. He foresees that death will be the end of all his troubles. God's wrath might bring him to death; but his soul would be safe and happy in the world of spirits. If none pity us, yet our God, who corrects, pities us, even as a father pitieth his own children. And let us look more to the things of eternity: then the believer will cease from mourning, and joyfully praise redeeming love.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or 'they gnaw.'
• [b]. i.e. God.
• [c]. Some read 'his.'
• [d]. Or 'on.'
• [e]. Or 'causest my welfare (well-being) to melt away.'
• [f]. Others read 'Thou dissolvest me by tempest,' explained as 'Thou hast terrified [me].'
• [g]. i.e. God.
• [h]. Or 'But in overthrow doth not one stretch out his hand? in destruction doth he not raise a cry?'

Chapter Summary

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.