Job 30

1 "But now they make sport of me, men who are younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.

2 What could I gain from the strength of their hands, men whose vigor is gone?

3 Through want and hard hunger they gnaw the dry and desolate ground;

4 they pick mallow and the leaves of bushes, and to warm themselves the roots of the broom.

5 They are driven out from among men; they shout after them as after a thief.

6 In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell, in holes of the earth and of the rocks.

7 Among the bushes they bray; under the nettles they huddle together.

8 A senseless, a disreputable brood, they have been whipped out of the land.

9 "And now I have become their song, I am a byword to them.

10 They abhor me, they keep aloof from me; they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.

11 Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.

12 On my right hand the rabble rise, they drive me forth, they cast up against me their ways of destruction.

13 They break up my path, they promote my calamity; no one restrains them.

14 As through a wide breach they come; amid the crash they roll on.

15 Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is pursued as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.

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

17 The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.

18 With violence it seizes my garment; it binds me about like the collar of my tunic.

19 God has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.

20 I cry to thee and thou dost not answer me; I stand, and thou dost not heed me.

21 Thou hast turned cruel to me; with the might of thy hand thou dost persecute me.

22 Thou liftest me up on the wind, thou makest me ride on it, and thou tossest me about in the roar of the storm.

23 Yea, I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.

24 "Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, and in his disaster cry for help?

25 Did not I weep for him whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the poor?

26 But when I looked for good, evil came; and when I waited for light, darkness came.

27 My heart is in turmoil, and is never still; days of affliction come to meet me.

28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.

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

30 My skin turns black and falls from me, and my bones burn with heat.

31 My lyre is turned to mourning, and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.

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.

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.