Job 30:29

29 I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of owls.

Job 30:29 in Other Translations

KJV
29 I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.
ESV
29 I am a brother of jackals and a companion of ostriches.
NLT
29 Instead, I am considered a brother to jackals and a companion to owls.
MSG
29 I howl with the jackals, I hoot with the owls.
CSB
29 I have become a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches.

Job 30:29 Meaning and Commentary

Job 30:29

I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.
] Or ostriches, as the Targum, Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions; either he was obliged to dwell with such persons as were comparable to these creatures for their devouring words, hissing noise, and venomous speeches, or for want of compassion, and for their cruelty, as David is said to be among lions, ( Psalms 57:4 ) ; or also, he was like unto them, being solitary and alone, all his friends and acquaintance standing at a distance from him, as these creatures love lonesome and desolate places; or because of the wailing and howling noise they make, to which his mournful notes bore some resemblance, (See Gill on Micah 1:8); or because, when these creatures cry and howl, and make a noise, no mercy is shown to them, none pities or regards them; and so it was with him; though he stood and cried in ever so public a manner, none had any compassion on him.

Job 30:29 In-Context

27 The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me.
28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
29 I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of owls.
30 My skin grows black and peels; my body burns with fever.
31 My lyre is tuned to mourning, and my pipe to the sound of wailing.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Psalms 44:19; Isaiah 34:13; Jeremiah 9:11
  • 2. Psalms 102:6; Micah 1:8
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