Job 30

Job 30:1

“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to entrust with my sheep dogs.

Job 30:1 · BSB

younger than I Heb. of fewer days than I

Job 30:2

What use to me was the strength of their hands, since their vigor had left them?

Job 30:2 · BSB

Job 30:3

Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night.

Job 30:3 · BSB

in former time Heb. yesternight

Job 30:4

They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.

Job 30:4 · BSB

mallows The Hebrew malluach , in Arabic , malluch , and in Syriac mallucho , is probably the Lalima or Lalimos of the Greeks , and halimus of the Romans , which Dioscorides describes as a kind of bramble , without thorns , the leaves of which are boiled and eaten.

juniper roots The Hebrew rothem , in Arabic , ratim , and in Spanish , retama , most probably signifies the genista or broom , which is very abundant in the deserts of Arabia.

Job 30:5

They were banished from among men, shouted down like thieves,

Job 30:5 · BSB

Job 30:6

so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.

Job 30:6 · BSB

caves Heb. holes

Job 30:7

They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles.

Job 30:7 · BSB

the nettles Charul probably denotes some kind of briar or bramble , so Vulgate renders it by spina or sentis , (Proverbs 24 . 31. Zephaniah 2 . 9). Celsius and Scheuchzer are inclined to think it the paliurus , a shrub growing sometimes to a considerable height in desert places. "One of the inconveniences of the vegetable thickets of Egypt is ," says Denon , "that it is difficult to remain in them , as nine tenths of the trees and plants are armed with inexorable thorns , which suffer only an unquiet enjoyment of the shadow which is so constantly desirable.

Job 30:8

A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land.

Job 30:8 · BSB

base men Heb. men of no name

Job 30:9

And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.

Job 30:9 · BSB

Job 30:10

They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.

Job 30:10 · BSB

Job 30:11

Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.

Job 30:11 · BSB

Job 30:12

The rabble arises at my right; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps against me.

Job 30:12 · BSB

Job 30:13

They tear up my path; they profit from my destruction, with no one to restrain them.

Job 30:13 · BSB

Job 30:14

They advance as through a wide breach; through the ruins they keep rolling in.

Job 30:14 · BSB

Job 30:15

Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.

Job 30:15 · BSB

soul Heb. principal one

Job 30:16

And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction grip me.

Job 30:16 · BSB

Job 30:17

Night pierces my bones, and my gnawing pains never rest.

Job 30:17 · BSB

Job 30:18

With great force He grasps my garment; He seizes me by the collar of my tunic.

Job 30:18 · BSB

Job 30:19

He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.

Job 30:19 · BSB

Job 30:20

I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer; when I stand up, You merely look at me.

Job 30:20 · BSB

Job 30:21

You have ruthlessly turned on me; You oppose me with Your strong hand.

Job 30:21 · BSB

Job 30:22

You snatch me up into the wind and drive me before it; You toss me about in the storm.

Job 30:22 · BSB

substance or , wisdom

Job 30:23

Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.

Job 30:23 · BSB

Job 30:24

Yet no one stretches out his hand to a ruined man when he cries for help in his distress.

Job 30:24 · BSB

grave Heb. heap

Job 30:25

Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?

Job 30:25 · BSB

in trouble Heb. hard of day

Job 30:26

But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell.

Job 30:26 · BSB

Job 30:27

I am churning within and cannot rest; days of affliction confront me.

Job 30:27 · BSB

Job 30:28

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

Job 30:28 · BSB

Job 30:29

I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches.

Job 30:29 · BSB

owls or , ostriches , Benoth yaanah , in Arabic , bintu naamatin , not owls , but ostriches , so called from their doleful and hideous noises. "I have often ," says Dr. Shaw , "heard them groan as if they were in the greatest agonies.

Job 30:30

My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.

Job 30:30 · BSB

Job 30:31

My harp is tuned to mourning and my flute to the sound of weeping.

Job 30:31 · BSB