---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Job 30"
description: "CHAPTER 30   :-. 1. younger—not the three
friends (Job 15:10; Job 32:4;
Job 32:6; Job 32:7).
A general description: Job 32:7- :, the lowness of the person"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/job/30"
---

CHAPTER 30

.

**1. younger**—not the three
friends ([Job 15:10](../../../kjv/job/15/10); [Job 32:4](../../../kjv/job/32/4);
[Job 32:6](../../../kjv/job/32/6); [Job 32:7](../../../kjv/job/32/7)).
A general description: [Job 32:7](../../../kjv/job/32/7), the lowness of the persons who derided him; [Job 32:7](../../../kjv/job/32/7), the derision itself. Formerly old men rose to me ([Job 32:7](../../../kjv/job/32/7)). Now not only my *juniors,* who are bound to reverence
me ([Leviticus 19:32](../../../kjv/leviticus/19/32)), but even the
mean and *base-born* actually *deride* me; opposed to,
"smiled upon" ([Leviticus 19:32](../../../kjv/leviticus/19/32)). This goes farther than even the "mockery" of
Job by *relations* and *friends* ([Job 12:4](../../../kjv/job/12/4);
[Job 16:10](../../../kjv/job/16/10); [Job 16:20](../../../kjv/job/16/20);
[Job 17:2](../../../kjv/job/17/2); [Job 17:6](../../../kjv/job/17/6);
[Job 19:22](../../../kjv/job/19/22)). Orientals feel keenly
any indignity shown by the young. Job speaks as a rich Arabian emir,
proud of his descent.
**dogs**—regarded with
disgust in the East as unclean ([1 Samuel 17:43](../../../kjv/1-samuel/17/43);
[Proverbs 26:11](../../../kjv/proverbs/26/11)). They are not allowed
to enter a house, but run about wild in the open air, living on offal
and chance morsels ([Psalms 59:14](../../../kjv/psalms/59/14);
[Psalms 59:15](../../../kjv/psalms/59/15)). Here again we are
reminded of Jesus Christ ([Psalms 59:15](../../../kjv/psalms/59/15)). "Their fathers, my coevals, were so mean and
famished that I would not have associated them *with* (not to
say, set them over) my dogs in guarding my flock."

**2.** If their fathers could be of
no profit to me, much less the sons, who are feebler than their
sires; and in whose case the hope of attaining old age is utterly
gone, so puny are they ([Job 5:26](../../../kjv/job/5/26))
[MAURER]. Even if they had
"strength of hands," that could be now of no use to me, as
all I want in my present affliction is sympathy.

**3. solitary**—literally, "*hard*
as a rock"; so translate, rather, "dried up,"
emaciated with hunger. Job describes the rudest race of Bedouins of
the desert [UMBREIT].
**fleeing**—So the
*Septuagint.* Better, as *Syriac, Arabic,* and *Vulgate*,
"*gnawers* of the wilderness." What they gnaw follows
in [Job 30:4](../../../kjv/job/30/4).
**in former time**—literally,
the "*yesternight* of desolation and waste" (the most
utter desolation; [Ezekiel 6:14](../../../kjv/ezekiel/6/14));
that is, those deserts frightful as night to man, and even there from
time immemorial. I think both ideas are in the words *darkness*
[GESENIUS] and *antiquity*
[UMBREIT]. ([Ezekiel 6:14](../../../kjv/ezekiel/6/14), *Margin*).

**4. mallows**—rather,
"salt-wort," which grows in deserts and is eaten as a salad
by the poor [MAURER].
**by the bushes**—among the
bushes.
**juniper**—rather, a kind
of broom, *Spartium junceum* [LINNÆUS],
still called in Arabia, as in the *Hebrew* of Job, *retem,*
of which the bitter roots are eaten by the poor.

**5. they cried**—that is, "a
cry is raised." Expressing the contempt felt for this race by
civilized and well-born Arabs. When these wild vagabonds make an
incursion on villages, they are driven away, as thieves would be.

**6.** They are forced "to
dwell."
**cliffs of the valleys**—rather,
"in the gloomy valleys"; literally, "in the gloom of
the valleys," or wadies. To dwell in valleys is, in the East, a
mark of wretchedness. The troglodytes, in parts of Arabia, lived in
such dwellings as caves.

**7. brayed**—like the wild ass
([Job 6:5](../../../kjv/job/6/5) for food). The
inarticulate tones of this uncivilized rabble are but little above
those of the beast of the field.
**gathered together**—rather,
sprinkled here and there. Literally, "poured out,"
graphically picturing their disorderly mode of encampment, lying up
and down behind the thorn bushes.
**nettles**—or brambles
[UMBREIT].

**8. fools**—that is, the impious
and abandoned ([1 Samuel 25:25](../../../kjv/1-samuel/25/25)).
**base**—nameless, low-born
rabble.
**viler than,** c.—rather,
they were *driven* or *beaten out of the land.* The Horites
in Mount Seir ([Genesis 14:6](../../../kjv/genesis/14/6) with
which compare [Genesis 36:20](../../../kjv/genesis/36/20) [Genesis 36:21](../../../kjv/genesis/36/21);
[Deuteronomy 2:12](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/2/12); [Deuteronomy 2:22](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/2/22))
were probably the aborigines, driven out by the tribe to which Job's
ancestors belonged; their name means troglodytæ, or "dwellers
in caves." To these Job alludes here ([Job 30:1-8](../../../kjv/job/30/1-8);
[Genesis 24:4-8](../../../kjv/genesis/24/4-8), which compare
together).

**9.** (). Strikingly similar to the derision Jesus Christ underwent
([Lamentations 3:14](../../../kjv/lamentations/3/14); [Psalms 69:12](../../../kjv/psalms/69/12)).
Here Job returns to the sentiment in [Psalms 69:12](../../../kjv/psalms/69/12). It is to such I am become a song of "derision."

**10. in my face**—rather, refrain
not to spit in deliberate contempt *before* my face. To spit at
all in presence of another is thought in the East insulting, much
more so when done to mark "abhorrence." Compare the further
insult to Jesus Christ ([Isaiah 50:6](../../../kjv/isaiah/50/6);
[Matthew 26:67](../../../kjv/matthew/26/67)).

**11. He**—that is, "God";
antithetical to "they"; *English Version* here follows
the marginal reading (*Keri*).
**my cord**—image from a
bow unstrung; opposed to . The text (*Chetib*), "*His* cord" or
"reins" is better; "yea, each lets loose his reins"
[UMBREIT].

**12. youth**—rather, a (low)
*brood.* To rise on the right hand is to accuse, as that was the
position of the accuser in court ([Zechariah 3:1](../../../kjv/zechariah/3/1);
[Psalms 109:6](../../../kjv/psalms/109/6)).
**push . . . feet**—jostle
me out of the way ([Job 24:4](../../../kjv/job/24/4)).
**ways of**—that is, their
ways of (that is, with a view to my) destruction. Image, as in [Job 24:4](../../../kjv/job/24/4), from a besieging army throwing up a way of approach for
itself to a city.

**13.** Image of an assailed
fortress continued. They tear up the path by which succor might reach
me.
**set forward**— ().
**they have no helper**—Arabic
proverb for *contemptible* persons. Yet even such afflict Job.

**14. waters**—(So ). But it is better to retain the image of [Job 30:12](../../../kjv/job/30/12);
[Job 30:13](../../../kjv/job/30/13). "They came [upon
me] as through a wide *breach,*" namely, made by the
besiegers in the wall of a fortress ([Job 30:13](../../../kjv/job/30/13)) [MAURER].
**in the desolation**—"Amidst
the crash" of falling masonry, or "with a shout like the
crash" of, &c.

**15. they**—terrors.
**soul**—rather, "my
dignity" [UMBREIT].
**welfare**—prosperity.
**cloud**— ([Job 7:9](../../../kjv/job/7/9);
[Isaiah 44:22](../../../kjv/isaiah/44/22)).

**16-23.** Job's outward calamities
affect his mind.
**poured out**—in
irrepressible complaints ([Psalms 42:4](../../../kjv/psalms/42/4);
[Joshua 7:5](../../../kjv/joshua/7/5)).

**17.** In the *Hebrew,* night
is poetically personified, as in : "night pierceth my bones (so that they fall) *from*
me" (not as *English Version,* "*in* me";
see [Job 30:30](../../../kjv/job/30/30)).
**sinews**—so the *Arabic,*
"veins," akin to the *Hebrew;* rather, "gnawers"
(see on [Job 30:3](../../../kjv/job/30/3)), namely, my
gnawing pains never cease. Effects of elephantiasis.

**18. of my disease**—rather, "of
God" ([Job 23:6](../../../kjv/job/23/6)).
**garment changed**—from a
robe of honor to one of mourning, literally ([Job 2:8](../../../kjv/job/2/8);
[John 3:6](../../../kjv/john/3/6)) and metaphorically
[UMBREIT]. Or rather, as
SCHUTTENS, following up
[Job 30:17](../../../kjv/job/30/17), My *outer*
garment is changed into affliction; that is, affliction has become my
outer garment; it also bindeth me fast round (my throat) as the
collar of the *inner* coat; that is, it is both my inner and
outer garment. Observe the distinction between the inner and outer
garments. The latter refers to his afflictions *from without*
([Job 30:1-13](../../../kjv/job/30/1-13)); the
former his personal afflictions ([Job 30:1-18](../../../kjv/job/30/1-18)). UMBREIT
makes "God" subject to "bindeth," as in [Job 30:1-18](../../../kjv/job/30/1-18).

**19.** God is poetically said to do
that which the mourner had done to himself (). With lying in the ashes he had become, like them, in dirty
color.

**20. stand up**—the reverential
attitude of a suppliant before a king ([1 Kings 8:14](../../../kjv/1-kings/8/14);
[Luke 18:11-13](../../../kjv/luke/18/11-13)).
**not**—supplied from the
first clause. But the intervening affirmative "stand" makes
this ellipsis unlikely. Rather, as in [Luke 18:11-42](../../../kjv/luke/18/11-42) (not only dost thou refuse aid to me "standing" as
a suppliant, but), *thou dost regard me with a frown:* eye me
sternly.

**16-23.** Job's outward calamities
affect his mind.
**poured out**—in
irrepressible complaints ([Psalms 42:4](../../../kjv/psalms/42/4);
[Joshua 7:5](../../../kjv/joshua/7/5)).

**22. liftest . . . to wind**—as a
"leaf" or "stubble" (). The moving pillars of sand, raised by the wind to the
clouds, as described by travellers, would happily depict Job's
agitated spirit, if it be to them that he alludes.
**dissolvest . . .
substance**—The *marginal Hebrew* reading (*Keri*), "my
wealth," or else "wisdom," that is, sense and spirit,
or "my hope of *deliverance.*" But the text (*Chetib*)
is better: Thou dissolvest me (with fear, ) *in the crash* (of the whirlwind; see on ) [MAURER].
UMBREIT translates as a
verb, "Thou *terrifiest* me."

**23.** This shows cannot be restricted to Job's hope of a *temporal*
deliverance.
**death**—as in , the realm of the dead ([Hebrews 9:27](../../../kjv/hebrews/9/27);
[Genesis 3:19](../../../kjv/genesis/3/19)).

**24.** Expressing Job's faith as to
the state after death. Though one must go to the grave, yet He will
no more afflict *in the ruin* of the body (so *Hebrew* for
"grave") there, if one has cried to Him when being
destroyed. The "stretching of His hand" to punish after
death answers antithetically to the raising "the cry" of
prayer in the second clause. MAURER
gives another translation which accords with the scope of ; if it be natural for one in affliction to ask aid, why
should it be considered (by the friends) wrong in my case?
"Nevertheless does not a man in ruin stretch out his hand"
(imploring help, [Job 30:20](../../../kjv/job/30/20);
[Lamentations 1:17](../../../kjv/lamentations/1/17))? If one be in his
calamity (destruction) is there not therefore a "cry" (for
aid)? Thus in the parallelism "cry" answers to
"stretch—hand"; "in his calamity," to "in
ruin." The negative of the first clause is to be supplied in the
second, as in [Job 30:25](../../../kjv/job/30/25) ([Job 30:25](../../../kjv/job/30/25)).

**25.** May I not be allowed to
complain of my calamity, and beg relief, seeing that I myself
sympathized with those "in trouble" (literally, "hard
of day"; those who had a hard time of it).

**26.** I may be allowed to crave
help, seeing that, "when I looked for good (on account of my
piety and charity), yet evil," &c.
**light**— ().

**27. bowels**—regarded as the
seat of deep feeling ([Isaiah 16:11](../../../kjv/isaiah/16/11)).
**boiled**—violently heated
and agitated.
**prevented**—*Old*
English for "unexpectedly came upon" me, "surprised"
me.

**28. mourning**—rather, I move
about *blackened,* though not by the sun; that is, whereas many
are blackened by the sun, I am, by the heat of God's wrath (so
"boiled," [Job 30:27](../../../kjv/job/30/27));
the elephantiasis covering me with blackness of skin ([Job 30:27](../../../kjv/job/30/27)), as with the garb of mourning ([Job 30:27](../../../kjv/job/30/27)). This striking enigmatic form of *Hebrew* expression
occurs, [Isaiah 29:9](../../../kjv/isaiah/29/9).
**stood up**—as an innocent
man crying for justice in an assembled court ([Isaiah 29:9](../../../kjv/isaiah/29/9)).

**29. dragons . . . owls**—rather,
"jackals," "ostriches," both of which utter
dismal screams ([Micah 1:8](../../../kjv/micah/1/8)); in
which respect, as also in their living amidst solitudes (the emblem
of desolation), Job is their brother and companion; that is,
resembles them. "Dragon," *Hebrew, tannim,* usually
means the crocodile; so perhaps here, its open jaws lifted towards
heaven, and its noise making it seem as if it mourned over its fate
[BOCHART].

**30. upon me**—rather, as in (see on [Job 30:3](../../../kjv/job/30/3)),
"my skin is black (and falls away) *from* me."
**my bones**— ([Job 19:20](../../../kjv/job/19/20);
[Psalms 102:5](../../../kjv/psalms/102/5)).

**31. organ**—rather, "pipe"
([Job 21:12](../../../kjv/job/21/12)). "My joy is
turned into the voice of weeping" ([Job 21:12](../../../kjv/job/21/12)). These instruments are properly appropriated to joy
([Isaiah 30:29](../../../kjv/isaiah/30/29); [Isaiah 30:32](../../../kjv/isaiah/30/32)),
which makes their use now in sorrow the sadder by contrast.

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