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Job Chapter
Thirty
New King James Version (NKJV)
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; and the
instances of their contempt of him by words and gestures are given, Job 30:9; 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; 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; 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; and he
close the chapter, lamenting his sad and sorrowful circumstances, Job 30:29.
Job 30:1 “But
now they mock at me, men younger than I, Whose fathers I disdained to
put with the dogs of my flock.
YLT
1And now, laughed at me,
Have the younger in days than I, Whose fathers I have loathed to set With the
dogs of my flock.
But now they that are younger than I have me in derision,.... Meaning
not his three friends, who were men in years, and were not, at least all of
them, younger than he, see Job 15:10; nor were
they of such a mean extraction, and such low-lived creatures, and of such characters
as here described; with such Job would never have held a correspondence in the
time of his prosperity; both they and their fathers, in all appearance, were
both great and good; but these were a set of profligate and abandoned wretches,
who, as soon as Job's troubles came upon him, derided him, mocked and jeered at
him, both by words and gestures; and which they might do even before his three
friends came to him, and during their seven days' silence with him, and while
this debate was carrying on between them, encouraged unto it by their behaviour
towards him; to be derided by any is disagreeable to flesh and blood, though it
is the common lot of good men, especially in poor and afflicted circumstances,
and to be bore patiently; but to be so used by junior and inferior persons is
an aggravation of it; as Job was, even by young children, as was also the
prophet Elisha, 2 Kings 2:23; see Job 19:18;
whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of
my flock; either to have compared them with the dogs that kept his flock
from the wolves, having some good qualities in them which they had not; for
what more loving or faithful to their masters, or more vigilant and watchful of
their affairs? or to set them at meat with the dogs of his flock; they were
unworthy of it, though they would have been glad of the food his dogs ate of,
they living better than they, whose meat were mallows and juniper roots, Job 30:4; and would
have jumped at it; as the prodigal in want and famine, as those men were, would
fain have filled his belly with husks that swine did eat; but as no man gave
them to him, so Job disdained to give the meat of his dogs to such as those; or
to set them "over"F13עם כלבי "super canes", Noldius, p. 739. No. 1825.
the dogs of his flock, to be the keepers of them, to be at the head of his
dogs, and to have the command of them; see the phrase in 2 Samuel 3:8; or
else to join them with his dogs, to keep his flock with them; they were such
worthless faithless wretches, that they were not to be trusted with the care of
his flock along with his dogs. It was usual in ancient times, as well as in
ours, for dogs to be made use of in keeping flocks of sheep from beasts of
prey, as appears from OrpheusF14De Lapidibus, Hypoth. ver. 53, 54. ,
HomerF15Iliad. 10. ως κυνες
περι μηλα, &c. v. 183. & Iliad 12. v. 303. , TheocritusF16 χ' αμιν εστι κυων φιλοποιμνιος,
&c. Idyll. 5. v. 106. & Idyll. 6. v. 9, 10. , and other writers: and if
the fathers of those that derided Job were such mean, base, worthless
creatures, what must their sons be, inferior to them in age and honour, if any
degree of honour belonged to them?
Job 30:2 2 Indeed, what profit
is the strength of their hands to me? Their vigor has perished.
YLT
2Also -- the power of their
hands, why [is it] to me? On them hath old age perished.
Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit
me,.... For though they were strong, lusty, hale men, able to do
business, yet their strength was to sit still and fold their hands in their
bosoms, so that their strength was of no profit or avail to themselves or
others; they were so slothful and lazy, that Job could not employ them in any
business of his to any advantage to himself; and this may be one reason, among
others, why he disdained to set them with the dogs of his flock to keep it; for
the fathers seem to be intended all along to Job 30:8; though it
matters not much to which of them the words are applied, since they were like
father like son:
in whom old age was perished? who did not arrive to
old age, but were soon consumed by their lusts, or cut off for their sins; and
so the strength and labour of their hands, had they been employed, would have
been of little worth; because the time of their continuance in service would
have been short, especially being idle and slothful: some understand it of a
lively and vigorous old age, such as was in Moses; but this being not in them,
they were unfit for business, see Job 5:26; or they
had not the endowments of old age, the experience, wisdom, and prudence of
ancient persons, to contrive, conduct, and manage affairs, or direct in the
management of them, which would make up for lack of strength and labour. Ben
Gersom, Bar Tzemach, and others, interpret the word of time, or the time of
life, that was perished or lost in them; their whole course of life, being
spent in sloth and idleness, was all lost time.
Job 30:3 3 They are
gaunt from want and famine, Fleeing late to the wilderness, desolate and waste,
YLT
3With want and with famine
gloomy, Those fleeing to a dry place, Formerly a desolation and waste,
For want and famine they were solitary,.... The
Targum interprets it, without children; but then this cannot be understood of
the fathers; rather through famine and want they were reduced to the utmost
extremity, and were as destitute of food as a rock, or hard flint, from whence
nothing is to be had, as the word signifies, see Job 3:7;
fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste: to search and
try what they could get there for their sustenance and relief, fleeing through
fear of being taken up for some crimes committed, or through shame, on account
of their miserable condition, not caring to be seen by men, and therefore fled
into the wilderness to get what they could there: but since men in want and
famine usually make to cities, and places of resort, where provision may be
expected; this may be interpreted not of their flying into the wilderness,
though of their being there, perhaps banished thither, see Job 30:5; but of
their "gnawing"F17הערקים ציה "qui rodebant in solitudine", V. L.
"rodentes siccitatem", Schultens. , or biting the dry and barren
wilderness, and what they could find there; where having short commons, and
hunger bitten, they bit close; which, though extremely desolate, they were glad
to feed upon what they could light on there; such miserable beggarly creatures
were they: and with this agrees what follows.
Job 30:4 4 Who pluck mallow by the
bushes, And broom tree roots for their food.
YLT
4Those cropping mallows near
a shrub, And broom-roots [is] their food.
Who cut up mallows by the bushes,.... Which with the
Troglodytes were of a vast sizeF18Diodorus Siculus, l. 3. p. 175. ;
or rather "upon the bush"F19עלי שיח "super virgulto", Montanus, Schultens;
"super arbustum", Bochart. or "tree"; and therefore cannot
mean what we call mallows, which are herbs on the ground, and grow not on trees
or bushes; and, besides, are not for food, but rather for medicine: though
PlutarchF20In symposio septem sap. says they, were the food of the
meaner sort of people; so HoraceF21"-----me pascunt olivae. Me
cichorea levesque malvae". Carmin. l. 1. Ode. 31. & Epod. Ode. 2.
speaks of them as such; and the word in the original is near in sound to a
mallow; but it signifies something salt, wherefore Mr. Broughton renders it
"salt herbs"; so Grotius, such as might grow by the seaside, or in
salt marshes; and in Edom, or Idumea, where Job lived, was a valley of salt,
see 2 Kings 14:7.
Jarchi says it is the same with what the Syrians in their language call
"kakuli", which with them is a kind of pulse; but what the Turks at
this day call "kakuli" is a kind of salt herb, like to
"alcali", which is the food of camelsF24Scheuchzer.
Physic. Sacr. vol. 4. p. 760. the Septuagint render the word by
"alima"; and, by several modern learned men, what is intended is
thought to be the "halimus" of Dioscorides, Galen, and Avicenna;
which is like unto a bramble, and grows in hedges and maritime places; the tops
of which, when young and tender, are eaten, and the leaves boiled for food, and
are eaten by poor people, being what soon filled the belly, and satisfied; and
seem to be the same the Moors call "mallochia", and cry about the
streets, as food for the poor to buyF25lbid. vid. Reinesium de
Lingua Punic. c. 9. S. 20, 21. : however it appears upon the whole to be the
tops or leaves of some sort of shrub, which Idumean people used to gather and
live upon. The following story is reported in the TalmudF26T. Bab.
Kiddushin, fol. 66. 1. concerning King Jannai, who
"went
to Cochalith in the wilderness, and there subdued sixty fortified towns; and,
upon his return, he greatly rejoiced, and called all the wise men of Israel,
and said unto them, our fathers ate "malluchim" (the word used in
this text of Job) at the time they were employed in building the sanctuary; so
we will eat "malluchim" on remembrance of our fathers; and they set
"malluchim" on tables of gold, and they ate;'
which
the gloss interprets herbs; the name of which, in the Syriac language, is
"kakuli"; the Targum is, who plucks up thorns instead of eatable
herbs. SomeF1David de Pomis Lexic. fol. 80. 3. render the word
"nettles", see Job 30:7;
juniper roots for their meat, or "bread"F2לחמם "panis eorum", Montanus, Michaelis,
Schultens. ; with the roots of which the poor were fed in time of want, as
SchindlerF22Lexic. col. 1775. observes: that bread may be, and has
been made out of roots, is certain, as with the West Indians, out of the roots
of "ages" and "jucca"F3Pet. Martyr. de Angleria,
decad. 1. l. 1. ; and in particular juniper roots in the northern countries
have been used for breadF4Olaus Magnus, de Ritu Gent. Septent. l.
12. c. 4. ; and there were a people in Ethiopia above Egypt, who lived upon
roots of reeds prepared, and were called "rhisophagi"F5Diod.
Sic. l. 3. p. 159. , "root eaters": some render the words, "or
juniper roots to heat", or "warm with"F6"Ad
calefaciendum se", Pagninus; so Kimchi, Sepher Shorash rad, חמם. , as the word is used in Isaiah 47:14; and
coals of juniper have in them a very great and vehement heat, see Psalm 120:3; but if
any part of the juniper tree was taken for this purpose, to warm with when
cold, one should think the branches, or the body of the tree, should be cut
down, rather than the roots dug up: another sense is given by someF7Hillerus
apud Schultens in loc. , that meat or bread is to be understood of the
livelihood these persons got by digging up juniper roots, and selling them:
there are others that think, that not the roots of juniper, but of "broom"F8שרש רתמים "radix
genistarum", Michaelis, Schultens; so some in Mercerus, Drusius, &
Gussetius, p. 839. , are meant, whose rape, or navew, or excrescence from the
roots of it, seem to be more fit food. All this agrees with the Troglodytes,
whom PlinyF9Nat. Hist. l. 37. c. 8. represents as thieves and
robbers, and, when pressed with famine, dig up herbs and roots: cutters of
roots are reckoned among the worst of men by ManethoF11Apotelesm. l.
5. v. 183. .
Job 30:5 5 They were driven out from
among men, They shouted at them as at a thief.
YLT
5From the midst they are
cast out, (They shout against them as a thief),
They were driven from among men,.... From
towns and cities, and all civil society, as unfit to be among them; not for any
good, it may be observed, but for crimes that they had done, like our felons,
and transported persons:
they cried after them as after a thief; as they were
driven and run along, the people called after them, saying, there goes a thief;
which they said by way of abhorrence of them, and for the shame of them, and
that all might be warned and cautioned against them; and, generally speaking,
such as are idle and slothful, and thereby become miserable, are pilferers and
thieves.
Job 30:6 6 They had
to live in the clefts of the valleys, In caves of the earth and the
rocks.
YLT
6In a frightful place of
valleys to dwell, Holes of earth and clefts.
To dwell in the cliffs of the valleys,.... Or
"brooks"F12נחלים
"torrentium", Tigurine version, Pagninus, Montanus, &c. , in such
hollow places as were made by floods and streams of waters:
in caves of the earth, and in
the rocks; where they betook themselves for fear of men, and through shame,
being naked and miserable not fit to be seen: Job has respect to the Horites
and Troglodytes, his neighbours, who dwelt in such places chiefly.
Job 30:7 7 Among the bushes they
brayed, Under the nettles they nestled.
YLT
7Among shrubs they do groan,
Under nettles they are gathered together.
Among the bushes they brayed,.... Like wild asses; so
Sephorno, to which wicked men are fitly compared, Job 11:12; or they
"cried", or "groaned"F13ינהקו
"clamabant", Vatablus, Mercerus; so Ben Gerson; "gemebant",
Michaelis; so Broughton. , and "moaned" among the bushes, where they
lay lurking; either they groaned through cold, or want of food; for the wild
ass brays not but when in want, Job 6:5;
under the nettles they were gathered together; or
"under thistles"F14תחת חרול "sub carduis", Vatablus. , as some, or
"under thorns", asF15"Sub sentibus", V. L.
"sub vepreto aliquo", Tigurine version; "sub vepribus",
Cocceius; "sub spina", Noldius, p. 193. Schultens. others; under
thorn hedges, where they lay either for shelter, or to hide themselves, or to
seize upon a prey that might pass by; and so were such sort of persons as in
the parable in Luke 14:23; it not
being usual for nettles to grow so high as to cover persons, at least they are
not a proper shelter, and much less an eligible one; though some render the
words, they were "pricked"F16יספחו
"pungebantur", Junius & Tremellius; "se ulcerant",
Gussetius, p. 565. so Ben Gersom; "they smarted", Broughton. ,
blistered and wounded, a word derived from this being used for the scab of
leprosy, Leviticus 13:6; and
so pustules and blisters are raised by the sting of nettles: the Targum is,
"under
thorns they were associated together;'
under
thorn hedges, as before observed; and if the juniper tree is meant in Job 30:4, they
might be said to be gathered under thorns when under that; since, as PlinyF17Nat.
Hist. l. 16. c. 24. says, it has thorns instead of leaves; and the shadow of
it, according to the poetF18"Juniperi gravis umbra----"
Virgil. Bucolic. Eclog. 10. , is very noxious and disagreeable.
Job 30:8 8 They were
sons of fools, Yes, sons of vile men; They were scourged from the land.
YLT
8Sons of folly -- even sons
without name, They have been smitten from the land.
They were children of
fools,.... Their parents were fools, or they themselves were such;
foolish children, or foolish men, were they that derided Job; and their
derision of him was a proof of it: the meaning is not that they were idiots, or
quite destitute of reason and natural knowledge, but that they were men of
slender capacities; they were "Nabal like", which is the word here
used of them; and, indeed, it may easily be concluded, they could not have much
knowledge of men and things, from their pedigree, education, and manner of
living before described; though rather this may signify their being wicked men,
or children of such, which is the sense of the word "fool" frequently
in the Psalms of David, and in the Proverbs of Solomon; and men may be fools in
this sense, as having no understanding of divine and spiritual things, who yet
have wit enough to do evil, though to do good they have no knowledge:
yea, children of base men, or "men without a
name"F19בלי שם
"absque nomine", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; so Beza, Mercerus,
Piscator, Drusius, Michaelis, Cocceius. ; a kind without fame, Mr. Broughton
renders it; an infamous generation of men, famous for nothing; had no name for
blood, birth, and breeding; for families, for power and authority among men,
having no title of honour or of office; nor for wealth, wisdom, nor strength,
for which some have a name; but these men had no name but an ill one, for their
folly and wickedness; had no good name, were of no credit and reputation with
men; and perhaps, strictly and literally speaking, were without a name, being a
spurious and bastardly breed; or living solitary in woods and deserts, in
cliffs and caves; they belonged not to any tribe or nation, and so bore no
name:
they are viler than the earth; on which they trod, and
who are unworthy to tread upon it; and out of which their vile bodies were
made, and yet were viler than that which is the basest of the elements, being
most distant from heaven, the throne of GodF20See Weemse's Observat.
Natural. c 3. ; they were not so valuable as some parts of the earth, the gold
and silver, but were as vile as the dross of the earth, and viler than that;
they were crushed and bruised, and "broken" more than the earth, as the
wordF21נכאו "contriti",
Montanus, Bolducius; so the Targum. signifies; they were as small and as
contemptible as the dust of the earth and the mire of the streets, and more so;
or than the men of the earth, as Aben Ezra observes, than the meanest and worst,
and vilest of men: Mr. Broughton renders it, "banished from the
earth"; smitten, stricken, and driven out of the land where they had
dwelt, Job 30:5; whipped
out of it, as some translate the wordF23"Flagellati",
Schultens. , as vagabonds; as a lazy, idle, pilfering set of people, not fit to
be in human society; and by such base, mean, lowly people, were Christ and his
apostles ill treated; see Matthew 23:33.
Job 30:9 9 “And now I am their
taunting song; Yes, I am their byword.
YLT
9And now, their song I have
been, And I am to them for a byword.
And now am I their song,.... The subject of their
song, of whom they sung ballads about the streets, in public places, and at
their festivals and merriments, as Christ the antitype of Job was the song of
the drunkard, Psalm 69:12; see Lamentations 3:14;
or the meaning may be, they rejoiced in his afflictions and calamities, and
made themselves merry with them, which was cruel and inhuman, as David's
enemies did in his, and those abject, mean, base people, like those that
derided Job: and so the Edomites rejoiced over the children of Judah, in the
day of their destruction, and as the inhabitants of Popish countries will
rejoice over the witnesses when slain, and make merry, Psalm 35:15;
yea, I am their byword: all their talk was about
him continually, and at every turn would use his name proverbially for an
hypocrite, or a wicked man; and thus Christ, of whom Job was a type, became a
proverb in the mouth of the Jews, Psalm 69:11; and as
the Jews themselves now are with others, Jeremiah 24:9.
Job 30:10 10 They abhor me, they keep
far from me; They do not hesitate to spit in my face.
YLT
10They have abominated me,
They have kept far from me, And from before me have not spared to spit.
They abhor me,.... As it is no wonder they should, since
his inward and most intimate friends did, Job 19:19; they
abhorred him, not for any evil in him; Job was ready enough to abhor that
himself, and himself for it, as he did when sensible of it, Job 42:6; but for
the good that was in him, spoken or done by him; which carried in it a reproof
to them they could not bear; see Amos 5:10; they
abhorred him also because of his present meanness and poverty, and because of
his afflictions and distresses; and particularly the diseases of his body; so
Christ was abhorred by the Scribes, Pharisees and elders of the people, the
three shepherds his soul loathed, and their soul abhorred him for his meanness
and for his ministry: and even by the whole nation of the Jews, by the body of
the people, particularly when they preferred Barabbas, a thief and a murderer,
to him, Mark 15:7; see Zechariah 11:8;
they flee from me; as from some hideous monster, or infectious
person, as if he had the plague on him, or some nauseous disease, the stench of
which they could not bear; so Christ his antitype was used by: his people; when
they saw him in his afflictions they hid their faces from him, did not care to
look at him, or come nigh him, Isaiah 53:3;
and spare not to spit in my face; not in his presence
only, as some think, which is too low a sense, but literally and properly in
his face, when they vouchsafed to come near him; in this opprobrious way they
used him, than which nothing was a greater indignity and affront; and we need
not scruple to interpret it in this sense of Job, since our Lord, whose type he
was in this and other things, was so treated, Isaiah 50:6.
Job 30:11 11 Because He has loosed my[a] bowstring
and afflicted me, They have cast off restraint before me.
YLT
11Because His cord He loosed
and afflicteth me, And the bridle from before me, They have cast away.
Because he hath loosed my cord,.... Not his silver cord,
for then he must have died immediately, Ecclesiastes 12:6;
though it may be understood of the loosening of his nerves through the force of
his disease, and the afflictions he endured from God and man, see Job 30:17; or
rather of the shattered state and condition of his family and substance; which,
while he enjoyed, he had respect and reverence from men; but now all being
loosed, scattered, and destroyed, he was treated with derision and scorn; or,
better still, of his power and authority as a civil magistrate, by which, as
with a cord, he bound many to subjection and obedience to him, and which
commanded reverence of him; but this being now loosed and removed from him,
persons of the baser sort behaved in an insolent manner towards him; there is a
"Keri", or a marginal reading of this clause, which we follow; but
the "Cetib", or written text, is "his cord"; and so Mr.
Broughton renders it, "he hath loosed his string"; which he explains
of the string or rein of his government, that holdeth base men from striving
with the mighty, and which comes to the same sense; for the power and authority
Job had as a governor were of God, and which he had now loosened; the allusion
may be to the string of a bow, which being loosed, it cannot cast out the
arrow; and respect may be had to what Job had said, Job 29:20, "my
bow was renewed in my hand"; it then abode in strength, and its strength
was renewed; but now he had lost his power and strength, at least it was
greatly weakened, that he could not defend himself, nor punish the wicked:
and afflicted me; that is, God, who is also understood in the
preceding clause, though not expressed. Job's afflictions were many, and there
were second causes of them, who were the movers, instruments, and means of
them, as Satan, the Sabeans and Chaldeans, yet they were of God, as the
appointer, orderer, and sender of them; and so Job understood them, and always
as here ascribed them to him; wherefore there was a just cause for them, and an
end to be answered by them, and it became Job patiently to bear them, and to
wait the issue of them: now, on this account, the above persons were emboldened
and encouraged to use Job in the ill manner they did:
they have also let loose the bridle before me; the
restraints that were upon them when Job was in his prosperity, and had the
reins of government in his hand; these they now cast off, and showed no manner
of reverence of him, nor respect for him; and the bridle that was upon their
mouths, which kept them from speaking evil of him while he was in power, now
they slipped it from them, and gave themselves an unbounded liberty in
deriding, reproaching, and reviling him; see Psalm 39:1; and
this they did before him, in his presence and to his face, who before were mute
and silent.
Job 30:12 12 At my right hand
the rabble arises; They push away my feet, And they raise against me their ways
of destruction.
YLT
12On the right hand doth a
brood arise, My feet they have cast away, And they raise up against me, Their
paths of calamity.
Upon my right hand rise the youth,....
"Springeth", as Mr. Broughton translates the word; such as were just
sprung into being, as it were; the wordF14פרחה
"pullities", Schultens. seems to have the signification of young
birds that are not fledged; have not got their feathers on them, but are just
got out of the shell, as it were; and such were these young men: some render the
word the "flower"F15"Flos", Schmidt, Michaelis.
; as if the flower of men, the chief and principal of them, were meant, such as
were Job's three friends, who are here distinguished from the mean and baser
sort before spoken of; but the word even in this sense signifies young men, who
are like buds and flowers just sprung out, or who are beardless boys, or whose
beards are just springing out; so the young priests are in the MisnahF16Misn.
Sanhedrin, c. 1. sect. 7. called "the flowers of the priesthood": now
such as these rose up, not in reverence to Job, as the aged before did, but in
an hostile way, to oppose, resist, reproach, and deride him; they rose up on
his right hand, took the right hand of him, as if they were his superiors and
betters; or they stood at his right hand, took the right hand to accuse him, as
Satan did at Joshua's; see Psalm 109:6;
they push away my feet; they brought heavy
charges and violent accusations against him, in order to cast him down, and
trample upon him; nor would they suffer him to stand and answer for himself; he
could have no justice done him, and so there was no standing for him. If this
was to be understood literally, of their pushing at him to throw him down to
the ground, or of an attempt trip up his heels, so that his feet were almost
gone, and his steps had well nigh slipped, it was very rude and indecent
treatment of him indeed:
and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction; as, in
besieging a town, mounts, forts, and batteries are raised to destroy it, so
those persons made use of all ways and means to destroy Job; or they trod upon
him, and made him as a path or causeway to walk upon, in order utterly to destroy
him. Mr. Broughton renders the words, "they cast upon me the causes of
their woe", imputed all their calamities and miseries to him, reproached
him on that account, and now were resolved to revenge themselves on him.
Job 30:13 13 They break up my path, They
promote my calamity; They have no helper.
YLT
13They have broken down my
path, By my calamity they profit, `He hath no helper.'
They mar my path,.... Hindered him in the exercise of
religious duties; would not suffer him to attend the ways and worship of God,
or to walk in the paths of holiness and righteousness; or they reproached his
holy walk and conversation, and treated it with contempt, and triumphed over
religion and godliness:
they set forward my calamity; added affliction to
affliction, increased his troubles by their reproaches and calumnies, and were
pleased with it, as if it was profitable as well as pleasurable to them, see Zechariah 1:15;
they have no helper; either no person of note
to join them, and, to abet, assist, and encourage them; or they needed none,
being forward enough of themselves to give him all the distress and disturbance
they could, and he being so weak and unable to resist them; nor there is
"no helper against them"F17למו
"adversus illos", Beza, Schmidt, Michaelis; so Noldius, p. 514. ;
none to take Job's part against them, and deliver him out of their hands, see Ecclesiastes 4:1.
Job 30:14 14 They come as broad
breakers; Under the ruinous storm they roll along.
YLT
14As a wide breach they come,
Under the desolation have rolled themselves.
They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters,.... As when a
wide breach is made in the banks of a river, or of the sea, the waters rush
through in great abundance, with great rapidity and swiftness; and with a force
irresistible; and in like manner did Job's enemies rush in upon him in great
numbers, overwhelming him in an instant, and he not able to oppose them; or as,
when a wide breach is made in the wall of a city besieged, the besiegers pour
themselves in, and bear down all before them: and thus Job in a like violent
manner was run upon, and bore down by the persons before described:
in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me; as when a
breach is made in a bank of a river, or of the sea, the waters roll themselves,
one wave and flood over another; or, as when a breach is made in a wall,
"in the broken place they tumble"; as Mr. Broughton renders it; the
soldiers tumble one over another in haste, to get possession and seize the
plunder: in such like manner did Job's enemies roll themselves on him, in order
to crush and destroy him; and it may be rendered, "because of the
desolation"F18תחת שאה
"pro desolatione", Pagninus, Montanus; "propter
vestalionem", Noldius, p. 3. No. 1864. , because of bringing calamity on
him in order to make him desolate; they came pouring in upon him with all their
numbers, force, and strength, to bear him down, and crush him to the earth, as
grass may be rolled upon, and beaten down by heavy bodies.
Job 30:15 15 Terrors are turned upon
me; They pursue my honor as the wind, And my prosperity has passed like a
cloud.
YLT
15He hath turned against me
terrors, It pursueth as the wind mine abundance, And as a thick cloud, Hath my
safety passed away.
Terrors are turned upon me,.... Not the terrors of a
guilty conscience, for Job had a clear one, and held fast his integrity; nor
the terrors of a cursing and condemning law, for he knew he was justified by
his living Redeemer, and his sins forgiven for his sake; nor the terrors of
death, for that he had made familiar to him, and greatly desired it; nor the
terrors of a future judgment, for there was nothing he was more solicitous for
than to appear before the judgment seat of God, and take his trial there; but
the afflictions that were upon him from the hand of God that was turned on him,
who now hid his face from him, and withheld the influences of his grace and
layout, and appeared as an enemy, and as a cruel one to him; the reason of all
which he knew not, and this threw him into consternation of mind, and filled
him with terror. SomeF19So some in Bar Tzemach in loc. read the
words
"my
glory is turned into terrors;'
instead
of being in the honour and glory, prosperity and happiness, he had been in, he
was now possessed of terrors and distresses of various kinds: others render the
words, "he is turned against me, as terrors", or "into
terrors", or "with them"F20ההפך
עלי בלהות "conversus
est contra me, sicut terrores", Schmidt; "in meros terrores, vel cum
terroribus", Michaelis. ; God cannot be turned or changed in his nature,
in his will, counsel, purposes, and decrees, nor in his love and affection to
his people; but he may turn in the outward dispensations of his providence
according to his unchangeable will, as from evil to good, Jonah 3:9; so from
doing good to evil, Isaiah 63:10; this
is complained of by the church, Lamentations 3:3;
and deprecated by Jeremiah, Jeremiah 17:17; or
there is "a turn, terrors are upon me"; there was a very visible turn
in Job's affairs in many respects, in his health, substance, and family, and
particularly in this; while he was in his office as a civil magistrate, and in
all the glory of it, he was a terror to evil doers; and young men, when he
appeared, hid themselves for fear of him; but now those impudently rise up
against him, and are terrors to him: or there is an "overthrow"F21"Eversio",
Schultens. , an overturning of things, as of his civil and temporal affairs, so
of his spiritual ones; instead of that peace, serenity, and tranquillity of
mind he had enjoyed; now nothing but terror and distress of mind on account of
his afflictions and troubles:
they pursue my soul as the wind; terrors one after
another; they pursued him closely, with great swiftness, and with a force
irresistible, like the wind; they pursued his soul, his life, and threatened
the taking away of it: the word for soul is not the usual word for it; it
signifies "my principal one", as in the margin, as the soul is the
principal part of man, the immortal breath of God, the inhabitant in the
tenement of the body, the jewel in the cabinet, immaterial and immortal, and of
more worth than the whole world; or "my princely one", being of a
princely original, is from God, the Father of spirits, of a noble extract: Mr.
Broughton renders it my "nobility", having princely rule and
government in the body; that using the members of the body as its instruments;
and especially it may be said to have such rule, when grace is implanted in it,
as a ruling governing principle; and the Targum is, my principality or
government: it may be rendered, "my free"F23נדבתי "principalem meam", Mercerus; "meam
principem", Vatablus, Piscator; "meam spontaneam", Pagninus,
Montanus, Michaelis; "meam ultroneam", Drusius; "generosum meam
spiritum", Schultens. , liberal, ingenuous, and munificent one: Job had
such a generous and beneficent soul; but now all means of exercising generosity
and liberality were cut off from him; and particularly he had find a free
ingenuous one, as he was actuated by the free spirit of God, Psalm 51:12, where
this word is used; but now terrors pursuing him, a spirit of bondage unto fear
was brought upon him: someF24Schmidt. consider it as an apostrophe
to God, "thou pursues, my soul, O God", &c. but rather the
meaning is, a distress or affliction pursued it, or everyone of the above
terrors:
and my welfare passeth away as a cloud; or "my
salvation"F25ישעתי "salus
mea", Pagninus, Montanus, &c. ; not spiritual and eternal salvation,
that was firm and stable, being fixed by the unalterable decree of God, secured
in the covenant of grace, and engaged for to be wrought out by his living.
Redeemer, and of which he had an application by the Spirit of God, and was
possessed of the blessings of it; and though the joys and comforts of it, and
views of interest in it, may go off for a while, yet Job seems to have had a
strong faith of interest in it, and a lively and well grounded hope of its
being his, Job 13:15; but his
temporal salvation, health, and happiness, were gone suddenly, swiftly,
utterly, entirely, totally, as a cloud dissolved into rain, or dissipated by
the rays of the sun, or driven away with the wind, so as to be seen no more;
nor had he any hope of its being restored to him: some understand this, as
Sephorno, of the salvation with which he had saved others; but it was no more
in the power of his hands, and the remembrance of it was gone from those who
shared in it; see Hosea 6:4.
Job 30:16 16 “And now my soul is poured
out because of my plight; The days of affliction take hold of me.
YLT
16And now, in me my soul
poureth itself out, Seize me do days of affliction.
And now my soul is poured out upon me,.... Either in
prayer to God for help and deliverance; or rather he was dissolved as it were
in floods of tears, because of his distress and anguish; or his spirits were
sunk, his strength and courage failed, and his heart melted, and was poured out
like water; yea, his soul was pouring out unto death, and he was, as he
apprehended, near unto it; his body was so weakened and broken by diseases,
that it was like a vessel full of holes, out of which the liquor runs away
apace; so his life and soul were going away from him, his vital spirits were
almost exhausted:
the days of affliction have taken hold upon me; afflictions
seize on good men as well as others, and on them more than others; and there
are certain times and seasons for them, appointed and ordered by the Lord; and
there is a limited time, they are not to continue always, only for some days,
for a time, and but a little time, and then they will have an end; but till that
time comes, there can be no deliverance from them; being sent they come, coming
they seized on Job, they laid hold on him, they "caught" him, as Mr.
Broughton renders it, and held him fast, and would not let him go; nor could he
get clear of them till God delivered him, who only can and does deliver out of
them in his own time and way.
Job 30:17 17 My bones are pierced in me
at night, And my gnawing pains take no rest.
YLT
17At night my bone hath been
pierced in me, And mine eyelids do not lie down.
My bones are pierced in me in the night season,.... Such was
the force of his disease, that it pierced and penetrated even into his bones,
and the marrow of them; and such the pain that he endured in the muscles and
tendons about them, and especially in the joints of them, that it was as if all
his bones were piercing and breaking to pieces; he was in a like condition the
sick man is described in Job 33:19; and as David
and Hezekiah were, Psalm 6:2; and what
aggravated his case was, that this was "in the night season", when he
should have got some sleep and rest, but could not for his pain: some render
the words by supplying them thus; God, or the disease, or the pain, pierced my
bones in the night season; or "the night pierced my bones from me";
so Mr. Broughton; but rather they may be rendered, and the sense be,
"in
the night season everyone of my bones pierce "the flesh" that is upon
me:'
his
flesh was almost wasted and consumed, through the boil and ulcers on him, and
he was reduced to a mere skeleton; and when he laid himself down on his bed,
these pierced through his skin, and stuck out, and gave him exquisite pain:
and my sinews take no rest; being contracted; or his
nerves, as the word in the Arabic language signifies, as is observed by Aben
Ezra, Jarchi, Donesh, and others; which were loosened, and the animal spirits were
sunk, and he so low and dispirited, that he could get no rest: or the pulsatile
veins and arteries, as Ben Gersom and Elias LevitaF1In Tishbi, p.
67. So Lud. Capellus in loc. , in which the pulse beats, and which beats with
less strength when persons are asleep than when awake; but such was the force
of Job's disease, that it beat even in the night, when on his bed, so strongly,
that he could take no rest for it; the pulse beats, as physicians sayF2Scheuchzer.
Physic. Sacr. vol. 4. p 764. , sixty times in a minute, and double the number
in a burning fever, and which might be Job's case. Some take the word in the
sense of fleeing or gnawingF3וערקי
"et rodentia mea", Schultens; "fugientia membra mea", so
some in Michaelis. , as it is used Job 30:3; and
interpret it either of his enemies, who pursued after him, and had no rest in
their beds, but went out in the night to inquire and hear what they could learn
concerning him and his illness, whether it was become greaterF4Vid.
Bar Tzemach in loc. ; or who devoured him by their calumnies and detractions,
and could not sleep unless they did mischief to him; see Proverbs 4:16; or
of the worms with which his body was covered, and which were continually
gnawing, never rested, nor suffered him to take any rest; the Targum is, they
that gnash at me rest not.
Job 30:18 18 By great force my garment
is disfigured; It binds me about as the collar of my coat.
YLT
18By the abundance of power,
Is my clothing changed, As the mouth of my coat it doth gird me.
By the great force of my disease is my garment changed,.... Either
the colour of it, through the purulent matter from his ulcers running down upon
it, or penetrating through it; or by reason of it he was obliged to shift himself,
and to have a change of raiment very frequently; or the supplement, "of my
disease", may be left out, and the sense be, with great force, through
main strength, and with much difficulty, his garment was changed, was got off
from him, sticking so close to him, and another put on:
it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat; his disease
encompassed him about on all sides as the collar or edge of his coat
encompassed his neck, and cleaved as close, and was as tight unto him as that,
and threatened him perhaps with a suffocation or strangling; see Job 7:15; the
allusion is to garments used in the eastern countries, which were only open at
top and bottom; at the top there was a hole to put the head through when put
on, and a binding about it, and a button to it, or some such thing, which kept
it tight about the neck; see Exodus 28:32.
Job 30:19 19 He has cast me into the
mire, And I have become like dust and ashes.
YLT
19Casting me into mire, And I
am become like dust and ashes.
He hath cast me into the mire,.... As Jeremiah was
literally; here it is to be understood in a figurative sense; not of the mire
of sin, into which God casts none, men fall into it of themselves, but of the
mire of affliction and calamity; see Psalm 40:2; and
which Job here ascribes to God; and whereby he was in as mean, abject, and
contemptible a condition, as if he had been thrown into a kennel, and rolled in
it; and he speaks of it as an act of God, done with contempt of him, and
indignation at him, as he apprehended it. Some Jewish writersF5Vid.
Jarchi & Bar Tzemach in loc. interpret it, "he taught me in the
mire", or "it taught me"; his disease, his ulcers taught him to
sit down in the mire, or in the midst of ashes, Job 2:8; but though
this reading might admit of a good sense, as that Job was taught, as every good
man is, many useful lessons in and by afflictions; yet it seems to be a sense
foreign from the words:
and I am become like dust and ashes; a phrase by which
Abraham expresses his vileness, meanness, and unworthiness in the sight of God,
Genesis 18:27; Job,
through the force of his disease, looked like a corpse, or one half dead, and
was crumbling and dropping into the dust of death and the grave, and looked
livid and ash coloured; and even in a literal sense was covered with dust and
ashes, when he sat among them, Job 2:8; though
here it chiefly respects the miserable, forlorn, and contemptible condition in
which he was.
Job 30:20 20 “I cry out to You, but You
do not answer me; I stand up, and You regard me.
YLT
20I cry unto Thee, And Thou
dost not answer me, I have stood, and Thou dost consider me.
I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me,.... Which
added greatly to his affliction, that though he cried to the Lord for help and
deliverance, yet he turned a deaf ear to him; and though he heard him, as
undoubtedly he did, he did not answer him immediately; at least not in the way
in which he desired and expected he would: crying is expressive of prayer, and
supposes distress, and denotes vehemence of spirit:
I stand up; in prayer, standing being a prayer gesture, as many observe from
Jeremiah 15:1; See
Gill on Matthew 6:5; or he
persisted in it, he continued praying, was incessant in it, and yet could
obtain no answer; or this signifies silence, as someF6Jarchi, Ben
Gersom, and Bar Tzemach. interpret it; he cried, and then ceased, waiting for
an answer; but whether he prayed, or whether he was silent, it was the same
thing:
and thou regardest me not; the word "not"
is not in this clause, but is repeated from the preceding, as it is by Ben
Gersom and others; but some read it without it, and give the sense either thus,
thou considerest me whether it is fit to receive my prayer or not, so Sephorno;
or to renew my strokes, to add new afflictions to me, as Jarchi and Bar
Tzemach; or thou lookest upon me as one pleased with the sight of me in such a
miserable condition, so far from helping me; wherefore it follows.
Job 30:21 21 But
You have become cruel to me; With the strength of Your hand You oppose me.
YLT
21Thou art turned to be fierce
to me, With the strength of Thy hand, Thou oppresest me.
Thou art become cruel to me,.... Or
"turned", or "changed"F7תהפך
"mutatus es", V. L. Tigurine version; "versus es", Beza,
Piscator; so Drusius, Cocceius, Vatablus, Michaelis, Mercerus, Schultens. , to
be cruel to me. Job suggests that God had been kind and gracious to him, both
in a way of providence, and in showing special love and favour to him, in a
very distinguishing manner; but now he intimates his affections were changed
and altered, and these were alienated from him, and his love was turned into an
hatred of him; this is one of the unbecoming expressions which dropped from his
lips concerning God; for the love of God to his people is never changed; it
remains invariable and unalterable, in all dispensations, in every state and
condition into which they come; there may be some of God's dispensations
towards them, which may have the appearance of severity in them; and he may
make use of instruments to chastise them, which may use them cruelly; but even
then his heart yearns towards them, and, being full of compassion, delivers out
of their hands, and saves them, Jeremiah 30:14;
with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me; God has a
strong hand and arm, and none like him, and sometimes he puts forth the strength
of it, and exerts his mighty power in afflicting his people, and his hand
presses them sore, and they can scarcely stand up under it; and then it becomes
them to humble themselves under the mighty hand of God, and patiently bear it;
and sometimes they take him to be their adversary, an enemy unto them, and
filled with hatred of them, indignation against them, setting himself with all
his might and main to ruin and destroy them; and this is a sad case indeed, to
have such apprehensions of God, though unjust ones; for, as if God be for us,
who shall be against us? so if he be against us, it signifies little who is for
us; for there is no contending with him, Job 9:3.
Job 30:22 22 You lift me up to the wind
and cause me to ride on it; You spoil my success.
YLT
22Thou dost lift me up, On
the wind Thou dost cause me to ride, And Thou meltest -- Thou levellest me.
Thou liftest me up to the wind,.... Of affliction and
adversity, to be carried up with it, and tossed about by it, as chaff or
stubble, or a dry leaf, being no more able to stand up against it than such
things are to oppose the wind; though some interpret this of God's lifting him
up in his state of prosperity, in which he was very visible and conspicuous to
all, and enjoyed much light and comfort; but then he raised him to such an
estate, with a view to cast him down, and that his fall and ruin might be the
greater; and so this is observed as a proof of his being become cruel to him:
thou causest me to ride upon it; seemingly in
great pomp and state, but in great uncertainty and danger, being at best in a
slippery place, in very fickle circumstances, as the event showed; or rather
the sense is, that he was swiftly carried into destruction, as if he rode on
the wings of the wind to it, and was hurried thither at once, as soon as he was
taken up with the tempest of adversity:
and dissolvest my substance; his outward substance,
his wealth and riches, his family, and the health of his body, all which as it
were melted away, or were carried away as with a flood; and so as the metaphor
of a tempestuous wind is used in the former clause, here that of an overflowing
flood, which removed from him what seemed to be the most solid and substantial:
the word is sometimes used for wisdom, and even sound wisdom, Proverbs 2:7;
wherefore some have interpreted it of his being at his wits' end, of losing his
reason and understanding, and which were at least disturbed and confounded by
his afflictions; but his discourses and speeches show the contrary, and he
himself denies that wisdom was driven from him, Job 6:13.
Job 30:23 23 For I know that You
will bring me to death, And to the house appointed for all
living.
YLT
23For I have known To death
Thou dost bring me back, And [to] the house appointed for all living.
For I know that thou wilt bring me to death,.... Quickly
and by the present affliction upon him; he was assured, as he thought, that
this was the view and design of God in this providence, under which he was to
bring him to death and the grave; that he would never take off his hand till he
had brought him to the dust of death, to that lifeless dust from whence he had
his original; otherwise, that he would he brought thither, sooner or later, was
no great masterpiece of knowledge; every man knows this will be the case with
him as with all; death is become necessary by sin, which brought it into the
world, and the sentence of it on all men in it, and by the decree and
appointment of God, by which it is fixed and settled that all should die; and
this is confirmed by all experience in all ages, a very few excepted, only two
persons, Enoch and Elijah, Genesis 5:24,
sometimes the death of persons is made known to them by divine revelation, as
to Aaron and Moses, Numbers 20:12; and
sometimes it may be gathered to be nigh from the symptoms of it on the body; from
growing diseases, and the infirmities of old age; but Job concluded it from the
manner of God's dealing with him, as he thought in wrath and indignation,
determining to make an utter end of him:
and to the house appointed for all living; the grave, which
is the house for the body when dead to be brought unto and lodged in; as the
"house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens", 2 Corinthians 5:1,
is for the soul in its separate state, until the resurrection morn; which house
or grave is man's "long home", Ecclesiastes 12:5;
and this is prepared and appointed for all men living, since all must die; and
all that die have a house or grave, though that is sometimes a watery, and not
an earthy one; however the dust of everybody has a receptacle provided for it,
where it is reserved until the time of the resurrection, and then it is brought
forth, Revelation 20:13;
and this is by divine appointment; the word used signifies both an appointed
time and place, and is often used of the Jewish solemnities, which were fixed
with respect to both; and also of the people or congregation that attended
them; the grave is the general rendezvous of mankind, and both the time when
and the place where the dead are gathered and brought unto it are fixed by the
determinate will and counsel of God.
Job 30:24 24 “Surely He would not
stretch out His hand against a heap of ruins, If they cry out when He
destroys it.
YLT
24Surely not against the heap
Doth He send forth the hand, Though in its ruin they have safety.
Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave,.... Or,
"verily"F8אך "verum",
Mercerus; profecto, Drusius, Bolducius; "sane", Tigurine version. ,
truly he will not, &c. I am well assured he never will, meaning either he
never would stretch out his hand to shut up the grave; or rather keep it shut,
and prevent Job from going down into it; or to open it, and fetch him out of it
when in it: God is indeed able to do either of these, and has done it;
sometimes, when persons are brought as it were to the gates of death and the
grave, he says to them, Return; yea, when they are brought to the dust of
death, he prevents them going into the grave, by restoring them to life before
carried thither, as the Shunammite's son, 2 Kings 4:32;
Jairus's daughter, Mark 5:41; and the
widow's son of Nain, even when he was carrying to his grave, Luke 7:12; some
have been laid in the grave, and God has stretched out his hand, and raised
them up again; as the man that was laid in Elisha's grave, 2 Kings 13:21, and
Lazarus after he had lain in the grave some days, John 11:39; but
such things are not usually done; in common, when a man dies, and is laid in
the grave, he rises not again, till the heavens be no more; and this Job was
persuaded would be his case:
though they cry in his destruction; that is, though the
friends and relations of the sick person, or the poor that he has been kind and
bountiful unto, should cry unto God, while he is destroying him by the diseases
upon him, and which threaten him with destruction, that he would spare his
useful and valuable life; yet he is inexorable, and will not hear, but go on
with what he intends to do, and takes him off by death, and lays him in the
grave, "the pit of destruction", Psalm 55:23, so
called because it wastes and consumes bodies laid in it; and when once laid
there, all cries for a restoration to life again are vain and fruitless. Some
take these words as expressed in a way of solace, as if Job comforted himself
with this thought under his present afflictions, that, when once he was brought
to death and the grave, there would be an end of all his sorrow; the hand of
the Lord, that was now stretched out on him in a terrible way, would be no
longer stretched out on him; he would then cease to afflict him, and he should
be where the weary are at rest; and so the last clause is read with an
interrogation, "is there any cry", or "do any cry, in his
destruction?"F9אם בפידו
להן שוע "aut clamant
aliqui post obitum suum?" Tigurine version; "si in contritione ejus
eis clamor?" Montanus, Bolducius. ; no, when death has done its office,
and the body is laid in the grave, there is no more pain nor sorrow, nor
crying; all tears are wiped away, and there is no more sense of afflictions and
sufferings; they are all at an end. Mr. Broughton renders these words as to the
sense the same, and as in connection with the following ones, "and prayed
I not when plague was sent? when hurt came to any, thereupon cried I not?"
and so do some othersF11Junius & Tremellius. .
Job 30:25 25 Have I not wept for him
who was in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?
YLT
25Did not I weep for him
whose day is hard? Grieved hath my soul for the needy.
Did not I weep for him that was in trouble?.... In
outward trouble, whether personal in his own body, or in his family, or in his
worldly affairs, or from wicked men, the men of the world; or in inward
trouble, in soul trouble, on account of indwelling sin, the breakings forth of
it, the lowness of grace, as to exercise, the hidings of God's face, and the
temptations of Satan: or "for him that is hard of day"F12לקשה יום "ob durum
die", Montanus, Mercerus, Drusius; "cui dura crant tempora",
Junius & Tremellius; "ei cui durus dies", Cocceius. ; with whom
times are hard, the days are evil, with respect either to things temporal or
spiritual; now Job had a sympathizing heart with such persons; he wept with
them that wept; his bowels yearned towards them; he felt their sufferings and
their sorrows, which is a Godlike frame of soul; for God, in all the
afflictions of his people, is afflicted; a disposition of mind like that of the
living Redeemer, who cannot but be touched with the feeling of the infirmities
of saints, having been in all points tempted as they; and is a fruit of the
Spirit of God, and very becoming the relation the saints stand in to one
another, being members of the same body, and of each other; and therefore, when
one member suffers, all the rest should sympathize with it, and, being
brethren, should be loving, pitiful, and courteous to each other; and should
consider that they also are in the body, and liable to the same distresses,
whether outward or inward:
was not my soul grieved for the poor? in general, and
especially for the Lord's poor, for such in all ages have been chosen and
called by him; for these Job was grieved at heart, when he saw their distress
through poverty; and he not only expressed his concern for them by tears and
words, but by distributing liberally to their necessities, Job 31:17; and by
which he showed his grief was real, hearty, and sincere, as here expressed; his
soul was grieved, and he was sorry at his very heart for them: some render the
words, "was not my soul like a pool of water?"F13עצמה "restagnavit", some in Mercerus. not only
his head and his eyes, as Jeremiah's on another account, but his soul melted,
and flowed like water with grief for them; and others, as Mr. Broughton,
"did not my soul burn for the poor?" with sorrow for them, and an
ardent desire to relieve them; see 2 Corinthians 9:12;
now this was the frame of Job's mind in the time of his prosperity, very
different from that in Amos 6:4; and was
certain and well known; he could appeal to all that knew him for the truth of
it, it being what, none could deny that had any knowledge of him; yea, he could
appeal to an omniscient God, he was now speaking to, for the truth of it; nay,
it is delivered in the form of an oath, "if I did not weep", &c.F14אם לא בכיתי
"si non deflevi", Tigurine version; "si non flevi",
Piscator. , as in Job 31:16.
Job 30:26 26 But when I looked for
good, evil came to me; And when I waited for light, then came darkness.
YLT
26When good I expected, then
cometh evil, And I wait for light, and darkness cometh.
When I looked for good,.... As he
thought he might reasonably expect it, since he had shown such a sympathizing
spirit to persons in trouble, and such pity and mercy to the poor: in the time
of his prosperity, he looked for a continuance of the good things he enjoyed,
and expected to have had them for many years to come, and to have died in the
possession of them, Job 29:18; and even
in his adversity, though he had received evil things at the hand of God, which
he took patiently; yet at first he did not think they would always continue,
but that there would be a turn of affairs, and he should again receive good at
his hands; and he had been looking for it, as good men have reason to expect
it; since God is good and does good, and especially to his own people, and has
laid up goodness for them that fear him, and such an one Job was; and has
promised good things unto them, both temporal and spiritual; for godliness and
godly men have the promise of this life, and of that which is to come: but Job
was disappointed in his expectation; for, says he,
then evil came unto me, the evil of affliction,
one upon the back of another, even when in the height of his prosperity; and
since repeated evil, new afflictions, came upon him by the appointment, order,
and direction of God:
and when I waited for light; for the light of outward
prosperity, such as he had formerly enjoyed; and for the light of God's
countenance, which he most earnestly sought after, and longed for, and was in a
waiting posture for it, as good men have reason to be; since light is sown for
them in the purposes and decrees of God, in his counsel and covenant, in his
Gospel, and the promises of it; and therefore should wait for the springing of
it up, as the husbandman does for the springing up of the corn sown in the
earth, and lying under the clods; and seeing that to the upright there arises
light in darkness; and though God hides his face from them, for a moment, he
will have mercy on them, and therefore should wait his time to be gracious to
them; but Job had waited long, and, as he thought, to no purpose: for
there came darkness; the darkness of
adversity, still thicker and darker, and no appearance of spiritual light and
favour, or any discoveries of the love of God to him, or enjoyment of his
presence; see Jeremiah 8:15.
Job 30:27 27 My heart is in turmoil and
cannot rest; Days of affliction confront me.
YLT
27My bowels have boiled, and
have not ceased, Gone before me have days of affliction.
My bowels boiled, and
rested not,.... All contained within him, his heart, lungs, and liver, in a
literal sense, through a violent fever burning within him; or figuratively,
being under great distress and trouble, by reason of his afflictions, outward
and inward, see Jeremiah 4:19;
the days of affliction prevented me; came sooner upon him
than he thought; he did not expect the evil days to come, and the years draw
nigh in which he should have no pleasure, until he was more advanced in years,
and the time of his dissolution was at hand; they came at once, and unawares,
upon him, when he looked not for them: some render the word "met me"F15קדמני "occurrerunt mihi", Piscator, Cocceius. ,
unexpectedly; or rather, they "rushed upon me"F16"Incursarunt
me", Schultens. , in an hostile way; came in troops, and invaded and
surrounded him, see Job 19:12.
Job 30:28 28 I go about mourning, but
not in the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.
YLT
28Mourning I have gone
without the sun, I have risen, in an assembly I cry.
I went mourning without
the sun,.... So overwhelmed with grief, that he refused to have any
comfort from, or any advantage by the sun; hence Mr. Broughton renders it,
"out of the sun"; he did not choose to walk in the sunshine, but out
of it, to indulge his grief and sorrow the more; or he went in black attire,
and wrapped and covered himself with it, that he might not see the sun, or
receive any relief by it: or "I go black, but not by the sun"F17בלא חמה "non propter
solem", Vatablus; "non a sole", Junius & Tremellius,
Drusius, Mercerus; "non ob solem", Piscator. ; his face and his skin
were black, but not through the sun looking upon him and discolouring him, as
in Song of Solomon 1:6;
but through the force of his disease, which had changed his complexion, and
made him as black as a Kedarene, or those that dwell in the tents of Kedar, Song of Solomon 1:5;
and he also walked without the sun of righteousness arising on him, with
healing in his wings, which was worst of all:
I stood up, and I cried in the congregation: either in the
congregation of the saints met together for religious worship, where he cried
unto God for help and deliverance, and for the light of his countenance, Job 30:20; or such
was the extreme anguish of his soul, that when a multitude of people got about
him to see him in his distressed condition, he could not contain himself, but
burst out before them in crying and tears, though he knew it was unbecoming a
man of his age and character; or he could not content himself to stay within
doors and soothe his grief, but must go abroad and in public, and there
expressed with strong cries and tears his miserable condition.
Job 30:29 29 I am a brother of jackals,
And a companion of ostriches.
YLT
29A brother I have been to
dragons, And a companion to daughters of the ostrich.
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, Psalm 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 30:30 30 My skin grows black and
falls from me; My bones burn with fever.
YLT
30My skin hath been black
upon me, And my bone hath burned from heat,
My skin is black upon me,.... Either
through deep melancholy, as may be observed in persons of such a disposition,
through grief and trouble; or rather through the force of his disease, the
burning ulcers and black scabs with which he was covered, as the Jews were
through famine, in their captivity, Lamentations 4:8;
and my bones are burnt with heat; with the heat of a
burning fever; which not only made his inwards boil, but reached to his bones,
and dried up the marrow of them. Galen saysF18Apud Bartholin. de
Cruce, sect. 12. p. 107. that bones may become so dry as to be crumbled into
sand: the Syriac version is
"my
bones are burnt as his who is in a hot wind;'
such
as were common in the eastern countries, which killed men at once, and they
became as black as a coalF19See Gill on Job 27:21. .
Job 30:31 31 My harp is turned
to mourning, And my flute to the voice of those who weep.
YLT
31And my harp doth become
mourning, And my organ the sound of weeping.
My harp also is turned to mourning,.... Which he
used, as David, either in religious worship, expressing praise to God thereby,
or for his recreation in an innocent way; but now it was laid aside, and,
instead of it, nothing was heard from him, or in his house, but the voice of
mourning:
and my organ into the voice of them that weep; another
instrument of music, which had its name from the pleasantness of its sound, and
was of early use, being first invented by Jubal, Genesis 4:21; but
not that we now so call, which is of late invention: those instruments which
Job might have and use, both in a civil and in a religious way, were now,
through afflictions, become useless to him, and neglected by him; or these
expressions in general may signify, that, instead of mirth and joy he was wont
to have, there were nothing now to be heard but lamentation and woe; see Lamentations 5:15.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)