Teks -- Job 30:12-31 (NET)

30:12 On my right the young rabble rise up; they drive me from place to place, and build up siege ramps against me. 30:13 They destroy my path; they succeed in destroying me without anyone assisting them. 30:14 They come in as through a wide breach; amid the crash they come rolling in. 30:15 Terrors are turned loose on me; they drive away my honor like the wind, and like a cloud my deliverance has passed away.

Job’s Despondency

30:16 “And now my soul pours itself out within me; days of suffering take hold of me. 30:17 Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never cease. 30:18 With great power God grasps my clothing; he binds me like the collar of my tunic. 30:19 He has flung me into the mud, and I have come to resemble dust and ashes. 30:20 I cry out to you, but you do not answer me; I stand up, and you only look at me. 30:21 You have become cruel to me; with the strength of your hand you attack me. 30:22 You pick me up on the wind and make me ride on it; you toss me about in the storm. 30:23 I know that you are bringing me to death, to the meeting place for all the living.

The Contrast With the Past

30:24 “Surely one does not stretch out his hand against a broken man when he cries for help in his distress. 30:25 Have I not wept for the unfortunate? Was not my soul grieved for the poor? 30:26 But when I hoped for good, trouble came; when I expected light, then darkness came. 30:27 My heart is in turmoil unceasingly; the days of my affliction confront me. 30:28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun; in the assembly I stand up and cry for help. 30:29 I have become a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches. 30:30 My skin has turned dark on me; my body is hot with fever. 30:31 My harp is used for mourning and my flute for the sound of weeping.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Wesley: Job 30:12 - Right hand

This was the place of adversaries or accusers in courts of justice.

Wesley: Job 30:12 - The youth

Heb. young striplings, who formerly hid themselves from my presence, Job 29:8.

Wesley: Job 30:12 - Push

Metaphorically, they endeavour to overwhelm me.

Wesley: Job 30:12 - Ways

Cause - ways, or banks: so it is a metaphor from soldiers, who cast up banks, against the city which they besiege.

Wesley: Job 30:12 - Destruction

To destroy me.

Wesley: Job 30:13 - Mar

As I am in great misery, so they endeavour to stop all my ways out of it.

Wesley: Job 30:13 - Set forward

Increasing it by their invectives, and censures.

Wesley: Job 30:13 - Even they

Who are themselves in a forlorn and miserable condition.

Wesley: Job 30:14 - Waste place

In the waste place; in that part of the bank which was broken down.

Wesley: Job 30:14 - They rolled

As the waters, come rolling in at the breach.

Wesley: Job 30:15 - Terrors

If he endeavoured to shake them off, they turned furiously upon him: if he endeavoured to out run them, they pursued his soul, as swiftly and violently as the wind.

Wesley: Job 30:20 - I stand

I pray importunately and continually.

Wesley: Job 30:21 - Turned

As if thou hadst changed thy very nature, which is kind, and merciful, and gracious.

Wesley: Job 30:22 - Thou

Thou exposest me, to all sorts of storms and calamities; so that I am like chaff or stubble lifted up to the wind, and violently tossed hither and thither in the air.

Wesley: Job 30:22 - Substance

By which, my body is almost consumed, and my heart is melted within me.

Wesley: Job 30:23 - House appointed

The grave is a narrow, dark, cold house, but there we shall rest and be safe. It is our home, for it is our mother's lap, and in it we are gathered to our fathers. It is an house appointed for us, by him that has appointed the bounds of all our habitations. And it is appointed for all living. It is the common receptacle for rich and poor: we must all be brought thither, and that shortly.

Wesley: Job 30:24 - To the grave

The hand of God's wrath will not follow me beyond death; I shall then be safe and easy: Tho' men cry in his destruction: tho' most men cry and are affrighted, while they are dying, while the body is sinking into destruction; yet I desire it, I have nothing to fear therein, since I know that my redeemer liveth.

Wesley: Job 30:25 - Did not I

Have I now judgment without mercy, because I afforded no mercy to others in misery? No; my conscience acquits me from this inhumanity: I did mourn over others in their miseries.

Wesley: Job 30:26 - Upon me

Yet trouble came upon myself, when I expected it not.

Wesley: Job 30:27 - Affliction

Came upon me suddenly, and unexpectedly, when I promised myself peace and prosperity.

Wesley: Job 30:28 - Without the sun

Heb. black, not by the sun. My very countenance became black, tho' not by the sun, but by the force of my disease.

Wesley: Job 30:29 - A brother

By imitation of their cries: persons of like qualities are often called brethren.

Wesley: Job 30:29 - Dragon

Which howl and wail mournfully in the deserts.

JFB: Job 30:12 - youth

Rather, a (low) brood. To rise on the right hand is to accuse, as that was the position of the accuser in court (Zec 3:1; Psa 109:6).

JFB: Job 30:12 - push . . . feet

Jostle me out of the way (Job 24:4).

JFB: Job 30:12 - ways of

That is, their ways of (that is, with a view to my) destruction. Image, as in Job 19:12, from a besieging army throwing up a way of approach for itself to a city.

JFB: Job 30:13

Image of an assailed fortress continued. They tear up the path by which succor might reach me.

JFB: Job 30:13 - set forward

(Zec 1:15).

JFB: Job 30:13 - they have no helper

Arabic proverb for contemptible persons. Yet even such afflict Job.

JFB: Job 30:14 - waters

(So 2Sa 5:20). But it is better to retain the image of Job 30:12-13. "They came [upon me] as through a wide breach," namely, made by the besiegers in the wall of a fortress (Isa 30:13) [MAURER].

JFB: Job 30:14 - in the desolation

"Amidst the crash" of falling masonry, or "with a shout like the crash" of, &c.

JFB: Job 30:15 - they

Terrors.

JFB: Job 30:15 - soul

Rather, "my dignity" [UMBREIT].

JFB: Job 30:15 - welfare

Prosperity.

JFB: Job 30:15 - cloud

(Job 7:9; Isa 44:22).

JFB: Job 30:16-23

Job's outward calamities affect his mind.

JFB: Job 30:16-23 - poured out

In irrepressible complaints (Psa 42:4; Jos 7:5).

JFB: Job 30:17

In the Hebrew, night is poetically personified, as in Job 3:3 : "night pierceth my bones (so that they fall) from me" (not as English Version, "in me"; see Job 30:30).

JFB: Job 30:17 - sinews

So the Arabic, "veins," akin to the Hebrew; rather, "gnawers" (see on Job 30:3), namely, my gnawing pains never cease. Effects of elephantiasis.

JFB: Job 30:18 - of my disease

Rather, "of God" (Job 23:6).

JFB: Job 30:18 - garment changed

From a robe of honor to one of mourning, literally (Job 2:8; Joh 3:6) and metaphorically [UMBREIT]. Or rather, as SCHUTTENS, following up 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); the former his personal afflictions (Job 30:14-23). UMBREIT makes "God" subject to "bindeth," as in Job 30:19.

JFB: Job 30:19

God is poetically said to do that which the mourner had done to himself (Job 2:8). With lying in the ashes he had become, like them, in dirty color.

JFB: Job 30:20 - stand up

The reverential attitude of a suppliant before a king (1Ki 8:14; Luk 18:11-13).

JFB: Job 30:20 - not

Supplied from the first clause. But the intervening affirmative "stand" makes this ellipsis unlikely. Rather, as in Job 16:9 (not only dost thou refuse aid to me "standing" as a suppliant, but), thou dost regard me with a frown: eye me sternly.

JFB: Job 30:22 - liftest . . . to wind

As a "leaf" or "stubble" (Job 13:25). 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.

JFB: Job 30:22 - 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, Exo 15:15) in the crash (of the whirlwind; see on Job 30:14) [MAURER]. UMBREIT translates as a verb, "Thou terrifiest me."

JFB: Job 30:23

This shows Job 19:25 cannot be restricted to Job's hope of a temporal deliverance.

JFB: Job 30:23 - death

As in Job 28:22, the realm of the dead (Heb 9:27; Gen 3:19).

JFB: Job 30:24 - 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 Job 30:24-31; 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; Lam 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 (Job 28:17).

JFB: Job 30:25

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).

JFB: Job 30:26

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

JFB: Job 30:26 - light

(Job 22:28).

JFB: Job 30:27 - bowels

Regarded as the seat of deep feeling (Isa 16:11).

JFB: Job 30:27 - boiled

Violently heated and agitated.

JFB: Job 30:27 - prevented

Old English for "unexpectedly came upon" me, "surprised" me.

JFB: Job 30:28 - 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); the elephantiasis covering me with blackness of skin (Job 30:30), as with the garb of mourning (Jer 14:2). This striking enigmatic form of Hebrew expression occurs, Isa 29:9.

JFB: Job 30:28 - stood up

As an innocent man crying for justice in an assembled court (Job 30:20).

JFB: Job 30:29 - dragons . . . owls

Rather, "jackals," "ostriches," both of which utter dismal screams (Mic 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].

JFB: Job 30:30 - upon me

Rather, as in Job 30:17 (see on Job 30:17), "my skin is black (and falls away) from me."

JFB: Job 30:30 - my bones

(Job 19:20; Psa 102:5).

JFB: Job 30:31 - organ

Rather, "pipe" (Job 21:12). "My joy is turned into the voice of weeping" (Lam 5:15). These instruments are properly appropriated to joy (Isa 30:29, Isa 30:32), which makes their use now in sorrow the sadder by contrast.

Clarke: Job 30:12 - Upon my right hand rise the youth

Upon my right hand rise the youth - The word פרחח pirchach , which we translate youth, signifies properly buds, or the buttons of trees. Mr. Good has younglings. Younkers would be better, were it not too colloquial

Clarke: Job 30:12 - They push away my feet

They push away my feet - They trip up my heels, or they in effect trample me under their feet. They rush upon and overwhelm me. They are violently incensed against me. They roll themselves upon me, התגלגלו hithgalgalu , velut unda impellit undam, as waves of the sea which wash the sand from under the feet, and then swamp the man to the bottom; see Job 30:14.

Clarke: Job 30:13 - They mar my path

They mar my path - They destroy the way-marks, so that there is no safety in travelling through the deserts, the guide-posts and way-marks being gone. These may be an allusion here to a besieged city: the besiegers strive by every means and way to distress the besieged; stopping up the fountains, breaking up the road, raising up towers to project arrows and stones into the city, called here raising up against it the ways of destruction, Job 30:12; preventing all succor and support

Clarke: Job 30:13 - They have no helper

They have no helper - " There is not an adviser among them."- Mr. Good. There is none to give them better instruction.

Clarke: Job 30:14 - They came upon me as a wide breaking in

They came upon me as a wide breaking in - They storm me on every side

Clarke: Job 30:14 - In the desolation they rolled themselves

In the desolation they rolled themselves - When they had made the breach, they rolled in upon me as an irresistible torrent. There still appears to be an allusion to a besieged city: the sap, the breach, the storm, the flight, the pursuit, and the slaughter. See the following verse, Job 30:15 (note).

Clarke: Job 30:15 - Terrors are turned upon me

Terrors are turned upon me - Defence is no longer useful; they have beat down my walls

Clarke: Job 30:15 - They pursue my soul as the wind

They pursue my soul as the wind - I seek safety in flight, my strong holds being no longer tenable; but they pursue me so swiftly, that it is impossible for me to escape. They follow me like a whirlwind; and as fast as that drives away the clouds before it, so is my prosperity destroyed. The word נדבתי nedibathi , which we translate my soul, signifies properly my nobility, my excellence: they endeavor to destroy both my reputation and my property.

Clarke: Job 30:18 - Is my garment changed

Is my garment changed - There seem to be here plain allusions to the effect of his cruel disease; the whole body being enveloped with a kind of elephantine hide, formed by innumerable incrustations from the ulcerated surface

Clarke: Job 30:18 - It bindeth me about

It bindeth me about - There is now a new kind of covering to my body, formed by the effects of this disease; and it is not a garment which I can cast off; it is as closely attached to me as the collar of my coat. Or, my disease seizes me as a strong armed man; it has throttled me, and cast me in the mud. This is probably an allusion to two persons struggling: the stronger seizes the other by the throat, brings him down, and treads him in the dirt.

Clarke: Job 30:20 - I cry unto thee

I cry unto thee - I am persecuted by man, afflicted with sore disease, and apparently forsaken of God

Clarke: Job 30:20 - I stand up

I stand up - Or, as some translate, "I persevere, and thou lookest upon me."Thou seest my desolate, afflicted state; but thine eye doth not affect thy heart. Thou leavest me unsupported to struggle with my adversities.

Clarke: Job 30:21 - Thou art become cruel to me

Thou art become cruel to me - Thou appearest to treat me with cruelty. I cry for mercy, trust in thy goodness, and am still permitted to remain under my afflictions

Clarke: Job 30:21 - Thou opposest thyself

Thou opposest thyself - Instead of helping, thou opposest me; thou appearest as my enemy.

Clarke: Job 30:22 - Thou liftest me up to the wind

Thou liftest me up to the wind - Thou hast so completely stripped me of all my substance, that I am like chaff lifted up by the wind; or as a straw, the sport of every breeze; and at last carried totally away, being dissipated into particles by the continued agitation.

Clarke: Job 30:23 - Thou wilt bring me to death

Thou wilt bring me to death - This must be the issue of my present affliction: to God alone it is possible that I should survive it

Clarke: Job 30:23 - To the house appointed for all living

To the house appointed for all living - Or to the house, מועד moed , the rendezvous, the place of general assembly of human beings: the great devourer in whose jaws all that have lived, now live, and shall live, must necessarily meet

"- O great man-eater

Whose every day is carnival; not sated yet

Unheard of epicure! without a fellow

The veriest gluttons do not always cram

Some intervals of abstinence are sough

To edge the appetite: thou seekest none

Methinks the countless swarms thou hast devour’ d

And thousands that each hour thou gobblest up

This, less than this, might gorge thee to the full

But O! rapacious still, thou gap’ st for more

Like one, whole days defrauded of his meals

On whom lank hunger lays her skinny hand

And whets to keenest eagerness his cravings

As if diseases, massacres, and poisons

Famine, and war, were not thy caterers.

The Grave.

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Clarke: Job 30:24 - He will not stretch out his hand to the grave

He will not stretch out his hand to the grave - After all that has been said relative to the just translation and true meaning of this verse, is it not evident that it is in the mouth of Job a consolatory reflection? As if he said, Though I suffer here, I shall not suffer hereafter. Though he add stroke to stroke, so as to destroy my life, yet his displeasure shall not proceed beyond the grave

Clarke: Job 30:24 - Though they cry in his destruction

Though they cry in his destruction - Mr. Good translates: Surely there, in its ruin, is freedom. In the sepulcher there is freedom from calamity, and rest for the weary.

Clarke: Job 30:25 - Did not I weep for him that was in trouble?

Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? - Mr. Good translates much nearer the sense of the original, לקשה יום liksheh yom . "Should I not then weep for the ruthless day?"May I not lament that my sufferings are only to terminate with my life? Or, Did I not mourn for those who suffered by times of calamity? Was not my soul grieved for the poor? Did I not relieve the distressed according to my power; and did I not sympathize with the sufferer?

Clarke: Job 30:27 - My bowels boiled

My bowels boiled - This alludes to the strong commotion in the bowels which every humane person feels at the sight of one in misery.

Clarke: Job 30:28 - I went mourning without the sun

I went mourning without the sun - חמה chammah , which we here translate the sun, comes from a root of the same letters, which signifies to hide, protect, etc., and may be translated, I went mourning without a protector or guardian; or, the word may be derived from חם cham , to be hot, and here it may signify fury, rage, anger; and thus it was understood by the Vulgate: Maerens incedebam, sine furore , I went mourning without anger; or, as Calmet translates, Je marchois tout triste, mais sans me laisser aller a l’ emportement ; "I walked in deep sadness, but did not give way to an angry spirit."The Syriac and Arabic understood it in the same way.

Clarke: Job 30:29 - I am a brother to dragons

I am a brother to dragons - By my mournful and continual cry I resemble תנים tannim , the jackals or hyenas

Clarke: Job 30:29 - And a companion to owls

And a companion to owls - בנות יענה benoth yaanah , to the daughters of howling: generally understood to be the ostrich; for both the jackal and the female ostrich are remarkable for their mournful cry, and for their attachment to desolate places - Dodd.

Clarke: Job 30:30 - My skin is black

My skin is black - By continual exposure to the open air, and parching influence of the sun

Clarke: Job 30:30 - My bones are burned with heat

My bones are burned with heat - A strong expression, to point out the raging fever that was continually preying upon his vitals.

Clarke: Job 30:31 - My harp also is turned to mourning

My harp also is turned to mourning - Instead of the harp, my only music is my own plaintive cries

Clarke: Job 30:31 - And my organ

And my organ - What the עגב uggab was, we know not; it was most probably some sort of pipe or wind instrument. His harp, כנור kinnor , and his pipe, עגב uggab , were equally mute, or only used for mournful ditties

This chapter is full of the most painful and pathetic sorrow; but nevertheless tempered with a calmness and humiliation of spirit, which did not appear in Job’ s lamentations previously to the time in which he had that remarkable revelation mentioned in the nineteenth chapter. Job 19:25 After he was assured that his Redeemer was the living God, he submitted to his dispensations, kissed the rod, and mourned not without hope, though in deep distress, occasioned by his unremitting sufferings. If the groaning of Job was great, his stroke was certainly heavy.

TSK: Job 30:12 - rise // they raise up

rise : Job 19:18; Isa 3:5

they raise up : Job 19:12

TSK: Job 30:13 - they set forward

they set forward : Psa 69:26; Zec 1:15

TSK: Job 30:14 - as a wide

as a wide : Job 22:16; Psa 18:4, Psa 69:14, Psa 69:15; Isa 8:7, Isa 8:8

TSK: Job 30:15 - Terrors // soul // as a cloud

Terrors : Job 6:4, Job 7:14, Job 9:27, Job 9:28, Job 10:16; Psa 88:15

soul : Heb. principal one

as a cloud : Isa 44:22; Hos 6:4, Hos 13:3

TSK: Job 30:16 - my soul // have taken hold

my soul : Psa 22:14, Psa 42:4; Isa 53:12

have taken hold : Psa 40:12

TSK: Job 30:17 - My bones // in the night season

My bones : Job 33:19-21; Psa 6:2-6, Psa 38:2-8

in the night season : Job 7:4; Psa 22:2; Isa 38:13

TSK: Job 30:18 - By the great

By the great : Job 2:7, Job 7:5, Job 19:20; Psa 38:5; Isa 1:5, Isa 1:6

TSK: Job 30:19 - cast me // dust

cast me : Job 9:31; Psa 69:1, Psa 69:2; Jer 38:6

dust : Job 2:8, Job 42:6; Gen 18:27

TSK: Job 30:20 - I cry

I cry : Job 19:7, Job 27:9; Psa 22:2, Psa 80:4, Psa 80:5; Lam 3:8, Lam 3:44; Mat 15:23

TSK: Job 30:21 - become cruel // thy strong hand

become cruel : Heb. turned to be cruel, Job 7:20, Job 7:21, Job 10:14-17, Job 13:25-28, Job 16:9-14, Job 19:6-9; Psa 77:7-9; Jer 30:14

thy strong hand : Heb. the strength of thy hand, Job 6:9, Job 23:6; Psa 89:13; 1Pe 5:6

TSK: Job 30:22 - liftest me // to ride // substance

liftest me : Job 21:18; Psa 1:4; Isa 17:13; Jer 4:11, Jer 4:12; Eze 5:2; Hos 4:19, Hos 13:3

to ride : Psa 18:10, Psa 104:3

substance : or, wisdom

TSK: Job 30:23 - the house

the house : Job 14:5, Job 21:33; Gen 3:19; 2Sa 14:14; Ecc 8:8, Ecc 9:5, Ecc 12:5-7; Heb 9:27

TSK: Job 30:24 - grave // they cry

grave : Heb. heap

they cry : Jdg 5:31; Psa 35:25; Mat 27:39-44

TSK: Job 30:25 - Did not I // in trouble // was

Did not I : Psa 35:13, Psa 35:14; Jer 13:17, Jer 18:20; Luk 19:41; Joh 11:35; Rom 12:15

in trouble : Heb. hard of day

was : Job 31:16-21; Psa 12:1; Pro 14:21, Pro 14:31, Pro 17:5, Pro 19:17, Pro 28:8; Isa 58:7, Isa 58:8; Dan 4:27; 2Co 9:9

TSK: Job 30:26 - When I looked // light

When I looked : Job 3:25, Job 3:26, Job 29:18; Jer 8:15, Jer 14:19, Jer 15:18; Mic 1:12

light : Job 18:6, Job 18:18, Job 23:17; Psa 97:11; Isa 50:10

TSK: Job 30:27

Psa 22:4; Jer 4:19, Jer 31:20; Lam 1:20, Lam 2:11

TSK: Job 30:28

Psa 38:6, Psa 42:9, Psa 43:2; Isa 53:3, Isa 53:4; Lam 3:1-3

TSK: Job 30:29 - a brother // owls

a brother : Job 17:14; Psa 102:6; Isa 13:21, Isa 13:22, Isa 38:14; Mic 1:8; Mal 1:3

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.""

TSK: Job 30:30 - my skin // my bones

my skin : Psa 119:83; Lam 3:4, Lam 4:8, Lam 5:10

my bones : Psa 102:3

TSK: Job 30:31

Psa 137:1-4; Ecc 3:4; Isa 21:4, Isa 22:12, Isa 24:7-9; Lam 5:15; Dan 6:18

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Job 30:12 - Upon my right hand // Rise // The youth // They push away my feet // The ways // Of their destruction

Upon my right hand This circumstance is noted, either because this was the place of adversaries or accusers in courts of justice, Psa 109:6 Zec 3:1 ; or to show their boldness and contempt of him, that they durst oppose him even on that side where his chief strength lay.

Rise to wit, in way of contempt and opposition, or to accuse and reproach me, as my friends now do; as one who by my great, but secret, wickedness have brought these miseries upon myself.

The youth Heb. young striplings , who formerly hid themselves from my presence, Job 29:8 .

They push away my feet either,

1. Properly, they trip up my heels Or rather,

2. Metaphorically, they endeavour utterly to overwhelm my goings, and to cast me down to the ground.

The ways i.e. causeways, or banks; so it is a metaphor from soldiers, who raise or cast up banks against the city which they besiege. Or, they raise up a level, or smooth the path by continual treading it; they prepare, and contrive, and use several methods to destroy me.

Of their destruction either,

1. Passively; so the sense is, they raise or heap upon me , i.e. impute to me, the ways , i.e. the causes, of their ruin ; they charge me to be the author of their ruin. Or rather,

2. Actively, of that destruction which they design and carry on against me; which best suits with the whole context, wherein Job is constantly represented as the patient, and wicked men as the agents.

Poole: Job 30:13 - They set forward my calamity // They have no helper

As I am in great misery, so they endeavour to stop all my ways out of it, and to frustrate all my counsels and courses of obtaining relief or comfort. And although Job had no hopes of a temporal deliverance or restitution, yet he could not but observe and resent the malice of those who did their utmost to hinder it. Or the sense is, They pervert all my ways, putting perverse and false constructions upon them, censuring all my conscientious discharges of my duty to God and men, as nothing but craft and hypocrisy.

They set forward my calamity increasing it by their bitter taunts, and invectives, and censures. Or, they profit by , or are pleased and satisfied with, my calamity . It doth them good at the heart to see me in misery.

They have no helper: this is added as an aggravation of their malice; they impudently persisted in their malicious designs against me, though none encouraged or assisted them therein. Or, even they who had no helper , who were themselves in a forlorn and miserable condition; and yet they could so far forget or overlook their own calamities as to take pleasure in mine.

Poole: Job 30:14 - As a wide breaking in of waters // They rolled themselves upon me

As a wide breaking in of waters as fiercely and violently as a river doth when a great breach is made in the bank which kept it in. Heb. as at a wide breach ; as a besieging army, having made a breach in the walls of the city, do suddenly and forcibly rush into it. In the desolation ; or, for or instead of a desolation , i.e. that they might utterly destroy me, and make me desolate. Or, in the waste place , i. e. in that part of the bank or wall which was wasted or broken down.

They rolled themselves upon me as the waters or soldiers come rolling or tumbling in at the breach.

Poole: Job 30:15 - Terrors // Are turned upon me // My soul // As the wind // My welfare // As a cloud

Terrors to wit, from God, who sets himself against me, and in some sort joins his forces with these miscreants.

Are turned upon me are directed against me, to whom they seem not to belong, as being the portion of wicked men.

My soul Heb. my principal or excellent one , i.e. my soul, which is fitly so called, as being the chief part of man; as it is called a man’ s glory, Gen 49:6 , and his only one , Psa 22:20 , and which is the proper seat and object of Divine terrors, as his body was of his outward pains and ulcers.

As the wind i.e. speedily, vehemently, and irresistibly.

My welfare all the happiness and comfort of any life.

As a cloud which is quickly dissolved into rain, or dissipated by the sun, or driven away with the wind.

Poole: Job 30:16 - My soul is poured out // Upon me

My soul is poured out all the strength and powers of my soul are melted, and fainting, and dying away, through my continued and insupportable sorrows and calamities.

Upon me or, within me , as this Hebrew particle is elsewhere used, as Psa 42:5,6 Isa 26:9 Hos 11:8 .

Poole: Job 30:17 - My bones are pierced // In me // In the night season // My sinews

My bones are pierced: Heb. It , to wit, the terror or affliction last mentioned; or, He , i.e. God, hath pierced my bones . This is no slight and superficial, but a most deep wound, that reacheth to my very heart, and bones, and marrow. Nothing in me is so secret but it reacheth it, nothing so hard and solid but it feels the weight and burden of it.

In me Heb. from above me , by an arrow shot from Heaven, whence my calamities come, and that in a singular and eminent manner. Or, by that which is upon me: the sores which are upon my skin, or outward flesh, do pierce and pain me even to the bones. For now he is come from describing the terrors of his mind, to express the torments of his body.

In the night season when others do, and I should, receive some rest and refreshment.

My sinews and the flesh of my body which covereth the sinews, and is mixed with them, and may seem to be synecdochically expressed by the sinews, which are the strength and support of the flesh. So he signifies that neither his bones nor his flesh resteth. Or, and my veins or arteries , which rest or move slowly when the mind and body are well composed; but in Job did move vehemently and restlessly, by reason of his great heat, and pain, and passion.

Poole: Job 30:18 - my garment is changed // It bindeth me about // As the collar of my coat

My disease is so strong and prevalent, that it breaks forth every where in my body, in such plenty of purulent and filthy matter, that it infects and discolours my very garments. Others, By the great power of God

my garment is changed In both these translations the words, of disease , and of God , are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied by the translators. But the words are by some not untruly nor unfitly rendered thus, without any supplement, With great force my garment is changed ; for so this verb is used, 1Ki 22:30 . So the sense is, I cannot shift or put off my garment without great strength and difficulty; the reason whereof is rendered in the following words.

It bindeth me about it cleaveth fast to me, being glued by that filthy matter issuing from my sores.

As the collar of my coat as my collar girdeth in and cleaveth to my neck. He alludes to the fashion of the Eastern outward garments, which were seamless, and all of a piece, and had a straight mouth at the top, which was brought over the head, and contracted and fastened close about the neck.

Poole: Job 30:19 - and I am become like dust and ashes

He hath made me contemptible and filthy, and loathsome for my sores, my whole body being a kind of quagmire, in regard of the filth breaking forth in all its parts;

and I am become like dust and ashes like one dead and turned to dust; more like a rotten carcass than a living man.

Poole: Job 30:20 - Thou dost not hear me // I stand up // Thou regardest me not

Thou dost not hear me to wit, so as to answer or help me.

I stand up or, I stand , to wit, before thee, i.e. I pray, as this phrase signifies, Jer 15:1 18:20 , this being a gesture of prayer, Mat 6:5 . And so the same thing is here repeated in other words, after the manner. Or, I persist or persevere in praying; I pray importunately and continually, as thou requirest.

Thou regardest me not so the particle not is supplied out of the former clause. Or without the negation, thou knowest or observest me , and all my griefs and cries, and yet dost not pity nor help me, but rather takest pleasure in the contemplation of my calamities, as the following words imply. Or it may be taken interrogatively, Dost thou regard me ? i.e. thou dost not.

Poole: Job 30:21 - Become cruel // Thou opposest thyself against me

Become cruel Heb. turned to be cruel ; as if thou hadst changed thy very nature, which is kind, and merciful, and gracious; and such thou hast been formerly in thy carriage to me; but now thou art grown severe, and rigorous, and inexorable.

Thou opposest thyself against me thy power wherewith I hoped and expected that thou wouldst have supported me under my troubles thou usest against me.

Poole: Job 30:22 - Thou liftest me up to the wind // To ride upon it

Thou liftest me up to the wind thou dost not suffer me to rest or lie still for a moment, but disquietest me, and exposest me to all sorts of storms and calamities; so that I am like chaff or stubble lifted up to the wind, and violently tossed hither and thither in the air, without the least stop or hinderance.

To ride upon it i.e. to be carried and hurried about by it. By this restlessness, and the vehemency of these winds, my body is almost consumed and wasted, and my heart is melted within me.

Poole: Job 30:23 - To the house appointed for all living

I see nothing will satisfy thee but my death, which thou art bringing upon me in a lingering and dismal manner.

To the house appointed for all living to the grave, to which all living men are coming and hastening.

Poole: Job 30:24 - in his destruction

There is great variety and difficulty in the sense and connexion of these words. They may be joined either,

1. With the following verse, as describing Job’ s compassion to others in affliction, which by the principles of reason and religion should have procured him some pity from God and men in his affliction. And to that purpose the words are or may be translated thus: But was not my prayers for them (which words may be understood out of the following clause) when he stretched out his hand ? (to wit, against them to destroy them;) in his destruction or oppression (understand it actively, i.e. when God was about to destroy any other man or men) was not (the negation being understood out of the former branch of the verse, as is usual) my cry for them ? the feminine-gender being put for the masculine, as it is elsewhere; or for these things , the feminine being put for the neuter; that is, for those destructive calamities which were upon them. Or,

2. With the foregoing verse. And so these words contain either,

1. A consolation against the evil last mentioned: so the sense is, Though God will undoubtedly bring me to the grave by these torments, yet this comforts me, that surely he will not stretch out his hand (to wit, to afflict or punish me further, as this phrase is used, Exo 3:20 Isa 9:12,13 ) in the grave , though they , i.e. the perishing persons, cry or roar (i.e. be sorely pained and tormented)

in his destruction i.e. whilst God is destroying them. Or this last clause may be read interrogatively, Is there any cry in his destruction ? When a man is cut off or destroyed by death, doth he then cry and complain? No, there is an end of all these miseries. Or rather,

2. A confirmation of what he last said. For the whole context shows that Job is not taking any comfort to himself, but rather aggravating his sufferings. I know, saith he, that I am a dead man, and my condition is desperate, for surely he , i.e. God, will not stretch out his hand (to wit, to save or rescue me, as this phrase is used, Psa 18:17 144:7 , compared with Act 4:30 ) to or in the grave , (i.e. to a dead man, such as I am in effect, having not only one foot, but in a manner both feet, in the grave, as being upon the very brink of the pit,) though they cry (to wit, unto God, i.e. though there be a great and a general cry and lamentation for him among his friends, or others, and an earnest desire of him, if possibly he might be restored to life again) in his destruction, i.e. when he is destroyed or dead; yet all these cries would be in vain.

Poole: Job 30:25 - Was not my soul grieved for the poor

Whence is it that neither God nor man show any compassion to me, but both conspire to afflict me, and increase my torments? Doth God now mete out to me the same measure which I meted out to others? Have I now judgment without mercy, because I afforded no mercy nor pity to others in misery? No, my conscience acquits me from this inhumanity. I did not slightly resent, but bitterly mourn and weep over others in their miseries; and therefore I had reason to expect more compassion than I find.

Was not my soul grieved for the poor even for him who was not capable of requiting my kindness in case of his recovery? which shows that my sympathy was real, and not reigned, as it is in some who pretend great sorrow for the rich in their troubles, hoping thereby to insinuate themselves into their favour and friendship, and thereby to procure some advantage to themselves.

Poole: Job 30:26

Instead of the return of the like pity to me, which I might justly challenge and expect whensoever I should stand in need of it, I meet with a sad disappointment, and my pity is recompensed with others’ cruelty to me.

Poole: Job 30:27 - Prevented me

My inward parts boiled without ceasing. The bowels are the seat of passion and of compassion; and therefore this may be understood, either,

1. Of his compassionate and deep sense of others’ miseries; which is oft expressed by bowels, as Isa 16:11 Col 3:12 , and elsewhere, of which he spoke Job 30:25 , to which he subjoins the contrary usage which he met with, Job 30:26 . And then, in this first part of Job 30:27 , he renews the mention of his compassion to others, and in the latter part he adds, by way of antithesis or opposition, that his mercy was requited with cruel afflictions. Or,

2. Of the grievousness of his troubles, which is sometimes expressed by the troubling or boiling of the bowels, or inward parts; as Lam 1:20 .

Prevented me i.e. came upon me suddenly and unexpectedly, when I promised to myself peace and prosperity, as the usual recompence which God promiseth and giveth to such as fear and please him, as I have done.

Poole: Job 30:28 - I went // Mourning without the sun // I stood up // I cried // In the congregation

I went or, I walked hither and thither as I could. Or, I converse or appear among others.

Mourning without the sun spending my days in mourning, without any sun-light or comfort; or so oppressed with sadness, that I did not care nor desire to see the light of the sun. Heb. black not by the sun . My very countenance is changed and become black, but not by the sun, which makes many other persons black, Son 1:5,6 ; but by the force of my disease and deep melancholy, which ofttimes makes a man’ s visage black and dismal. See Psa 119:83 Lam 5:10 . And this he repeats in plainer terms, Job 30:30 , as an eminent token of his excessive grief and misery.

I stood up either because my disease and pain made me weary of other postures; or that others might take notice of me, and be moved with pity towards me.

I cried with a loud and direful clamour, through great and sudden anguish.

In the congregation where prudence and modesty taught me to forbear it, if extreme necessity and misery had not forced me to it.

Poole: Job 30:29 - A brother // To dragons

A brother to wit, by imitation of their cries: persons of like qualities are oft called brethren, as Gen 49:5 Pro 18:9 .

To dragons which howl and wail mournfully in the deserts, Mic 1:8 , either through hunger or thirst, or when he fights with and is beaten by the elephant. To owls ; whose sad and mournful noises are known. Or, ostriches ; which also is noted to make lamentable outcries.

Poole: Job 30:30 - My skin is black upon me // My bones are burned with heat

My skin is black upon me either by his dark-coloured scabs, wherewith his body was in a manner wholly overspread; or by grief, as before.

My bones are burned with heat the effect of his fever and sorrow, which dried up all his moisture, and caused great inflammations and burning heats within him.

Poole: Job 30:31

Either,

1. I have now nothing but bitter lamentations instead of my former expressions of joy. Or,

2. Those very things which formerly were occasions and instruments of my delight, do now renew and aggravate my sorrows.

Haydock: Job 30:12 - Forthwith

Forthwith. Hebrew pirchach seems to be translated (Haydock) by three terms, rising, calamities, and forthwith, as it denotes "a bud" which suddenly appears. (Calmet) ---

Septuagint Greek: Blaston, "On the right hand of the bud they rose up." (Haydock) ---

Hebrew, "Youth stood up on the right," to accuse me; (Psalm cviii. 6.) or, "Scarcely had I begun to flourish, when they rose up," &c. The days of prosperity soon vanished, (Calmet) and young men were ready to insult the distressed, and, as it were, to trip them up. (Menochius) ---

Septuagint, "they stretched out their feet and trampled upon me, that they might destroy me. " (Haydock) ---

They seem to have read (Calmet) regliem, "their feet," though the two last letters are now omitted in Hebrew. (Haydock)

Haydock: Job 30:13 - Help

Help them, or me. (Calmet) Septuagint, "they took off my garment." (Haydock) ---

Job seemed to be besieged, and could not escape. (Calmet)

Haydock: Job 30:14 - Down

Down, ( devoluti sunt. ) They have proceeded to aggravate my misfortunes. (Haydock) ---

"They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me. ["] (Protestants)

Haydock: Job 30:15 - Nothing // Desire

Nothing. Hebrew, "terror." (Haydock) ---

Desire. Hebrew, "princess," reason. (Calmet) ---

Protestants, "soul." Septuagint, "my hope has flown away like wind." (Haydock)

Haydock: Job 30:16 - Fadeth

Fadeth. Hebrew, "is poured out," (Haydock) ready to take its flight, Psalm xli. 5.

Haydock: Job 30:17 - They that

They that. Heberw, "my sinews take no rest." Septuagint, "are dissolved." (Haydock) ---

The worms prey upon me, and I am like one in a raging fever. (Calmet)

Haydock: Job 30:18 - Coat

Coat. The worms are so numerous, (Menochius) or my enemies pour upon me. (Calmet) ---

Septuagint, "with great power He (God; Protestants, my disease ) has seized me by the garment." Theodotion adds, "He has taken hold of me like the collar of my tunic:" (Haydock) which corresponds with our shirt, and had an opening at the top. (Calmet)

Haydock: Job 30:19 - I am

I am. Hebrew, "He hat cast me into the mire;" (Protestants) or, "He regards me as dirt; my portion is on the earth and dust." (Haydock) ---

All look upon me with horror and contempt. (Calmet)

Haydock: Job 30:20 - Not

Not is supplied by Protestants in the second part of the verse from the first; (Haydock) as this construction is not unusual in the Hebrew. Septuagint, "they have stood up, and have considered me," (Calmet) to procure my entire ruin. (Haydock)

Haydock: Job 30:22 - Dashed me

Dashed me in pieces, as if I had been raised so high for that purpose. Hebrew, "thou hast dissolved my substance," wisdom, &c. The signification of tushiova (Haydock) is very indeterminate, chap. v. 12. (Calmet) ---

"Thou hast cast me far away from salvation." (Septuagint and Theodotion) (Haydock)

Haydock: Job 30:23 - Liveth

Liveth. Death is a relief to a just man in tribulation. (Worthington)

Haydock: Job 30:24 - Consumption

Consumption. Thou dealest mercifully with other people: but all the effects of thy anger fall upon me, even here. Septuagint, "O that I might lay hands on myself, or desire another to do this for me!" Hebrew has nothing similar; but is very obscure: "He will not, however, stretch forth his had to the grave; and when they are wounded, they are healed." (Calmet) ---

Protestants, "grave, though they cry in his destruction." (Haydock) ---

The grave is more desirable than such a life. There the dead are freed from the miseries of this world. (Calmet)

Haydock: Job 30:28 - Mourning // Indignation

Mourning. Hebrew, "blackened without the sun." (Haydock) ---

Bile has disfigured my countenance, through excessive sorrow, ver. 30. The dark olive complexions of the Jews and Arabs would be more susceptible of these effects. (Calmet) ---

Indignation. I have not given way to passion, though I allowed full scope to my groans. (Septuagint) (Haydock)

Haydock: Job 30:29 - Brother of dragons

Brother of dragons, &c. Imitating these creatures in their lamentable noise. (Challoner) -- I was like those beasts which retire in order to lament. (Worthington) ---

The dragons his dreadfully, when crushed by the elephant; (St. Jerome) and the young ostriches, being abandoned, make great lamentations. (Menochius) (Delrio, t. ii. adag. 18.) ---

This comparison occurs, Micheas i. 8. Natural history does not, however, represent these animals as very plaintive. The former term may denote sea monsters, or crocodiles; thannim: (Septuagint, syrens) and "the daughters of the yahana, " signify "swans," (Isaias xiii. 21.) though commonly rendered ostriches, as they are by the Septuagint, &c. (Calmet) ---

Protestants have, "owls." But we may adhere to the Vulgate. (Haydock)

Haydock: Job 30:31 - Weep

Weep. I have exchanged my sons of joy for mourning. (Menochius)

Gill: Job 30:12 - Upon my right hand rise the youth // they push away my feet // and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction

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 word ⁿ 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" ^o; 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 Misnah ^p 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 Psa 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.

Gill: Job 30:13 - They mar my path // they set forward my calamity // they have 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 Zec 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" ^q; none to take Job's part against them, and deliver him out of their hands, see Ecc 4:1.

Gill: Job 30:14 - They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters // in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me

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" ^r, 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.

Gill: Job 30:15 - Terrors are turned upon me // they pursue my soul as the wind // and my welfare passeth away as a cloud

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. Some ^s 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" ^t; 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, Jon 3:9; so from doing good to evil, Isa 63:10; this is complained of by the church, Lam 3:3; and deprecated by Jeremiah, Jer 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" ^u, 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" ^w, 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, Psa 51:12, where this word is used; but now terrors pursuing him, a spirit of bondage unto fear was brought upon him: some ^x 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" ^y; 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 Hos 6:4.

Gill: Job 30:16 - And now my soul is poured out upon me // the days of affliction have taken hold upon me

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.

Gill: Job 30:17 - My bones are pierced in me in the night season // and my sinews take no rest

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, Psa 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 Levita ^a, 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 say ^b, 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 gnawing ^c, 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 greater ^d; or who devoured him by their calumnies and detractions, and could not sleep unless they did mischief to him; see Pro 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.

Gill: Job 30:18 - By the great force of my disease is my garment changed // it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat

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 Exo 28:32.

Gill: Job 30:19 - He hath cast me into the 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 Psa 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 writers ^e 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, Gen 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.

Gill: Job 30:20 - I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me // I stand up // and thou regardest me not

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 Jer 15:1; See Gill on Mat 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 some ^f 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.

Gill: Job 30:21 - Thou art become cruel to me // with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me

Thou art become cruel to me,.... Or "turned", or "changed" ^g, 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, Jer 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.

Gill: Job 30:22 - Thou liftest me up to the wind // thou causest me to ride upon it // and dissolvest my substance

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, Pro 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.

Gill: Job 30:23 - For I know that thou wilt bring me to death // 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, Gen 5:24, sometimes the death of persons is made known to them by divine revelation, as to Aaron and Moses, Num 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", 2Co 5:1, is for the soul in its separate state, until the resurrection morn; which house or grave is man's "long home", Ecc 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, Rev 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.

Gill: Job 30:24 - Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave // though they cry in his destruction

Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave,.... Or, "verily" ^h, 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, 2Ki 4:32; Jairus's daughter, Mar 5:41; and the widow's son of Nain, even when he was carrying to his grave, Luk 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, 2Ki 13:21, and Lazarus after he had lain in the grave some days, Joh 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", Psa 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?" ⁱ; 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 others ^k.

Gill: Job 30:25 - Did not I weep for him that was in trouble // was not my soul grieved for the poor

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" ^l; 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?" ^m 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 2Co 9:12; now this was the frame of Job's mind in the time of his prosperity, very different from that in Amo 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. ⁿ, as in Job 31:16.

Gill: Job 30:26 - When I looked for good // then evil came unto me // and when I waited for light // there came darkness

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 Jer 8:15.

Gill: Job 30:27 - My bowels boiled, and rested not // the days of affliction prevented me

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 Jer 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" ^o, unexpectedly; or rather, they "rushed upon me" ^p, in an hostile way; came in troops, and invaded and surrounded him, see Job 19:12.

Gill: Job 30:28 - I went mourning without the sun // I stood up, and I cried in the congregation

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" ^q; his face and his skin were black, but not through the sun looking upon him and discolouring him, as in Son 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, Son 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.

Gill: Job 30:29 - I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.

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, Psa 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 Mic 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.

Gill: Job 30:30 - My skin is black upon me // and my bones are burnt with 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, Lam 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 says ^r 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 coal ^s.

Gill: Job 30:31 - My harp also is turned to mourning // and my organ into the voice of them that weep

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, Gen 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 Lam 5:15.