Job 30

General context

Job's speech continues from the previous chapter. But now, he says, those younger than he hold him in derision, men whose fathers he would not have set with the dogs of his flock. He describes them: driven by want into the wilderness, cutting mallows and juniper roots for food, driven from among men, living in cliffs and caves, braying among the bushes, children of fools and base men. Now he is their song and byword; they abhor him, flee from him and spit in his face. Because God has loosed his cord and afflicted him, they let loose the bridle; the youth rise at his right hand, push away his feet, mar his path and set forward his calamity; they come on him like a wide breaking in of waters. Terrors pursue his soul; his welfare passes like a cloud. His soul is poured out, his bones are pierced in the night, his sinews take no rest, his garment is changed by the force of his disease. God has cast him into the mire and he has become like dust and ashes. He cries to God and is not heard; he stands up and is not regarded. God, he says, has become cruel to him, opposes him with a strong hand, lifts him to the wind and dissolves his substance; Job knows God will bring him to death, the house appointed for all living. Did he not weep for the troubled and grieve for the poor? He looked for good and evil came, waited for light and darkness came. His bowels boil, he goes mourning without the sun, cries in the congregation, is a brother to dragons and a companion to owls. His skin is black, his bones burned with heat, and his harp and organ are turned to mourning and weeping.

Cited passages: Job 30:1, Job 30:3, Job 30:4, Job 30:6, Job 30:8, Job 30:9, Job 30:10, Job 30:11, Job 30:12, Job 30:14, Job 30:15, Job 30:16, Job 30:17, Job 30:18, Job 30:19, Job 30:20, Job 30:21, Job 30:22, Job 30:23, Job 30:25, Job 30:26, Job 30:28, Job 30:29, Job 30:30, Job 30:31

Job 30 (KJV)

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Historical context

There is no new heading; the chapter continues the speech marked at the start of chapter 29 as Job's, and the narrator adds nothing here. The people who deride Job are not named; Job describes them by their fathers, their poverty and their dwellings, and the account of them is his. The statements that God has "loosed my cord," cast him into the mire, become cruel and will bring him to death are Job's claims addressed to God, not narration. The chapter mentions his disease and its effect on his garment, skin and bones without naming the disease. "Dragons" and "owls" are the KJV words for the creatures Job compares himself to. "The house appointed for all living" is Job's phrase for death. No place or time is given, and the "congregation" in which he cries is not identified.

Cited passages: Job 29:1, Job 30:1, Job 30:11, Job 30:19, Job 30:21, Job 30:18, Job 30:29, Job 30:23, Job 30:28

Literary context

"But now" opens the chapter and sets it against the remembered past of chapter 29 item by item. There the young men hid themselves and the aged stood; here the young rise at his right hand and spit in his face. There he was honoured when the ear heard him; here he is their song and byword. There God's candle shone on his head; here he cries and is not heard. There he expected to die in his nest; here he knows God will bring him to death. The chapter repeats "And now" at verses 9 and 16 to mark its stages: first the mockers, then the body, then the address to God in the second person, "Thou art become cruel to me." Job's question, "Did not I weep for him that was in trouble?" recalls his earlier claim to have delivered the poor, and the reversal is spelled out: looked for good, evil came; waited for light, darkness came. The last verse turns music into mourning, and the animal companions, dragons and owls, answer the dogs of the flock with which the chapter began.

Cited passages: Job 30:1, Job 29:8, Job 30:12, Job 29:11, Job 30:9, Job 29:3, Job 30:20, Job 29:18, Job 30:23, Job 30:16, Job 30:21, Job 30:25, Job 30:26, Job 30:31

Key moments

1. Derided by the young (Job 30:1). Job says men younger than he, whose fathers he would not have ranked with his dogs, mock him.
2. Their song and byword (Job 30:9). Job has become the subject of the outcasts' songs and they spit in his face.
3. God loosed the cord (Job 30:11). Job says his tormentors act freely because God has afflicted him.
4. Bones pierced by night (Job 30:17). Job describes pain that gives his sinews no rest and changes his garment.
5. Crying and unheard (Job 30:20). Job tells God that he cries and is not heard, stands and is not regarded.
6. Good sought, evil came (Job 30:26). Job says he looked for good and light and received evil and darkness.
7. Harp turned to mourning (Job 30:31). Job ends with his music turned into the voice of weeping.

For reflection

Job says he wept for the troubled and grieved for the poor, and now the poorest and most despised men spit in his face. What does the chapter let a reader see about how Job regarded those men before his fall?