The contrasted picture of Job's present abject condition The chapter forms a contrast to ch. 29; and as in that picture of Job's past felicity the brightest part was the high respect he enjoyed among men, sitting a prince in the midst of them, so in this the darkest part is the contumely and indign... [ Continue Reading ]
_younger than I_ Comp. what was said of the demeanour of the youths in former days, ch. Job 30:8. _would have disdained to have set_ Or, I DISDAINED TO SET.... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse refers to the _fathers_(Job 30:1), and gives the reason why Job did not employ them, or consider them worthy of a treatment equal to that of his dogs they were enfeebled and fallen into premature decay. Yet the children of these miserable people now have him in derision. In the East the "d... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse reads, With want and hunger they are gaunt, They gnaw the desert, in former time desolate and waste. The first clause refers to the "shriveled" appearance of these outcasts from want; the second to their devouring the roots which they can gather in the steppe (Job 30:4), which has for l... [ Continue Reading ]
Description of this wretched class of outcasts. The _tenses_should all be put in the present. The race of people referred to appears to be the same as that in ch. 24.... [ Continue Reading ]
_by the bushes_ i. e. _beside_or among the bushes. The "mallows" or "salt-wort" which they pluck as food is found among the bushes, which cover it from the heat and drought, and under the shadow of which it thrives. _juniper roots_ Or, ROOTS OF THE BROOM.... [ Continue Reading ]
Such creatures when they approach civilized dwellings are driven forth and pursued with cries as men do a thief. They are driven forth from among men, They cry after them as after a thief, And they must dwell in the clefts of the valleys, &c. The word "cliffs" in the ordinary texts here is eithe... [ Continue Reading ]
_they brayed_ Rather, THEY BRAY. _were gathered_ Better, ARE GATHERED, or perhaps rather, _stretch themselves_, i. e. fling themselves down. Their cries are like those of the wild ass seeking for food (ch. Job 6:5), and they throw themselves down like wild beasts under the bushes in the desert.... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse reads in close connexion with Job 30:7, Children of fools, yea children of base men, They are scourged out of the land. Children of "base men," lit. _of no name_, i. e. base born, they are beaten or "crushed" out of the land.... [ Continue Reading ]
Job's treatment now at the hands of these outcasts. With "spit in my face" comp. ch. Job 17:6. In ch. 24. Job referred to this miserable race With compassion; they had often no doubt excited his pity, and he saw in their lot and in the injustice and cruelties which they suffered at the hands of mor... [ Continue Reading ]
Job 30:11 is very variously understood; it may mean, For they have loosed their rein and humbled me, They have cast off the bridle before me. So taken, the two clauses have much the same meaning, each being a figurative manner of saying that the low rabble have cast off all restraint, and subject... [ Continue Reading ]
Further description of the outrageous insults of these base outcasts.... [ Continue Reading ]
This verse reads, Upon the right hand riseth up a (low) brood, They push away my feet, And they cast up against me their ways of destruction. By "pushing away" his feet, appears to be meant thrusting him away from place to place. The last clause refers to the practice of besiegers casting up a ... [ Continue Reading ]
_They mar my path_ Or, THEY BREAK UP my path. The reference can hardly be to the path or way leading to the besieged place (Job 30:12), so that the approach of succour is cut off; if the figure be continued the path must rather be the way of _escape_. Perhaps the figure is departed from in this clau... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse reads, They come in as through a wide breach, Amidst the crash they roll themselves upon me. The figure is that of a stormed fastness. The "crash" is that of the falling walls.... [ Continue Reading ]
Terrors are turned against me, They chase away my honour like the wind; And my welfare is passed away as a cloud. He is assailed by terrors. The words "like the wind" mean, like as the wind chases away (the chaff, &c.). On the figure of the dissolving cloud comp. Job 7:9. The expression "terrors... [ Continue Reading ]
he people volunteered themselves, bless ye the Lord," i.e. give thanks for the zeal with which the people devoted themselves to the sacred war of independence. Cp. Deuteronomy 32:42, where "from the beginning of revenges on the enemy" should be rendered "from the hairy head of the enemy." _of such... [ Continue Reading ]