# Job 30 đź“–: Job Laments His Present Suffering
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[[-Job Overview]] | [[Job 29]] | [[Job 31]]
> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#đź“ś Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#🧠Chapter Summary]]
> [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]]
> [[#đź’¬ Discussion Questions]]
> [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#đź”— Related Passages/Cross Reference]]
> [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#đź“‚ Internal Notes]]
## đź“ś Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
## Job’s Present Misery
[[#Verse 01.]] “But now they mock me, those who are younger than I,
whose fathers I disdained too much
to put with my sheep dogs.
[[#Verse 02.]] Moreover, the strength of their hands—
what use was it to me?
Those whose strength had perished,
[[#Verse 03.]] gaunt with want and hunger,
they would roam the parched land,
by night a desolate waste.
[[#Verse 04.]] By the brush they would gather herbs from the salt marshes,
and the root of the broom tree was their food.
[[#Verse 05.]] They were banished from the community—
people shouted at them
as they would shout at thieves—
[[#Verse 06.]]Â so that they had to live
in the dry stream beds,
in the holes of the ground, and among the rocks.
[[#Verse 07.]] They brayed like animals among the bushes
and were huddled together under the nettles.
[[#Verse 08.]]Â Sons of senseless and nameless people,
they were driven out of the land with whips.
## Job’s Indignities
[[#Verse 09.]] “And now I have become their taunt song;
I have become a byword among them.
[[#Verse 10.]]Â They detest me and maintain their distance;
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
[[#Verse 11.]] Because God has untied my tent cord and afflicted me,
people throw off all restraint in my presence.
[[#Verse 12.]] On my right the young rabble rise up;
they drive me from place to place,
and build up siege ramps against me.
[[#Verse 13.]] They destroy my path;
they succeed in destroying me
without anyone assisting them.
[[#Verse 14.]]Â They come in as through a wide breach;
amid the crash they come rolling in.
[[#Verse 15.]] Terrors are turned loose on me;
they drive away my honor like the wind,
and as a cloud my deliverance has passed away.
## Job’s Despondency
[[#Verse 16.]] “And now my soul pours itself out within me;
days of suffering take hold of me.
[[#Verse 17.]] Night pierces my bones;
my gnawing pains never cease.
[[#Verse 18.]] With great power God grasps my clothing;
he binds me like the collar of my tunic.
[[#Verse 19.]]Â He has flung me into the mud,
and I have come to resemble dust and ashes.
[[#Verse 20.]] I cry out to you, but you do not answer me;
I stand up, and you only look at me.
[[#Verse 21.]]Â You have become cruel to me;
with the strength of your hand you attack me.
[[#Verse 22.]]Â You pick me up on the wind and make me ride on it;
you toss me about in the storm.
[[#Verse 23.]] I know that you are bringing me to death,
to the meeting place for all the living.
## The Contrast With the Past
[[#Verse 24.]] “Surely one does not stretch out his hand
against a broken man
when he cries for help in his distress.
[[#Verse 25.]]Â Have I not wept for the unfortunate?
Was not my soul grieved for the poor?
[[#Verse 26.]]Â But when I hoped for good, trouble came;
when I expected light, then darkness came.
[[#Verse 27.]] My heart is in turmoil unceasingly;
the days of my affliction confront me.
[[#Verse 28.]] I go about blackened, but not by the sun;
in the assembly I stand up and cry for help.
[[#Verse 29.]]Â I have become a brother to jackals
and a companion of ostriches.
[[#Verse 30.]]Â My skin has turned dark on me;
my body is hot with fever.
[[#Verse 31.]] My harp is used for mourning
and my flute for the sound of weeping.
## đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary
###### Overall.
###### Verse 01.
###### Verse 02.
###### Verse 03.
###### Verse 04.
###### Verse 05.
###### Verse 06.
###### Verse 07.
###### Verse 08.
###### Verse 09.
###### Verse 10.
###### Verse 11.
###### Verse 12.
###### Verse 13.
###### Verse 14.
###### Verse 15.
###### Verse 16.
###### Verse 17.
###### Verse 18.
###### Verse 19.
###### Verse 20.
###### Verse 21.
###### Verse 22.
###### Verse 23.
###### Verse 24.
###### Verse 25.
###### Verse 26.
###### Verse 27.
###### Verse 28.
###### Verse 29.
###### Verse 30.
###### Verse 31.
## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. The chapter is built on the phrase "but now" (30:1, 9, 16), contrasting Job's present with his past in chapter 29.
2. In chapter 29 young men stepped aside for Job (29:8). Now young men mock him (30:1).
3. Dogs were often seen as despised scavengers in the ancient Near East, even though some were used to guard flocks (30:1).
4. The outcasts eat saltwort and the roots of the broom tree (30:4), plants of the desert eaten only in desperate times.
5. The broom tree is the same desert shrub Elijah sat under when he wanted to die (1 Kings 19:4).
6. Spitting in someone's face (30:10) was one of the worst insults (Numbers 12:14; Deuteronomy 25:9). Jesus was also spit upon (Matthew 26:67).
7. Job says he has become their taunt song (30:9), much like the mocking described in Psalm 69:12 and Lamentations 3:14.
8. Jackals and ostriches (30:29) were known for their mournful cries in desolate places (Micah 1:8).
9. Job's skin turns black and peels (30:30), describing the physical toll of his disease.
10. The lyre and flute (30:31), instruments of celebration, now play only mourning songs.
## 🧠Chapter Summary
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is the Suffering Servant who was mocked and spit upon (30:9-10). Jesus endured the scorn of others (Matthew 26:67; Isaiah 53:3), so He can sympathize with our weakness and pain (Hebrews 4:15).
## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## đź’¬ Discussion Questions
1. Job moves from the honor of chapter 29 to the mocking of chapter 30. How do you respond when people's view of you changes?
2. Job cries out and feels that God does not answer (30:20). What do you do with prayers that seem to go unanswered?
3. Job hoped for good, but evil came instead (30:26). How does Jesus' own suffering help us when life does not go as we hoped?
## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember
- đź“– verse 1: Now Job is mocked by younger men whose fathers he once would not hire.
- đź“– verse 20: Job cries out to God and feels no answer.
- đź“– verse 26: Job hoped for good, but evil came; he waited for light, but darkness came.
## đź”— Related Passages/Cross Reference
- đź”— [[Isaiah 53#Verse 03.|Isaiah 53:3]] - He was despised and rejected by people.
- đź”— [[Matthew 26#Verse 67.|Matthew 26:67-68]] - They spit in Jesus' face and struck Him.
- đź”— [[Hebrews 04#Verse 15.|Hebrews 4:15]] - Jesus sympathizes with our weaknesses.
- đź”— [[Psalm 22#Verse 06.|Psalm 22:6-8]] - Mocked and scorned by all who see Him.
- đź”— [[Psalm 42#Verse 09.|Psalm 42:9]] - Why have You forgotten me?
## 🙏 Devotional Reflection
đź“ť SOAP: [[Job 30 - SOAP|God Protects Even In Pain]]
## đź“‚ Internal Notes