Job Chapter 30

Job 30:1–8

“But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.
Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?
For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.
Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.
They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief;)
To dwell in the cliffs of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.
Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.
They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth.”

Job now turns from remembered honor to present humiliation. “But now they that are younger than I have me in derision.” In ancient Near Eastern culture, age commanded respect. To be mocked by younger men signified social collapse. Leviticus 19:32 commands, “Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.” What should have been reverence has become ridicule.

“Whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.” Dogs in the ancient world were not household companions but scavengers. Scripture uses the term with contempt. 2 Samuel 16:9 says, “Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king?” Job’s statement expresses extreme social degradation. The fathers of these mockers were unfit even for the lowest tasks among his livestock. Now their sons mock him openly.

“For want and famine they were solitary.” These were men of deprivation and social exclusion. “They were driven forth from among men.” They were treated “as after a thief.” This imagery suggests criminality or deep distrust. They lived “in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.” The description evokes social outcasts.

“Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.” Their diet reflects desperation. These are survival foods of the impoverished. The text emphasizes degradation, not to glorify cruelty, but to heighten the contrast between Job’s former dignity and present dishonor.

“They were children of fools, yea, children of base men.” The term “fool” in Scripture often refers to moral corruption, not merely intellectual deficiency. Psalm 14:1 declares, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works…” Job is describing men of disreputable character. The irony is sharp. Those formerly scorned now scorn him.

The theological tension intensifies. The righteous man who defended the poor is now mocked by the lowest in society. The reversal echoes the instability of worldly honor. Psalm 37:35–36 states, “I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.
Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not…” Human status is fragile.

Job 30:9–15

“And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword.
They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.
Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me.
Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.
They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.
They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.
Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.”

“And now am I their song.” He has become entertainment. A “byword” signifies a proverb of disgrace. This fulfills the kind of humiliation described in Psalm 44:14, “Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people.” Job is not merely ignored. He is publicly ridiculed.

“They abhor me… and spare not to spit in my face.” Spitting is a gesture of utter contempt. Numbers 12:14 references shame associated with being spit upon. Job experiences not quiet disrespect but open degradation.

“Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me.” Job attributes the ultimate cause to God’s providence. The “cord” likely refers to strength or restraint. God has permitted affliction. Seeing divine permission, the rabble “let loose the bridle.” They remove restraint and act without fear. When divine protection seems withdrawn, social cruelty surfaces.

“Upon my right hand rise the youth.” The right hand was a place of support and strength. Now it is occupied by adversaries. “They push away my feet.” They destabilize him. “They mar my path.” They obstruct his way. The imagery suggests coordinated hostility.

“They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters.” The metaphor shifts to siege and flood. Like a breached city wall overwhelmed by attackers, Job feels invaded. The language mirrors his earlier imagery of stability now shattered. His “welfare passeth away as a cloud.” What was once solid now evaporates. James 4:14 later captures this truth, “For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”

“Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind.” The attack is not merely external. It strikes his inner being. The man who once comforted mourners now sits overwhelmed by fear and disgrace.

This section deepens the contrast established in chapter 29. Formerly honored at the gate, he is now mocked by outcasts. Formerly sought for counsel, he is now a proverb of shame. The righteous sufferer experiences both physical affliction and social collapse.

Theologically, this prepares for the final resolution. Job’s humiliation anticipates the broader biblical theme of the righteous servant despised and rejected. Isaiah 53:3 declares, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief…” While Job is not sinless as Christ, the pattern of unjust suffering is evident.

Job 30:1–8

“But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.
Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?
For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.
Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.
They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief;)
To dwell in the cliffs of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.
Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.
They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth.”

Job now turns from remembered honor to present humiliation. “But now they that are younger than I have me in derision.” In ancient Near Eastern culture, age commanded respect. To be mocked by younger men signified social collapse. Leviticus 19:32 commands, “Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.” What should have been reverence has become ridicule.

“Whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.” Dogs in the ancient world were not household companions but scavengers. Scripture uses the term with contempt. 2 Samuel 16:9 says, “Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king?” Job’s statement expresses extreme social degradation. The fathers of these mockers were unfit even for the lowest tasks among his livestock. Now their sons mock him openly.

“For want and famine they were solitary.” These were men of deprivation and social exclusion. “They were driven forth from among men.” They were treated “as after a thief.” This imagery suggests criminality or deep distrust. They lived “in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.” The description evokes social outcasts.

“Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.” Their diet reflects desperation. These are survival foods of the impoverished. The text emphasizes degradation, not to glorify cruelty, but to heighten the contrast between Job’s former dignity and present dishonor.

“They were children of fools, yea, children of base men.” The term “fool” in Scripture often refers to moral corruption, not merely intellectual deficiency. Psalm 14:1 declares, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works…” Job is describing men of disreputable character. The irony is sharp. Those formerly scorned now scorn him.

The theological tension intensifies. The righteous man who defended the poor is now mocked by the lowest in society. The reversal echoes the instability of worldly honor. Psalm 37:35–36 states, “I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.
Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not…” Human status is fragile.

Job 30:9–15

“And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword.
They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.
Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me.
Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.
They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.
They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.
Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.”

“And now am I their song.” He has become entertainment. A “byword” signifies a proverb of disgrace. This fulfills the kind of humiliation described in Psalm 44:14, “Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people.” Job is not merely ignored. He is publicly ridiculed.

“They abhor me… and spare not to spit in my face.” Spitting is a gesture of utter contempt. Numbers 12:14 references shame associated with being spit upon. Job experiences not quiet disrespect but open degradation.

“Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me.” Job attributes the ultimate cause to God’s providence. The “cord” likely refers to strength or restraint. God has permitted affliction. Seeing divine permission, the rabble “let loose the bridle.” They remove restraint and act without fear. When divine protection seems withdrawn, social cruelty surfaces.

“Upon my right hand rise the youth.” The right hand was a place of support and strength. Now it is occupied by adversaries. “They push away my feet.” They destabilize him. “They mar my path.” They obstruct his way. The imagery suggests coordinated hostility.

“They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters.” The metaphor shifts to siege and flood. Like a breached city wall overwhelmed by attackers, Job feels invaded. The language mirrors his earlier imagery of stability now shattered. His “welfare passeth away as a cloud.” What was once solid now evaporates. James 4:14 later captures this truth, “For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”

“Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind.” The attack is not merely external. It strikes his inner being. The man who once comforted mourners now sits overwhelmed by fear and disgrace.

This section deepens the contrast established in chapter 29. Formerly honored at the gate, he is now mocked by outcasts. Formerly sought for counsel, he is now a proverb of shame. The righteous sufferer experiences both physical affliction and social collapse.

Theologically, this prepares for the final resolution. Job’s humiliation anticipates the broader biblical theme of the righteous servant despised and rejected. Isaiah 53:3 declares, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief…” While Job is not sinless as Christ, the pattern of unjust suffering is evident.