Job 30 | TNotes

Summary for Job 30:2-3: 30:2-3 ^a In the past, the most honorable members of society spoke well of Job (29:11 ^b); now, the least honorable mocked him (30:1 ^c) and spit in his face (30:10 ^d). Cp. Pss 35:15 ^e; 69:12 ^f; Mark 14:65 ^g; 15:17-20 ^h.
Summary for Job 30:5-6: 30:5-6 ⁱ live in frightening ravines, in caves and among the rocks: The wretched life of Job’s mockers resembled Israel’s situation under Midianite oppression (Judg 6:2 ^j), David’s life as he fled from Saul (1 Sam 22:1-2 ^k), and Elijah’s life as he awaited the Lord’s instruction (1 Kgs 17:3-8 ^l).
30:9 ^m They taunt me! See also 17:6 ⁿ; cp. Ps 69:12 ^o; Lam 3:14 ^p, 63 ^q.
30:10 ^r won’t come near me: See also 19:13-15 ^s; cp. Ps 88:8 ^t; Prov 19:7 ^u; Matt 26:56 ^v.

• To spit in someone’s face was to display revulsion or contempt (Deut 25:9 ^w; Isa 50:6 ^x; Matt 26:67 ^y; 27:30 ^z; Mark 14:65 ^aa).
Summary for Job 30:12-14: 30:12-14 ^ab The series of images presented here is drawn from a military advance against a fortified city. Job had already used this image for God’s attack on him (19:10-12 ^ac).

• The word translated traps might refer to siege ramps raised against a city’s walls.
30:15 ^ad terror: See also 6:4 ^ae; 7:14 ^af; cp. Ps 88:15 ^ag.
30:18 ^ah God grabs ... the collar of my coat: The Hebrew in this verse is difficult to translate; it could mean that Job feels like he is in a chokehold and is about to be thrown into the mud (cp. 30:19 ^ai).
30:19 ^aj dust and ashes: Earlier, Job was sitting “among the ashes” in anguish (2:8 ^ak); later, he would “sit in dust and ashes to show ... repentance” (42:6 ^al).
Summary for Job 30:20-21: 30:20-21 ^am you don’t answer: This was Job’s frequent complaint (9:16 ^an; 19:7 ^ao; 23:2-9 ^ap; 31:35 ^aq), which God soon answered (38:1 ^ar).
30:22 ^as Job felt tossed into the whirlwind and blown about like worthless straw or chaff (9:17 ^at; 21:18 ^au; 27:21 ^av; Ps 1:4 ^aw; Isa 17:13 ^ax).
30:28 ^ay Before his testing began, Job had been respected in the public square (29:7-10 ^az, 21-25 ^ba); he helped others who were in need (29:11-17 ^bb).
30:29 ^bc I am considered: Job might have been expressing what he thought of himself, how others viewed him, or both.

• By claiming that he was a brother to jackals and a companion to owls, Job might have been describing himself as in the throes of lament (Mic 1:8 ^bd). Jackals were associated with desolation or ruin (see Ps 63:10 ^be; Isa 13:22 ^bf; 34:13 ^bg; 35:7 ^bh; Jer 9:11 ^bi; 10:22 ^bj; 49:33 ^bk; 51:37 ^bl; Lam 5:18 ^bm; Ezek 13:4 ^bn; Mal 1:3 ^bo).
30:30 ^bp The skin of a person who lived in comfortable circumstances was protected from the sun and wind; dark skin indicated physical and social decline (Lam 4:8 ^bq; 5:10 ^br).