Job 30:1
in Job 30“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to entrust with my sheep dogs.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, Whose fathers I disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Job 30
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
But now they that are younger than I - Margin, “of fewer days.” It is not probable that Job here refers to his three friends. It is not possible to determine their age with accuracy, but in Job 15:10, they claim that there were with them old and very aged men, much older than the father of Job. Though that place may possibly refer not to themselves but to those who held the same opinions with them, yet none of those who engaged in the discussion, except Ehhu Job 32:6, are represented as young men.
This site's exposition
But now they mock me
on Job 30:1-3
“But now they mock me, men younger than I am” opens the reversal. Henry reads the move from the princes falling silent in chapter 29 to these youths jeering as the same honor seen from its opposite end. The fathers were broken men, since “their vigor had left them”.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
After he had listed the many prosperous things which he had enjoyed in times past, he here lists the adversities which he was then suffering. First, in contrast to his former glory and reverence, he shows that he is held in contempt now. Contempt is …
But now they that are younger than I have me in derision. Whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock. All heretics when compared to the age of the Church Universal are fitly called 'younger' in time, because they went forth out of her, not she out of them. Whence it is rightly also said by John; They went out from us, but they were not of us: for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Job here speaks of what he might have done, not of what he did: he was not of such a spirit as to set any of the children of men with the dogs of his flock; he knew the dignity of human nature better than to do so.
But now they that are younger than I have me in derision,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
They are not allowed to enter a house, but run about wild in the open air, living on offal and chance morsels (Ps 59:14, 15). Here again we are reminded of Jesus Christ (Ps 22:16). "Their fathers, my coevals, were so mean and famished that I would not have associated them with (not to say, set them over) my dogs in guarding my flock."
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
But now they that are younger than I have me in derision - Compare this with Job 29:8, where he speaks of the respect he had from the youth while in the days of his prosperity. Now he is no longer affluent, and they are no longer respectful. Dogs of my flock - Persons who were not deemed sufficiently respectable to be trusted with the care of those dogs which were the guardians of my flocks. Not confidential enough to be made shepherds, ass-keepers, or camel-drivers; nor even to have the care of the dogs by which the flocks were guarded. This saying is what we call an expression of sovereign contempt.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעַתָּ֤ה׀ | veatah | and now | H6258 → | 433 times |
| שָֽׂחֲק֣וּ | sachaku | they have laughed | H7832 → | 36 times |
| עָלַי֮ | ʾalai | on me | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| צְעִירִ֥ים | tzeirim | [people] young | H6810 → | |
| מִמֶּ֗נִּי | mimeni | more than me | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| לְיָ֫מִ֥ים | leyamim | to days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| מָאַ֥סְתִּי | maasti | I rejected | H3988 → | 76 times |
| אֲבוֹתָ֑ם | ʾavotam | fathers their | H1 → | 1212 times |
| לָ֝שִׁ֗ית | lashit | to put | H7896 → | 83 times |
| עִם־ | ʾim- | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| כַּלְבֵ֥י | kalvei | [the] dogs of | H3611 → | |
| צֹאנִֽי׃ | tzoni | flock my | H6629 → | 274 times |
וְעַתָּ֤ה׀and now
veatahH6258 →433 times
שָֽׂחֲק֣וּthey have laughed
sachakuH7832 →36 times
עָלַי֮on me
ʾalaiH5921 →5755 times
צְעִירִ֥ים[people] young
tzeirimH6810 →
מִמֶּ֗נִּיmore than me
mimeniH4480 →1188 times
לְיָ֫מִ֥יםto days
leyamimH3117 →2304 times
אֲשֶׁר־whom
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
מָאַ֥סְתִּיI rejected
maastiH3988 →76 times
אֲבוֹתָ֑םfathers their
ʾavotamH1 →1212 times
לָ֝שִׁ֗יתto put
lashitH7896 →83 times
עִם־with
ʾim-H5973 →1050 times
כַּלְבֵ֥י[the] dogs of
kalveiH3611 →
צֹאנִֽי׃flock my
tzoniH6629 →274 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Kings 2:23From there, Elisha went up to Bethel, and as he was walking up the road, a group of boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, you baldhead! Go…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 36:16
But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.
- 2 Chronicles 36:16
Through
Luke 23:35The people stood watching, and the rulers sneered at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”
it leads to
- Psalms 22:17
I can count all my bones; they stare and gloat over me.
- Isaiah 42:1
“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations.
- 1 Peter 2:4
As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight,
- Matthew 12:18
“Here is My Servant, whom I have chosen, My beloved, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will proclaim justice to the nations.
- Mark 15:29–32
And those who passed by heaped abuse on Him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,
- Psalms 22:17
Through
Job 12:4I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.
it leads to
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XX; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.