Job 30:10
in Job 30They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, And spare not to spit in my face.
KJV
They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.
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This verse in Job 30
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
They abhor me - Hebrew, They regard me as abominable. They flee far from me - Even such an impious and low born race now will have nothing to do with me. They would consider it no honor to be associated with me, but keep as far from me as possible. And spare not to spit in my face - Margin, “withhold not spittle from.” Noyes renders this “Before my face;” and so Luther Wemyss, Umbreit, and Prof. Lee. The Hebrew may mean either to spit in the face, or to spit “in the presence” of anyone. It is quite immaterial which interpretation is adopted, since in the view of Orientals the one was considered about the same as the other. In their notions of courtesy and urbanity, he commits an insult of the same kind who spits in the presence of another which he would if he spit on him. Are they not right? Should it not be so considered every where? Yet how different their views from the more refined notions of the civilized Occidentals! In America, more than in any other land, are offences of this kind frequent and gross. Of nothing do foreigners complain of us more, or with more justice; and much as we boast of our intelligence and refinement, we should gain much if in this respect we would sit down at the feet of a Bedouin Arab, and incorporate his views into our maxims of politeness.
This site's exposition
They abhor me and keep far from me
on Job 30:10-11
“They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face” describes contempt shown in the body. Spitting was the ancient world's most deliberate insult, as Gill notes from Numbers 12:14 and Deuteronomy 25:9.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Second, he shows how they held him in contempt in their heart when he then says, "They abhor me," as vile and unclean. Third, he shows how they held him in contempt in deed, first insofar as they bristled in his presence, and so he …
They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face. All the wicked 'fly far' from Holy Church, not by the paces of footsteps, but by the characters of practices; they fly far not in place, but desert, whereas, pride gaining ground, they contemn her with open upbraiding. For 'to spit in his face' is not only to detract from the good in absence, but to give the lie to each one of the just even in presence.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
They abhor me,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
in my face--rather, refrain not to spit in deliberate contempt before my face. To spit at all in presence of another is thought in the East insulting, much more so when done to mark "abhorrence." Compare the further insult to Jesus Christ (Isa 50:6;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
They abhor me - What a state must civil society be in when such indignities were permitted to be offered to the aged and afflicted!
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
For He untied my bowstring He untied the string of my bow (that I said above that my bow would become stronger); i.e., He weakened my strength—He Who has the power to do so.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תִּֽ֭עֲבוּנִי | tiavuni | they abhor me | H8581 → | 22 times |
| רָ֣חֲקוּ | rachaku | they are distant | H7368 → | 57 times |
| מֶ֑נִּי | meni | from me | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| וּ֝מִפָּנַ֗י | umipanai | and from face my | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| חָ֥שְׂכוּ | chasekhu | they have withheld | H2820 → | 28 times |
| רֹֽק׃ | rok | spittle | H7536 → |
תִּֽ֭עֲבוּנִיthey abhor me
tiavuniH8581 →22 times
רָ֣חֲקוּthey are distant
rachakuH7368 →57 times
מֶ֑נִּיfrom me
meniH4480 →1188 times
וּ֝מִפָּנַ֗יand from face my
umipanaiH6440 →2123 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
חָ֥שְׂכוּthey have withheld
chasekhuH2820 →28 times
רֹֽק׃spittle
rokH7536 →
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
Isaiah 50:6I offered My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spittle.
it leads to
- Mark 14:65
Then some of them began to spit on Him. They blindfolded Him, struck Him with their fists, and said to Him, “Prophesy!” And the officers received Him with slaps in His face.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 27:30
Then they spit on Him and took the staff and struck Him on the head repeatedly.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 26:67
Then they spit in His face and struck Him. Others slapped Him
- Mark 15:19
They kept striking His head with a staff and spitting on Him. And they knelt down and bowed before Him.
- Luke 22:63–64
The men who were holding Jesus began to mock Him and beat Him.
- Mark 14:65
Through
Matthew 26:67Then they spit in His face and struck Him. Others slapped Him
it leads to
- Isaiah 50:6
I offered My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spittle.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 53:3
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.
- Isaiah 50:6
Through
Numbers 12:14But the LORD answered Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days;…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 25:9
his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal, spit in his face, and declare, “This is what is done to the man who will not…
- Deuteronomy 25:9
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); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.