Job 30:20
in Job 30I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer; when I stand up, You merely look at me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I cry unto thee, and thou dost not answer me: I stand up, and thou gazest at me.
KJV
I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not.
⋯
This verse in Job 30
Commentary
7 notes on this verseI cry unto thee - I am persecuted by man, afflicted with sore disease, and apparently forsaken of God. I stand up - Or, as some translate, “I persevere, and thou lookest upon me.” Thou seest my desolate, afflicted state; but thine eye doth not affect thy heart. Thou leavest me unsupported to struggle with my adversities.
This site's exposition
I cry out to You for help
on Job 30:20-23
“I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer” opens the darkest address in Job's speeches, a charge of divine silence. “You have ruthlessly turned on me” goes further, and Barnes notes the book records it as Job's honest perception before he has heard the whirlwind.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Those who are despised by men often find help from God, but he was deserted by God in temporal adversity, and so he says, "I will call to you," seeking continually to be freed from this adversity, "and you will not hear me," very quickly. …
I will cry unto Thee, but Thou wilt not hear me; I stand, and Thou regardest me not. Since Holy Church in the time of her persecution 'stands' by faith, and 'cries' by longings. But she is grieved that she is 'not regarded' as it were, when she sees her wishes under tribulations delayed.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Though the seed of Jacob did never seek in vain, yet they have often thought that they did and that God has not only been deaf, but angry, at the prayers of his people, Ps. lxxx. (2.) That God did appear against him. That which he here says of God is one of the worst words that ever Job spoke (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me - This was a complaint which Job often made, that he could not get the ear of God; that his prayer was not regarded, and that he could not get his cause before him; compare Job 13:3, Job 13:19 ff, and Job 27:9. I stand up - Standing was a common posture of prayer among the ancients; see Heb 11:21; 1Ki 8:14, 1Ki 8:55; Neh 9:2. The meaning is, that when Job stood up to pray, God did not regard his prayer.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲשַׁוַּ֣ע | ʾashava' | I cry for help | H7768 → | 21 times |
| אֵ֭לֶיךָ | ʾeleikha | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַעֲנֵ֑נִי | taaneni | you answer me | H6030 → | 331 times |
| עָ֝מַ֗דְתִּי | ʾamadti | I have stood | H5975 → | 521 times |
| וַתִּתְבֹּ֥נֶן | vatitbonen | and you have considered carefully | H995 → | 170 times |
| בִּֽי׃ | bi | <in> me |
אֲשַׁוַּ֣עI cry for help
ʾashava'H7768 →21 times
אֵ֭לֶיךָto you
ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
תַעֲנֵ֑נִיyou answer me
taaneniH6030 →331 times
עָ֝מַ֗דְתִּיI have stood
ʾamadtiH5975 →521 times
וַתִּתְבֹּ֥נֶןand you have considered carefully
vatitbonenH995 →170 times
בִּֽי׃<in> me
bi
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
Psalms 22:2I cry out by day, O my God, but You do not answer, and by night, but I have no rest.
it leads to
- Luke 18:7
Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He continue to defer their help?
- Psalms 42:3
My tears have been my food both day and night, while men ask me all day long, “Where is your God?”
- Psalms 55:16–17
But I call to God, and the LORD saves me.
- Luke 22:41–46
And He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, where He knelt down and prayed,
- Psalms 88:1
O LORD, the God of my salvation, day and night I cry out before You.
- Luke 18:7
Through
Job 27:9Will God hear his cry when distress comes upon him?
it leads to
- Jeremiah 14:12
Although they may fast, I will not listen to their cry; although they may offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will finish them off by sword and…
- Isaiah 1:15
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
- Proverbs 1:28
Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.
- Jeremiah 14:12
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XX; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.