Job 30:21
in Job 30You have ruthlessly turned on me; You oppose me with Your strong hand.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou art turned to be cruel to me; With the might of thy hand thou persecutest me.
KJV
Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me.
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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)
Thou art become cruel to me - Margin, turned to be. This language, applied to God, seems to be harsh and irreverent, and it may well be inquired whether the word cruel does not express an idea which Job did not intend. The Hebrew word אכזר 'akzâr, is from an obsolete root כזר - not found in Hebrew. The Arabic root, nearly the same as this, means to break with violence; to rout as an enemy; then to be enraged.
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.
This site's exposition
You have ruthlessly turned on me
Gill gives the Hebrew for turned as changed, so the God who once watched over him now opposes him with His strong hand. Henry calls the charge unjust and ungrateful. Hard thoughts of God were his sin at this time.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Thus if I were to consider only my temporal state, I would consider you a cruel and hard enemy, and so he then says, "You have changed into someone cruel in my opinion," according to the appearance of the exterior scourges when you do not …
Thou art changed to cruel unto me; and in the hardness of Thy hand Thou opposest Thyself against me. In Holy Scripture when any thing is said of God unworthy, the mind of the reader is affected, as if it were ever the case that any thing that is worthy were spoken of God. Since well nigh every thing that is spoken touching God, is by this alone henceforth unworthy, that it admitted of being spoken. But for Him to Whose praise the conscious faculty, being astounded, is not equal, when may the tongue by speaking suffice?
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): Thou hast become cruel to me. Far be it from the God of mercy and grace that he should be cruel to any (his compassions fail not), but especially that he should be so to his own children. Job was unjust and ungrateful when he said so of him: but harbouring hard thoughts of God was the sin which did, at this time, most easily beset him.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Thou art become cruel to me,.... Or "turned", or "changed" (g), to be cruel to me.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Thou art become cruel to me - Thou appearest to treat me with cruelty. I cry for mercy, trust in thy goodness, and am still permitted to remain under my afflictions. Thou opposest thyself - Instead of helping, thou opposest me; thou appearest as my enemy.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תֵּהָפֵ֣ךְ | tehafekh | you change yourself | H2015 → | 94 times |
| לְאַכְזָ֣ר | leakhzar | into [one] cruel | H393 → | |
| לִ֑י | li | to me | ||
| בְּעֹ֖צֶם | beotzem | with [the] might of | H6108 → | |
| יָדְךָ֣ | yadekha | hand your | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| תִשְׂטְמֵֽנִי׃ | tistemeni | you are hostile to me | H7852 → |
תֵּהָפֵ֣ךְyou change yourself
tehafekhH2015 →94 times
לְאַכְזָ֣רinto [one] cruel
leakhzarH393 →
לִ֑יto me
li
בְּעֹ֖צֶםwith [the] might of
beotzemH6108 →
יָדְךָ֣hand your
yadekhaH3027 →1618 times
תִשְׂטְמֵֽנִי׃you are hostile to me
tistemeniH7852 →
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
1 Peter 5:6Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you.
it leads to
- James 4:10
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.
- Luke 14:11
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
- Proverbs 29:23
A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.
- Matthew 23:12
For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
- Luke 18:14
I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
- James 4:10
Through
Job 10:3Does it please You to oppress me, to reject the work of Your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked?
it leads to
- Isaiah 64:8
But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.
- Job 14:15
You will call, and I will answer; You will desire the work of Your hands.
- Psalms 138:8
The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me. O LORD, Your loving devotion endures forever— do not abandon the works of Your hands.
- Isaiah 64:8
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; 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.