Job 30:24
in Job 30Yet no one stretches out his hand to a ruined man when he cries for help in his distress.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Howbeit doth not one stretch out the hand in his fall? Or in his calamity therefore cry for help?
KJV
Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.
⋯
This verse in Job 30
Commentary
10 notes on this verseHe will not stretch out his hand to the grave - After all that has been said relative to the just translation and true meaning of this verse, is it not evident that it is in the mouth of Job a consolatory reflection? As if he said, Though I suffer here, I shall not suffer hereafter. Though he add stroke to stroke, so as to destroy my life, yet his displeasure shall not proceed beyond the grave. Though they cry in his destruction - Mr. Good translates: Surely there, in its ruin, is freedom.
This site's exposition
Yet no one stretches out his hand
on Job 30:24-25
Gill sets out more than one reading of verse 24 without deciding between them. Job asks whether he has not “wept for those in trouble” and “grieved for the needy”, claiming the care for others recorded in chapter 29. Henry notes that the friends never once grant him this.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
However, man is not totally destroyed in death, because the immortal soul remains, and so he says, "Yet not for the destruction," of living men, "do you send forth your hand," to reduce them to nothing by your power. "And if they should be corrupted," …
Howbeit Thou dost not put forth thine hand for the destroying of them; and if they are brought to the ground, Thou wilt save them Thyself. In which words assuredly this ought to be perceived with penetration, that blessed Job, while he is telling his own circumstances transfers others into himself.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
To the grave - The hand of God's wrath will not follow me beyond death; I shall then be safe and easy: Tho' men cry in his destruction: tho' most men cry and are affrighted, while they are dying, while the body is sinking into destruction; yet I desire it, I have nothing to fear therein, since I know that my redeemer liveth.
Though men cry in his destruction (though, when they are dying, there is a great deal of agony and out-cry, many a sigh, and groan, and complaint), yet in the grave they feel nothing, they fear nothing, but all is quiet there.
Thorns - Under which they hide themselves, that they might not be discovered when they are sought out for justice. Spit - Not literally, for they kept far from him, but figuratively, they use all manner of reproachful expressions, even to my face. Herein, also we see a type of Christ, who was thus made a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave,.... Or, "verily" (h), truly he will not, &c.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Expressing Job's faith as to the state after death. Though one must go to the grave, yet He will no more afflict in the ruin of the body (so Hebrew for "grave") there, if one has cried to Him when being destroyed. The "stretching of His hand" to punish after death answers antithetically to the raising "the cry" of prayer in the second clause.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave - Margin, heap. In our common version this verse conveys no very clear idea, and it is quite evident that our translators despaired of giving it a consistent sense, and attempted merely to translate it literally. The verse has been rendered by every expositor almost in his own way; and though almost no two of them agree, yet it is remarkable that the versions given are all beautiful, and furnish a sense that agrees well with the scope of the passage. The Vulgate renders it, “But not to their consumption wilt thou send forth their hand; and if they fall, thou wilt save them.” The Septuagint,” For O that I could lay violent hands on myself, or beseech another, and he would do it for me Luther renders it, “Yet he shall not stretch out the hand to the charnelhouse, and they shall not cry before his destruction.” Noyes: “When he stretcheth out his hand, prayer availeth nothing, When he bringeth destruction, vain is the Cry for help.” Umbreit renders it: Nur mog’ er nicht an den zerstorten Haufen Hand anlegen! Oder mussen jene selbst in ihrem Tode schreien? “Only if he would not lay his hand upon the Heaps of the destroyed! Or must these also cry out in their death?” According to this interpretation, Job speaks here in bitter irony. “I would gladly die,” says he, “if God would only suffer me to be quiet when I am dead.” He would be willing that the edifice of the body should be taken down, provided the ruins might rest in peace. Rosenmuller gives the same sense as that expressed by Noyes. Amidst this variety of interpretation, it is by no means easy to determine on the true meaning of the passage. […]
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַ֣ךְ | ʾakh | surely | H389 → | 161 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| בְ֭עִי | vei | on a heap of ruins | H5856 → | |
| יִשְׁלַח־ | yishlach- | anyone stretches out | H7971 → | 845 times |
| יָ֑ד | yad | a hand | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | or | H518 → | 1069 times |
| בְּ֝פִיד֗וֹ | befido | in disaster his | H6365 → | 4 times |
| לָהֶ֥ן | lahen | to them | ||
| שֽׁוּעַ׃ | shua' | a cry for help | H7769 → |
אַ֣ךְsurely
ʾakhH389 →161 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
בְ֭עִיon a heap of ruins
veiH5856 →
יִשְׁלַח־anyone stretches out
yishlach-H7971 →845 times
יָ֑דa hand
yadH3027 →1618 times
אִם־or
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
בְּ֝פִיד֗וֹin disaster his
befidoH6365 →4 times
לָהֶ֥ןto them
lahen
שֽׁוּעַ׃a cry for help
shua'H7769 →
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
Judges 5:31So may all Your enemies perish, O LORD! But may those who love You shine like the sun at its brightest.” And the land had rest for forty years.
it leads to
- Psalms 37:6
He will bring forth your righteousness like the dawn, your justice like the noonday sun.
- 2 Samuel 23:4
is like the light of the morning at sunrise of a cloudless dawn, the glistening after the rain on the sprouting grass of the earth.’
- James 1:12
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.
- 1 Peter 1:8
Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy,
- Psalms 19:4–5
their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun.
- Psalms 37:6
Through
Psalms 35:25Let them not say in their hearts, “Aha, just what we wanted!” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up!”
it leads to
- Lamentations 2:16
All your enemies open their mouths against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth, saying, “We have swallowed her up. This is the day for which we have waited. We have lived to see…
- Lamentations 2:16
Through
Job 19:7Though I cry out, ‘Violence!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.
it leads to
- Habakkuk 1:2–3
How long, O LORD, must I call for help but You do not hear, or cry out to You, “Violence!” but You do not save?
- Lamentations 3:8
Even when I cry out and plead for help, He shuts out my prayer.
- Habakkuk 1:2–3
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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; 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.