Job 30:28
in Job 30I go about blackened, but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I go mourning without the sun: I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.
KJV
I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.
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This verse in Job 30
Commentary
10 notes on this verseI went mourning without the sun - חמה chammah, which we here translate the sun, comes from a root of the same letters, which signifies to hide, protect, etc., and may be translated, I went mourning without a protector or guardian; or, the word may be derived from חם cham, to be hot, and here it may signify fury, rage, anger; and thus it was understood by the Vulgate: Maerens incedebam, sine furore, I went mourning without anger; or, as Calmet translates, Je marchois tout triste, mais sans me laisser aller a l’emportement; “I walked in deep sadness, but did not give way to an angry spirit.” The Syriac and Arabic understood it in the same way.
This site's exposition
when I hoped for good, evil came
on Job 30:26-28
“But when I hoped for good, evil came”, and “when I looked for light, darkness fell”, restating the reversal that opened the chapter. Behind “I am churning within” stands the Hebrew for boiling bowels, which Delitzsch reads as the inner heat of continual fever.
This site's exposition
I go about blackened
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read blackened as the black skin of Job 30:30, as though dressed for mourning. Chrysostom says he stood up in the assembly and cried for help without shame. His distress left him unable to stay silent.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
The excess of misfortunes that have befallen him force him to groan and to wail. Even if I wanted it, I could not stay silent, he says. "I stand up in the assembly and cry for help" without being ashamed before any of those present and without blushing before the multitude of the assembly. This attitude is due to the greatness of his misfortunes.
The Medieval Church2 voices
I went mourning: without rage rising up, I cried out in the crowd. I see that it is a thing to be carefully noted historically considered, that the holy man who a little before said, Thou hast lifted me up, added below, I went mourning. For by a wonderful arrangement at one and the same time there is wont to meet together in the courses of good men, at once without, the honour of the highest pitch, and within, the mourning of afflicted abasement.
Then, as to exterior evils he says, "I went along grieving," for when I walked among men I pretended sadness after misery. But although sadness is the cause of anger, there was still no anger in me, and so he then says, "Standing up without …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He walked out of the sun (so some) in dark shady places, as melancholy people use to do. If he went into the congregation, to join with them in solemn worship, instead of standing up calmly to desire their prayers, he stood up and cried aloud, through pain of body, or anguish of mind, like one half distracted.
I went mourning without the sun,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
mourning--rather, I move about blackened, though not by the sun; that is, whereas many are blackened by the sun, I am, by the heat of God's wrath (so "boiled," Job 30:27); the elephantiasis covering me with blackness of skin (Job 30:30), as with the garb of mourning (Jer 14:2).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I went mourning - Or rather, “I go,” in the present tense, for he is now referring to his present calamities, and not to what was past. The word rendered “mourning,” however (קדר qâdar), means here rather to be dark, dingy, tanned. It literally means to be foul or turbid, like a torrent, Job 6:16; then to go about in filthy garments, as they do who mourn, Job 5:11; Jer 14:2; then to be dusky, or of a dark color, or to become dark. Thus, it is applied to the sun and moon becoming dark in an eclipse, or when covered with clouds, Jer 4:28; Joe 2:10; Joe 3:15; Mic 3:6. Here it refers to the fact that, by the mere force of his disease, his skin had become dark and swarthy, though he had not been exposed to the burning rays of the sun. The wrath of God had burned upon him, and he had become black under it. Jerome, however, renders it moerens, mourning. The Septuagint, “I go groaning (στένων stenōn) without restraint, or limit” - ἄνευ φιμοῦ aneu fimou. The Chaldee translates it אוכם, “black.” Without the sun - Without being exposed to the sun; or without the agency of the sun. Though not exposed, he had become as dark as if he had been a day-laborer exposed to a burning sun. I stood up - Or, I stand up. And cried in the congregation - I utter my cries in the congregation, or when surrounded by the assembled people. Once I stood up to counsel them, and they hung upon my lips for advice; now I stand up only to weep over my accumulated calamities. This indicates the great change which had come upon him, and the depth of his sorrows. A man will weep readily in private; but he will be slow to do it, if he can avoid it, when surrounded by a multitude.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| קֹדֵ֣ר | koder | being dark | H6937 → | 17 times |
| הִ֭לַּכְתִּי | hilakhti | I have gone about | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| בְּלֹ֣א | belo' | with not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| חַמָּ֑ה | chamah | sun | H2535 → | |
| קַ֖מְתִּי | kamti | I have stood | H6965 → | 628 times |
| בַקָּהָ֣ל | vakahal | in the assembly | H6951 → | |
| אֲשַׁוֵּֽעַ׃ | ʾashavea' | I cry out for help | H7768 → | 21 times |
קֹדֵ֣רbeing dark
koderH6937 →17 times
הִ֭לַּכְתִּיI have gone about
hilakhtiH1980 →1546 times
בְּלֹ֣אwith not
belo'H3808 →5168 times
חַמָּ֑הsun
chamahH2535 →
קַ֖מְתִּיI have stood
kamtiH6965 →628 times
בַקָּהָ֣לin the assembly
vakahalH6951 →
אֲשַׁוֵּֽעַ׃I cry out for help
ʾashavea'H7768 →21 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
Psalms 43:2For You are the God of my refuge. Why have You rejected me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?
it leads to
- Psalms 42:9
I say to God my Rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart rejoices, and I give thanks to Him with my song.
- Ephesians 6:10
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
- Psalms 94:14
For the LORD will not forsake His people; He will never abandon His heritage.
- Isaiah 40:31
But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
- Psalms 42:9
Through
Psalms 42:9I say to God my Rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?”
it leads to
- Psalms 38:6
I am bent and brought low; all day long I go about mourning.
- Psalms 38:6
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?
- Habakkuk 1:2–3
Through
Psalms 38:6I am bent and brought low; all day long I go about mourning.
it leads to
- Psalms 35:14
I paced about as for my friend or brother; I was bowed down with grief, like one mourning for his mother.
- Psalms 35:14
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); 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 Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 30:26-29; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.