Job 30:7
in Job 30They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Among the bushes they bray; Under the nettles they are gathered together.
KJV
Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.
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This verse in Job 30
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Among the bushes - Coverdale, “Upon the dry heath went they about crying.” The Hebrew word is the same which occurs in Job 30:4, and means bushes in general. They were heard in the shrubbery that grew in the desert. They brayed - ינהקו yinâhaqû. The Vulgate renders this, “They were concealed.” The Septuagint, “Amidst sweet sounds they cry out.” Noyes, “They utter their cries.” The Hebrew word properly means to “bray.” It occurs only here and in Job 6:5, where it is applied to the ass.
This site's exposition
They cried out among the shrubs
on Job 30:7-9
Barnes reads the Hebrew verb behind “cried out among the shrubs” as the braying of animals. “A senseless and nameless brood” names men without lineage, who were “driven off the land”. “And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them” completes the reversal.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
The words "under the rocks and the thorny bushes," that is, those, who are on the prowl in the mountains and the deserts, live on the fruits of thorny bushes because of their destitution.
Who rejoiced in the midst of the like, and reckoned there were delights under brambles. What do we understand by the name of 'brambles,' but those 'piercings' of sins, which we have already described above. Now because froward minds delight in wickednesses, which they should have bewailed, all heretics uplift themselves with vain joy in proportion as they gain power for worse acts; and they 'reckon there are delights under the brambles,' because they lift up the froward mind to joy, from the same cause that they bear the thorns of sins.
It even seemed pleasant to them when they could find such places to live, and so he says, "they are happy in places like this," as though even they did not have an abundance of these sorts of places. If at times they happen to …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Among the bushes they brayed,....
One would not think it possible that ever the human nature should sink so low, and degenerate so far, as it did in these people. When we thank God that we are men we have reason to thank him that we are not such men.
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
brayed--like the wild ass (Job 6:5 for food). The inarticulate tones of this uncivilized rabble are but little above those of the beast of the field. gathered together--rather, sprinkled here and there. Literally, "poured out," graphically picturing their disorderly mode of encampment, lying up and down behind the thorn bushes. nettles--or brambles [UMBREIT].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Among the bushes they brayed - They cried out among the bushes, seeking for food, as the wild ass when he is in want of provender. Two MSS. read ינאקו yinaku, they groaned, instead of ינהקו yinhaku, they brayed. Under the nettles - חרול charul, the briers or brambles, under the brushwood in the thickest parts of the underwood; they huddled together like wild beasts.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בֵּין־ | bein- | between | H996 → | 407 times |
| שִׂיחִ֥ים | sichim | bushes | H7880 → | |
| יִנְהָ֑קוּ | yinhaku | they bray | H5101 → | |
| תַּ֖חַת | tachat | under | H8478 → | 505 times |
| חָר֣וּל | charul | nettle[s] | H2738 → | |
| יְסֻפָּֽחוּ׃ | yesupachu | they are joined together | H5596 → |
בֵּין־between
bein-H996 →407 times
שִׂיחִ֥יםbushes
sichimH7880 →
יִנְהָ֑קוּthey bray
yinhakuH5101 →
תַּ֖חַתunder
tachatH8478 →505 times
חָר֣וּלnettle[s]
charulH2738 →
יְסֻפָּֽחוּ׃they are joined together
yesupachuH5596 →
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
Genesis 16:12He will be a wild donkey of a man, and his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him; he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”
it leads to
- Job 39:5–8
Who set the wild donkey free? Who released the swift donkey from the harness?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 21:20
And God was with the boy, and he grew up and settled in the wilderness and became a great archer.
- Genesis 25:18
Ishmael’s descendants settled from Havilah to Shur, which is near the border of Egypt as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers.
- Job 11:12
But a witless man can no more become wise than the colt of a wild donkey can be born a man!
- Genesis 27:40
You shall live by the sword and serve your brother. But when you rebel, you will tear his yoke from your neck.”
- Job 39:5–8
Through
Job 11:12But a witless man can no more become wise than the colt of a wild donkey can be born a man!
it leads to
- James 2:20
O foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is worthless?
- Jeremiah 2:24
a wild donkey at home in the wilderness, sniffing the wind in the heat of her desire. Who can restrain her passion? All who seek her need not weary themselves; in mating season they…
- Psalms 73:22
I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You.
- James 2:20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
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); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XX; Ishodad of Merv, COMMENTARY ON JOB 30:6-7; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.