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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 30:1-14

Here Job makes a very large and sad complaint of the great disgrace he had fallen into, from the height of honour and reputation, which was exceedingly grievous and cutting to such an ingenuous spirit as Job's was. Two things he insists upon as greatly aggravating his affliction:? I. The meanness of the persons that affronted him. As it added much to his honour, in the day of his prosperity, that princes and nobles showed him respect and paid a deference to him, so it added no less to his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 30:3

For want and famine they were solitary ,.... The Targum interprets it, without children; but then this cannot be understood of the fathers; rather through famine and want they were reduced to the utmost extremity, and were as destitute of food as a rock, or hard flint, from whence nothing is to be had, as the word signifies, see Job 3:7 ; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste : to search and try what they could get there for their sustenance and relief,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 30:4

Who cut up mallows by the bushes ,.... Which with the Troglodytes were of a vast size F18 Diodorus Siculus, l. 3. p. 175. ; or rather "upon the bush" F19 עלי שיח "super virgulto", Montanus, Schultens; "super arbustum", Bochart. or "tree"; and therefore cannot mean what we call mallows, which are herbs on the ground, and grow not on trees or bushes; and, besides, are not for food, but rather for medicine: though Plutarch F20 In symposio septem sap. says they, were the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 30:5

They were driven from among men ,.... From towns and cities, and all civil society, as unfit to be among them; not for any good, it may be observed, but for crimes that they had done, like our felons, and transported persons: they cried after them as after a thief ; as they were driven and run along, the people called after them, saying, there goes a thief; which they said by way of abhorrence of them, and for the shame of them, and that all might be warned and cautioned against... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 30:6

To dwell in the cliffs of the valleys ,.... Or "brooks" F12 נחלים "torrentium", Tigurine version, Pagninus, Montanus, &c.; , in such hollow places as were made by floods and streams of waters: in caves of the earth, and in the rocks ; where they betook themselves for fear of men, and through shame, being naked and miserable not fit to be seen: Job has respect to the Horites and Troglodytes, his neighbours, who dwelt in such places chiefly. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 30:7

Among the bushes they brayed ,.... Like wild asses; so Sephorno, to which wicked men are fitly compared, Job 11:12 ; or they "cried", or "groaned" F13 ינהקו "clamabant", Vatablus, Mercerus; so Ben Gerson; "gemebant", Michaelis; so Broughton. , and "moaned" among the bushes, where they lay lurking; either they groaned through cold, or want of food; for the wild ass brays not but when in want, Job 6:5 ; under the nettles they were gathered together ; or "under thistles" F14 ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 30:8

They were children of fools ,.... Their parents were fools, or they themselves were such; foolish children, or foolish men, were they that derided Job; and their derision of him was a proof of it: the meaning is not that they were idiots, or quite destitute of reason and natural knowledge, but that they were men of slender capacities; they were "Nabal like", which is the word here used of them; and, indeed, it may easily be concluded, they could not have much knowledge of men and things,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 30:3

Fleeing into the wilderness - Seeking something to sustain life even in the barren desert. This shows the extreme of want, when the desert is supposed to be the only place where any thing to sustain life can possibly be found. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 30:4

Who cut up mallows by the bushes - מלוח malluach , which we translate mallows, comes from מלח melach , salt; some herb or shrub of a salt nature, sea-purslane, or the salsaria, salsola, or saltwort. Bochart says it is the ἁλιμος of the Greeks, and the halimus of the Romans. Some translate it nettles. The Syriac and Arabic omit the whole verse. The halimus, or atriplex halimus, grows near the sea in different countries, and is found in Spain, America, England, and Barbary. The... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 30:5

They were driven forth - They were persons whom no one would employ; they were driven away from the city; and if any of them appeared, the hue and cry was immediately raised up against them. The last clause Mr. Good translates, "They slunk away from them like a thief," instead of "They cried after them," etc. read more

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