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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 30:4

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

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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 30:1-10

The fall from honour to contempt. I. MISFORTUNE BRINGS CONTEMPT , Job has just been reciting the honours of his happier days. With the loss of prosperity has come the loss of those honours. He who was slavishly flattered in wealth and success is cruelly scorned in the time of adversity. This is monstrously unjust, and Job feels it to be so. Nevertheless, it is only true to life. Men do judge by the outward appearance. Therefore any who experience in some proportion what Job experienced... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 30:1-15

Job's second parable: 2. A lamentation over fallen greatness. I. THE CHARACTER OF JOB 'S DERIDERS . 1 . Juniors in respect of age. (Verse 1.) These were not the young princes of the city ( Job 29:8 ), by whom he had formerly been held in reverential regard, but "the young good-for-nothing vagabonds of a miserable class of men" (Delitzsch) dwelling in the neighbourhood. Job's inferiors in point of years, they should have treated him with honour and respect (Le 19:32),... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 30:1-31

The contrast is now completed. Having drawn the portrait of himself as he was, rich, honoured, blessed with children, flourishing, in favour with both God and man, Job now presents himself to us as he is, despised of men (verses 1-10), afflicted of God (verse 11), a prey to vague terrors (verse 15), tortured with bodily pains (verses 17, 18), cast off by God (verses 19, 20), with nothing but death to look for (verses 23-31). The chapter is the most touching in the whole book. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 30:1-31

The troubles of the present. In contrast to the happy past of honour and respect on which he has been so wistfully dwelling in the previous chapter, Job sees himself now exposed to the scorn and contempt of the meanest of mankind; while a flood of miseries from the hand of God passes over him. From this last chapter we have learned the honour and authority with which it sometimes pleases God to crown the pious and the faithful. From the present we see how at other times he crucifies and puts... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 30:1-31

A sorrowful contrast. Job's condition has become one of sorrowfulness, the humiliation of which stands in direct contrast to his former state. He graphically expresses it in a few words: "But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock." The picture of sorrowful humiliation, standing in contrast, to previous honour, wealth, and power, is very striking. It is a typical example, showing to what depths the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 30:4

Who cut up mallows by the bushes . One of the plants on which they feed is the malluch , not really a "mallow," but probably the Atriplex halimus , which is "a shrub from four to five feet high, with many thick branches; the leaves are rather sour to the taste; the flowers are purple, and very small; it grows on the sea-coast in Greece, Arabia, Syria, etc; and belongs to the natural order Chenopodiace ". And juniper roots for their meat . Most moderns regard the rothen as the ... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 30:4

Who cut up mallows - For the purpose of eating. Mallows are common medicinal plants, famous for their emollient or softening properties, and the size and brilliancy of their flowers. It is not probable, however, that Job referred to what we commonly understand by the word mallows. It has been commonly supposed that he meant a species of plant, called by the Greeks Hallimus, a sunfish plant, or “salt wort,” growing commonly in the deserts and poor land, and eaten as a salad. The Vulgate renders... read more

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