Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 30:24
Howbeit he will not stretch out [his] hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.
24. This obscure verse may mean,
Yet doth not one stretch out the hand in his fall?
When he is destroyed doth he not because of this utter a cry?
The word fall is lit. heap, i. e. ruin. The verse, so interpreted means, Does not one stretch out his hand for help in his downfall? does he not when being destroyed, or, in his misfortune, utter a cry? Job explains how in his misery he cries unto God, it is the instinct of mankind. The following verse, referring to Job’s compassion when he saw others in trouble, suggests that he naturally looked for the same compassion to himself. The word cry (second clause), if referred to a different root, might mean riches (so ch. Job 36:19), and the verse would mean, surely one stretches not out his hand against a heap (of ruins), or, hath he riches from another’s (lit. his, or its) destruction? Job characterizes himself as a heap of ruins, and, appealing to the Almighty, argues that against such a thing one does not stretch out a hostile hand; neither does one derive advantage to himself from another’s calamity. This sense fits into Job 30:25 very well Job, so far from increasing misfortune which he saw, commiserated and helped it.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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 principal difficulty in the exposition lies in the word bey, rendered in the text in the grave, and in the margin heap. If that word is compounded of the preposition be and y, it means literally, in ruins, or in rubbish – for so the word y is used in Mic 1:6; Jer 26:18; Mic 3:12; Psa 79:1; Neh 4:2, Neh 4:10. But Gesenius supposes it to be a single word, from the obsolete root , Chaldee , to pray, to petition; and according to this the meaning is, Yea, prayer is nought when he stretches out his hand; and in his (Gods) destruction, their cry availeth not.
Prof. Lee understands the word ( bey) in the same sense, but gives a somewhat different meaning to the whole passage. According to him the meaning is, Nevertheless, upon prayer thou wilt not lay thine hand; surely, when he destroyeth, in this alone there is safety. Schultens accords very nearly in the sentiment expressed by Umbreit, and renders it, Yet not even in the tomb would he relax his hand, if in its destruction an alleviation were there. This sentiment is very strong, and borders on impiety, and should not be adopted if it is possible to avoid it. It looks as if Job felt that God was disposed to pursue his animosity even into the regions of the dead, and that he would have pleasure in carrying on the work of destruction and affliction in the ruins of the grave. After the most careful examination which I have been able to give of this difficult passage, it seems probable to me that the following is the correct sense.
Job means to state a general and important principle – that there was rest in the grave. He said he knew that God would bring him down there, but that would be a state of repose. The hand of God producing pain, would not reach there, nor would the sorrows experienced in this world be felt there, provided there had been a praying life. Notwithstanding all his afflictions, therefore, and his certain conviction that he would die, he had unwavering confidence in God. Agreeably to this, the following paraphrase will convey the true sense. I know that he will bring me to the grave. Nevertheless ( ‘ak), over the ruins ( bey) – of my body, the ruins in the grave – he will not stretch out his hand – to afflict me there or to pursue those who lie there with calamity and judgment; if in his destruction ( bepydo) – in the destruction or desolation which God brings upon people – among them ( lahen) – among those who are thus consigned to the ruins of the grave – there is prayer ( shua); if there has been supplication offered to him, or a cry for mercy has gone up before him. This paraphrase embraces every word of the original; saves the necessity of attempting to change the text, as has been often done, and gives a meaning which accords with the scope of the passage, and with the uniform belief of Job, that God would ultimately vindicate him, and show that he himself was right in his government.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 24. He 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. In the sepulchre there is freedom from calamity, and rest for the weary.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
There is great variety and difficulty in the sense and connexion of these words. They may be joined either,
1. With the following verse, as describing Jobs compassion to others in affliction, which by the principles of reason and religion should have procured him some pity from God and men in his affliction. And to that purpose the words are or may be translated thus: But was not my prayers for them (which words may be understood out of the following clause) when he stretched out his hand? (to wit, against them to destroy them;) in his destruction or oppression (understand it actively, i.e. when God was about to destroy any other man or men) was not (the negation being understood out of the former branch of the verse, as is usual) my cry for them? the feminine-gender being put for the masculine, as it is elsewhere; or for these things, the feminine being put for the neuter; that is, for those destructive calamities which were upon them. Or,
2. With the foregoing verse. And so these words contain either,
1. A consolation against the evil last mentioned: so the sense is, Though God will undoubtedly bring me to the grave by these torments, yet this comforts me, that surely he will not stretch out his hand (to wit, to afflict or punish me further, as this phrase is used, Exo 3:20; Isa 9:12,13) in the grave, though they, i.e. the perishing persons, cry or roar (i.e. be sorely pained and tormented)
in his destruction, i.e. whilst God is destroying them. Or this last clause may be read interrogatively, Is there any cry in his destruction? When a man is cut off or destroyed by death, doth he then cry and complain? No, there is an end of all these miseries. Or rather,
2. A confirmation of what he last said. For the whole context shows that Job is not taking any comfort to himself, but rather aggravating his sufferings. I know, saith he, that I am a dead man, and my condition is desperate, for surely he, i.e. God, will not stretch out his hand (to wit, to save or rescue me, as this phrase is used, Psa 18:17; 144:7, compared with Act 4:30) to or in the grave, (i.e. to a dead man, such as I am in effect, having not only one foot, but in a manner both feet, in the grave, as being upon the very brink of the pit,) though they cry (to wit, unto God, i.e. though there be a great and a general cry and lamentation for him among his friends, or others, and an earnest desire of him, if possibly he might be restored to life again) in his destruction, i.e. when he is destroyed or dead; yet all these cries would be in vain.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
24. Expressing Job’s faith as tothe state after death. Though one must go to the grave, yet He willno more afflict in the ruin of the body (so Hebrew for”grave”) there, if one has cried to Him when beingdestroyed. The “stretching of His hand” to punish afterdeath answers antithetically to the raising “the cry” ofprayer in the second clause. MAURERgives another translation which accords with the scope of Job30:24-31; if it be natural for one in affliction to ask aid, whyshould it be considered (by the friends) wrong in my case?”Nevertheless does not a man in ruin stretch out his hand”(imploring help, Job 30:20;Lam 1:17)? If one be in hiscalamity (destruction) is there not therefore a “cry” (foraid)? Thus in the parallelism “cry” answers to”stretchhand”; “in his calamity,” to “inruin.” The negative of the first clause is to be supplied in thesecond, as in Job 30:25 (Job28:17).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Howbeit he will not stretch out [his] hand to the grave,…. Or, “verily” h, truly he will not, c. I am well assured he never will, meaning either he never would stretch out his hand to shut up the grave or rather keep it shut, and prevent Job from going down into it; or to open it, and fetch him out of it when in it: God is indeed able to do either of these, and has done it; sometimes, when persons are brought as it were to the gates of death and the grave, he says to them, Return; yea, when they are brought to the dust of death, he prevents them going into the grave, by restoring them to life before carried thither, as the Shunammite’s son, 2Ki 4:32; Jairus’s daughter, Mr 5:41; and the widow’s son of Nain, even when he was carrying to his grave, Lu 7:12; some have been laid in the grave, and God has stretched out his hand, and raised them up again; as the man that was laid in Elisha’s grave, 2Ki 13:21, and Lazarus after he had lain in the grave some days, Joh 11:39; but such things are not usually done; in common, when a man dies, and is laid in the grave, he rises not again, till the heavens be no more; and this Job was persuaded would be his case:
though they cry in his destruction; that is, though the friends and relations of the sick person, or the poor that he has been kind and bountiful unto, should cry unto God, while he is destroying him by the diseases upon him, and which threaten him with destruction, that he would spare his useful and valuable life; yet he is inexorable, and will not hear, but go on with what he intends to do, and takes him off by death, and lays him in the grave, “the pit of destruction”,
Ps 55:23, so called because it wastes and consumes bodies laid in it; and when once laid there, all cries for a restoration to life again are vain and fruitless. Some take these words as expressed in a way of solace, as if Job comforted himself with this thought under his present afflictions, that, when once he was brought to death and the grave, there would be an end of all his sorrow; the hand of the Lord, that was now stretched out on him in a terrible way, would be no longer stretched out on him; he would then cease to afflict him, and he should be where the weary are at rest; and so the last clause is read with an interrogation, “is there any cry”, or “do any cry, in his destruction?” i; no, when death has done its office, and the body is laid in the grave, there is no more pain nor sorrow, nor crying; all tears are wiped away, and there is no more sense of afflictions and sufferings; they are all at an end. Mr. Broughton renders these words as to the sense the same, and as in connection with the following ones, “and prayed I not when plague was sent? when hurt came to any, thereupon cried I not?” and so do some others k.
h “verum”, Mercerus; profecto, Drusius, Bolducius; “sane”, Tigurine version. i “aut clamant aliqui post obitum suum?” Tigurine version; “si in contritione ejus eis clamor?” Montanus, Bolducius. k Junius & Tremellius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
24 Doth one not, however, stretch out the hand in falling,
Doth he not raise a cry for help on that account in his ruin?
25 Or have I not wept for him that was in trouble,
Hath not my soul grieved for the needy? –
26 For I hoped for good, then evil came;
I waited for light, and darkness came.
27 My bowels boiled without ceasing,
Days of misery met me.
Most of the ancient versions indulge themselves in strange fancies respecting Job 30:24 to make a translatable text, or find their fancies in the text before them. The translation of the Targum follows the fancies of the Midrash, and places itself beyond the range of criticism. The lxx reads instead of , and finds in Job 30:24 a longing for suicide, or death by the hand of another. The Syriac likewise reads , although it avoids this absurdity. Jerome makes an address of the assertion, and, moreover, also moulds the text under the influence of the Midrash. Aq., Symm., and Theod. strive after a better rendering than the lxx, but (to judge from the fragment in the Hexapla) without success. Saadia and Gecatilia wring a sense out of Job 30:24, but at the expense of the syntax, and by dragging Job 30:24 after it, contrary to the tenor of the words. The old expositors also advance nothing available. They mostly interpret it as though it were not , but (a reading which has been forced into the Midrash texts and some Codd. instead of the reading of the text that is handed down to us). Even Rosenm. thinks might, like the Ara. , be equivalent to ; and Carey explains the enallage generis from the perhaps existing secondary idea of womanly fear, as 2Sa 4:6, instead of is used of the two assassins to describe them as cowards. But the Hebr. is fem.; and often as the enallage masc. pro fem. occurs, the enallage fem. pro masc. is unknown; , 2Sa 4:6, is an adv. of place (vid., moreover, Thenius in loc.). It is just as absolutely inadmissible when the old expositors combine with ( ), or as e.g., Raschi with , and translate, “welfare” or “exhilaration” (refreshing). The signif. “wealth” would be more readily admissible, so that , as Aben-Ezra observes, would be the subst. to , Job 34:19; but in Job 36:19 (which see), (as Isa 22:5) signifies a cry of distress (= ), and an attempt must be made here with this meaning before every other.
On the other hand comes the question whether is not perhaps to be referred to the verb , whether it be as subst. after the form (Ralbag after the Targ.) or as part. pass. (Saad. Arab. gr nnh ls ‘l – mbtgan , “only that it is not desired”). The verb does not, indeed, occur elsewhere in the book of Job, but is very consistent with its style, which so abounds in Aramaisms, and is at the same time so coloured with Arabic that we should almost say, its Hauranitish style.
(Note: The Arab. verb bg’ is still extensively used in Syria, and that in two forms: Arab. bg’ ybgy and bg’ ybg’ . In Damascus the fut. i is alone used; whereas in Hauran and the steppe I have only found fut. a. Thus e.g., the Hauranite poet Ksim el-Chinn says: “The gracious God encompass thee with His favour and whatever thy soul desires ( wa – l – nefsu ma tebgha ), it must obtain its desire” ( tanulu munahu , in connection with which it is to be observed that Arab. bal , fut. u is used here in the signification adipisci, comp. Fleischer on Job 15:29 [ supra i. 270, note]). – Wetzst.)
Thus taking as one word, Ralbag transl.: prayer stretched not forth the hand, which is intended to mean: is not able to do anything, cannot cause the will of God to miscarry. This meaning is only obtained by great violence; but when Renan (together with Bckel and Carey, after Rosenm.) translates: Vaines prires!..il tend sa main; quoi bon protester contre ses coups? the one may be measured with the other. If is to be derived from , it must be translated either: shall He, however, without prayer ( sine imploratione ), or: shall He, however, unimplored ( non imploratus ), stretch out His hand? The thought remains the same by both renderings of , and suits as a vindication of the cry for help in the context. But , in the specific signification implorare , deprecari , is indeed the usage of the Targum, although strange to the Hebr., which is here so rich in synonyms; then, in the former case, for is harsh, and in the other, as part. pass. is too strong an Aramaism. We must therefore consider whether as with the praep. gives a suitable sense. Since , e.g., Job 28:9 and elsewhere, most commonly means “to lay the hand on anything, stretch out the hand to anything,” it is most natural to take in dependence upon , and we really gain an impressive thought, if we translate: Only may He not stretch out His hand (to continue His work of destruction) to a heap of rubbish (which I am already become); but by this translation of Job 30:24, Job 30:24 remains a glaring puzzle, insoluble in itself and in respect of the further course of the thought, for Schlottmann’s interpretation, “Only one does not touch ruins, or the ruin of one is the salvation of another,” which is itself puzzling, is no solution. The reproach against the friends which is said to lie in Job 30:24 is contrary to the character of this monologue, which is turned away from his human opponents; then does not signify salvation, and there is no ”one” and “another” to be found in the text. We must therefore, against our inclination, give up this dependent relation of , so that signifies either, upon a heap of rubbish, or, since this ought to be : by the falling in; (from = iwj ) can mean both: a falling in or overthrow ( bouleversement) as an event, and ruins or rubbish as its result.
Accordingly Hirz. translates: Only upon the ruins (more correctly at least: upon ruins) one will not stretch out his hand, and Ew.: Only – does not one stretch out one’s hand by one’s overthrow? But this “only” is awkward. Hahn is of opinion that may be taken in the signification not once, and translates: may one not for once raise one’s hand by one’s downfall; but even this is lame, because then all connection with what precedes is wanting; besides, does not signify ne quidem . The originally affirmative has certainly for the most part a restrictive signification, which, as we observed on Job 18:21, is blended with the affirmative in Hebr., but it is also, as more frequently , used adversatively, e.g., Job 16:7, and in the combination this adversative signification coincides with the restrictive, for this double particle signifies everywhere else: only not, however not, Gen 20:12; 1Ki 11:39; 2Ki 12:14; 2Ki 13:6; 2Ki 23:9, 2Ki 23:26. It would be more natural to translate, as we have stated above: only may be not, etc., but Job 30:24 puts in its veto against this. If, as Hirz., Ew., and Hahn also suppose, , Job 30:24, is equivalent to , so that the sentence is to be spoken with an interrogative accent, we must translate as Jer. has done, by verumtamen. He knows that he is being hurried forth to meet death; he knows it, and has also already made himself so familiar with this thought, that the sooner he sees an end put to this his sorrowful life the better – nevertheless does one not stretch out one’s hand when one is falling? This involuntary reaction against destruction is the inevitable result of man’s instinct of self-preservation. It needs no proof that can signify “to stretch out one’s hand for help;” is used with a general subj.: one stretches out, as Job 17:5; Job 21:22. With this determination of the idea of Job 30:24, Job 30:24 is now also naturally connected with what precedes. It is not, however, to be translated, as Ew. and Hirz.: if one is in distress, is not a cry for help heard on account of it? If were intended hypothetically, a continuation of the power of the interrogative from Job 30:24 would be altogether impossible. Hahn and Loch-Reischl rightly take in the sense of an. It introduces another turn of the question: Does one, however, not stretch out one’s hand to hasten the fall, or in his downfall (raise) a cry for help, or a wail, on that account? Dderlein’s conjecture, for (praying “for favour”), deserves respectful mention, but it is not needed: signifies neutrally: in (under) such circumstances (comp. , Job 22:21; Isa 64:5), or is directly equivalent to , which (Rth 1:13) signifies propterea , and even in biblical Chaldee, beside the Chaldee signif. sed , nisi , retains this Hebrew signif. (Dan 2:6, Dan 2:9; Dan 4:24). , which signifies dying and destruction (Talmud. in the peculiar signif.: that which is hewn or pecked open), synon. of , has been already discussed on Job 12:5.
Job 30:25 The further progress of the thoughts seems to be well carried out only by our rendering of Job 30:24. The manifestation of feeling – Job means to say – which he himself felt at the misfortune of others, will be still permitted to him in his own misfortune, the seeking of compassion from the sympathising: or have I not wept for the hard of day? i.e., him whose lot in life is hard (comp. Arab. qasy , durus , miser); did not my soul grieve for the needy? Here, also, from Job 30:25 continues its effect (comp. Job 3:10; Job 28:17); is . . , of like signification with , whence Isa 19:10, (sadness) b. Mod katan 14 b, Arab. agima , to feel disgust. If the relation of Job 30:25 to Job 30:24 is confirmatory, Job 30:26 and what follows refers directly to Job 30:24: he who felt sympathy with the sufferings of others will nevertheless dare in his own affliction to stretch out his hand for help in the face of certain ruin, and pour forth his pain in lamentation; for his affliction is in reality inexpressibly great: he hoped for good (for the future from his prosperous condition, in which he rejoiced),
(Note: lxx Aldina: , which Zwingli rightly corrects ( Codd. Vat., Alex., and Sinait.).)
then came evil; and if I waited for light, deep darkness came. Ewald (232, h) regards as contracted from , but this shortening of the vowel is a pure impossibility. The former signifies rather or , the latter , and that cohortative fut. logically forms a hypothetical antecedent, exactly like Job 19:18, if I desire to rise ( ), they speak against me (vid., Ew. 357, b). In feverish heat and anxiety his bowels were set boiling ( as Job 41:23, comp. Talmud. , a hot-headed fellow), and rested not (from this boiling). The accentuation Tarcha, Mercha, and Athnach is here incorrect; instead of Athnach, Rebia mugrasch is required. Days of affliction came upon him ( as Psa 18:6), viz., as a hostile power cutting off the previous way of his prosperity.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
c. The disappointment of all his hopes (Job. 30:24-31)
TEXT 30:2431
24 Howbeit doth not one stretch out the hand in his fall:
Or in his calamity therefore cry for help?
25 Did not I weep for him that was in trouble?
Was not my soul grieved for the needy?
26 When I looked for good, then evil came;
And when I waited for light, there came darkness.
27 My heart is troubled, and resteth not;
Days of affliction are come upon me.
28 I go mourning without the sun:
I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.
29 I am a brother to jackals,
And a companion to ostriches.
30 My skin is black, and falleth from me,
And my bones are burned with heat.
31 Therefore is my harp turned to mourning,
And my pipe into the voice of them that weep.
Job. 30:24The idiom, slh yd bsend the hand against (A. V. as stretch out the hand)is to be taken in the hostile sense. In his prosperity Job did not strike the unfortunate; why is he now receiving Gods hostile hand? Job declares that I always extended sympathy to anyone in distress, but me, I receive my calamities.
Job. 30:25Job continuesDid I not weep for those who experiencedlit. the hard of day or the ones grieved. Now no one grieves for me. Will not even God show sympathy to Job?Rom. 12:15 and 1Pe. 3:8. His friends showed no sympathy to himJob. 19:21but he showed concern for others who sufferedJob. 29:12-17. What about God?
Job. 30:26He disputes the views of his friends that virtue produces happiness. His prosperity did not continue as a result of his generous sympathy, as they had claimed it would. Job. 30:27His heart (lit. bowels, seat of emotionsJer. 4:19 and Isa. 16:11) boils (A. V. troubled is not strong enough) within himLam. 1:20; Lam. 2:11; and Eze. 24:5. His anxiety rages, yet no respite. God, please break your silence.
Job. 30:28The A. V. rendering is defective. In the first line, without the sun is derived from the root qdrwhich has the primary sense of be or become dark. Jobs blackened appearance is not caused by the sun (Heb. hammahmeans sun, also heat as in Psa. 19:7), but rather his disease. The phrase found in the A. V., I go mourning without the sun, makes little sense. The same root, i.e., qdr, generates the meaning of sad or mourning, but this is probably the less preferred understanding for this context. The sense is that he is blackened without the sun. He says that I stand in the assembly and cry for help, but no one hears.
Job. 30:29Jackals live in the desert, and the only place that Job is welcome is there. The jackals are also known for their plaintive cry, with which he also identifies. The ostrich, too, is known for its hissing, cackling, and doleful moaningMic. 1:8; Isa. 13:21; Isa. 34:13. The mournful howl of these animals still disturbs the desert nights.
Job. 30:30The disease is ravaging Job as his skin peels off (mealoy, from upon me) his bones. His skin is black (this verse contains a different root than found in Job. 30:28) from the final stages of the disease. Fever penetrates (burns) deeply in his bones. This same verb burn is found in Eze. 24:10 where it is used of the burning of bones with fire. Here it is used metaphorically, so also Psa. 102:4 and Isa. 24:6.
Job. 30:31The harp (kinnor) is often used for a joyful religious celebration. Here the celebration has turned to mourning. The glad, happy sounds are no more. The flute (ugab) also expresses the spirit of lamentation. Here is a beautiful but pathetic contrast between Jobs past happy experiences and his present sickness unto death. From the perspective of his own angst we turn to hear Jobs final oaththe oath of innocence.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(24) Though they cry in his destruction.This is a very obscure verse. Some render it, Surely against a ruinous heap he will not put forth his hand; though it be in his destruction one may utter a cry because of these things. Others, understanding the word rendered ruinous heap otherwise, render Howbeit, God will not put forth His hand to bring man to death and the grave when there is earnest prayer for them, nor even when in calamity proceeding from Him there is a loud cry for them: that is to say, I know that Thou wilt dissolve and destroy me, and bring me to the grave, though Thou wilt not do so when I pray unto Thee to release me by death from my sufferings. Thou wilt surely do so, but not in my time or according to my will, but only in Thine own appointed time, and as Thou seest fit. This is one of those passages that may be regarded as hopelessly uncertain. Each reader will make the best sense he can of it, according to his judgment. That Job should speak of himself as a ruinous heap seems very strange; neither is it at all clear what these things are because of which a cry is uttered. Certainly the significance given by the other rendering is much greater. His destruction must mean, at all events, the destruction that cometh from Him; and if this is so, the sense given is virtually that of the Authorised Version.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Fourth strophe God’s insensibility to Job’s prayers may have arisen from the general principle that prayers can be of no avail when once the doom of destruction shall have gone forth. The sympathy Job had ever extended to those in distress led him to expect divine succour, but in vain, since naught now remains to him but lamentation and death. Job 30:24-31.
24. Howbeit , yea. Schultens enumerates eighteen interpretations of this difficult verse. Those most worthy of consideration turn upon the meaning of , which, if taken as one word, signifies prayer; if compounded, it means to the grave or in destruction. Gesenius, ( Thes., 222,) Rosenmuller, Conant, Renan, Lewis, etc., render, essentially, yea, there is no prayer where he (God) stretches out the hand; when he (God) destroys, vain is the cry for help. Literally, it reads. “If in his destruction (that of which God is author) one cries,” what then? of what avail? which is, says Dr. T. Lewis, an aposiopesis, (like that of Luk 13:9, if it bear fruit!! or the quos ego!! of Virgil,) a figure common to passionate language, in which the speaker leaves the hearer to supply a conclusion which he himself is loath to express. Comp. Psa 94:9; Iliad, 1:26. Renan renders it, “ of what use to protest against his blows.” If instead of taking, with Jerome and Kimchi, , as euphonical for a masculine plural, it be read adverbially “ on this account,” (Furst,) the sense is not materially changed. The noun , cry, corresponds to the of Job 24:12, “The soul of the wounded crieth out.” On the other hand, in view of the context, Ewald, Hirtzel, Dillmann, etc., translate less correctly, yet in destruction doth one not stretch out the hand? In his calamity doth he not complain thereof? Dr. Clarke gives no translation, but seems disposed to follow Bede and most of the Latins in regarding it as “a consolatory reflection, as if he had said, though I suffer here, I shall not suffer hereafter his displeasure shall not proceed beyond the grave.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 30:24. Howbeit, he will not stretch out, &c. Houbigant renders this verse, Howbeit death shall not extend his hand to my sepulchre; but if to my dissolution, even that shall be for my salvation. See his note. Heath reads it differently thus: Howbeit, he will not stretch forth his hand in its might, though they shout ever so loud when he afflicteth me. The author, says he, with great elegance, makes death and the grave two persons (see the former verse), who shout at every stroke laid upon the sufferer, as if it brought him nearer to their hands: a shout of triumph, as for a victory gained.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Job 30:24 Howbeit he will not stretch out [his] hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.
Ver. 24. Howbeit he will outstretch not his hand to the grave ] He will not dig up the dead, as the Papists dealt by Bucer and others, to afflict them any more. Quid facere poterunt? Occident? Nunquid, resuscitabunt ut iterum occidant? What can they do? said Luther concerning his enemies who threatened him. Will they kill me? but what then? Will they raise me up to life again, that they may kill me again? No: Charles V, emperor, when he might have done that, and was moved to do it, would not. Mors requies aerumnarum. Dead men are at rest, was Chaucer’s motto. There, in the grave, the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary be at rest, Job 3:17 . Thus Job speaketh, going no further than the afflictions of the body, as being for his own part fearless of eternal punishment. But as for the wicked, when they die out of bodily misery, it is but as the man’s flying from a lion, and a more savage bear meeteth him; or going from it into the house (this house mentioned in Job 30:23 ), and that more venomous serpent (the devil, who hath the power of death, Heb 2:14 ) there biteth him, Amo 5:19 .
Though they cry in his destruction
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
grave. Hebrew. bi’ i, a mound or tumulus. But others point it be’i = a prayer.
his destruction = their calamity.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
grave: Heb. heap
they cry: Jdg 5:31, Psa 35:25, Mat 27:39-44
Reciprocal: Ecc 3:20 – go
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 30:24. He will not stretch out his hand to the grave This verse is judged by commentators to be very obscure. The sense of it probably is, Notwithstanding I earnestly wished for the grave as a place of rest, thou wilt not indulge me so far as to stretch out thy hand and give me my death- wound: or, thy hand (that is, the hand of Gods wrath) will not follow me beyond death and the grave: I shall then be safe and easy. Though they cry in his destruction In the destruction brought on them by death; that is, though most men cry out 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.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
30:24 Howbeit he will not stretch out [his] hand {q} to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.
(q) No one can deliver me from there, though they lament my death.