Catholic Commentary on Job 30

"But now they mock me, men younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs." (Job 30:1)

Job's Present Contempt

But now they mock me, men younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs. They are a base and nameless brood, driven from the land. And now their sons mock me in song; I have become a byword to them. They detest me and keep their distance; they do not hesitate to spit in my face. God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me; he throws me into the mud and I am reduced to dust and ashes. I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer; I stand up and you merely look at me. You turn on me ruthlessly; you snatch me up and drive me before the wind. I know you will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.

The Catechism identifies the experience of being reduced to nothing in human eyes as the crucible that Job shares with Christ himself, who was mocked and spat upon by those he came to save (CCC 517).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer. This is the prayer that appears to return void, the cry met with apparent silence. Jesus prayed it from the cross. The unanswered cry addressed to God is not wasted - it is the cry that God himself has made, and therefore the cry he most fully hears. Keep crying out.

Prayer

Lord God, we cry out and you appear not to answer. Yet we will not stop. You yourself cried out on the cross. Receive our unanswered cries. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

30
Job’s Honor Turned to Contempt
1 “But now they mock me,
men younger than I am,
whose fathers I would have refused
to entrust with my sheep dogs.
2 What use to me was the strength of their hands,
since their vigor had left them?
3 Gaunt from poverty and hunger,
they gnawed the dry land,
and the desolate wasteland by night.
4 They plucked mallow among the shrubs,
and the roots of the broom tree were their food.* 30:4 Or their fuel
5 They were banished from among men,
shouted down like thieves,
6 so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis,
among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
7 They cried out among the shrubs
and huddled beneath the nettles.
8 A senseless and nameless brood,
they were driven off the land.
 
9 And now they mock me in song;
I have become a byword among them.
10 They abhor me and keep far from me;
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11 Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me,
they have cast off restraint † 30:11 Hebrew the bridle in my presence.
12 The rabble arises at my right;
they lay snares for my feet
and build siege ramps against me.
13 They tear up my path;
they profit from my destruction,
with no one to restrain them.‡ 30:13 Or with no one to assist them
14 They advance as through a wide breach;
through the ruins they keep rolling in.
Job’s Prosperity Becomes Calamity
 
15 Terrors are turned loose against me;
they drive away my dignity as by the wind,
and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
16 And now my soul is poured out within me;
days of affliction grip me.
17 Night pierces my bones,
and my gnawing pains never rest.
18 With great force He grasps my garment;§ 30:18 LXX; Hebrew He becomes like a garment to me or my garment is disfigured
He seizes me by the collar of my tunic.
19 He throws me into the mud,
and I have become like dust and ashes.
 
20 I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer;
when I stand up, You merely look at me.
21 You have ruthlessly turned on me;
You oppose me with Your strong hand.
22 You snatch me up into the wind
and drive me before it;
You toss me about * 30:22 Or You dissolve me in the storm.
23 Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death,
to the place appointed for all the living.
 
24 Yet no one stretches out his hand to a ruined man
when he cries for help in his distress.
25 Have I not wept for those in trouble?
Has my soul not grieved for the needy?
26 But when I hoped for good, evil came;
when I looked for light, darkness fell.
27 I am churning within and cannot rest;
days of affliction confront me.
28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun.
I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
29 I have become a brother of jackals,† 30:29 Or serpents or dragons
a companion of ostriches.‡ 30:29 Literally of daughters of an ostrich or of daughters of an owl
30 My skin grows black and peels,
and my bones burn with fever.
31 My harp is tuned to mourning
and my flute to the sound of weeping.

*30:4 30:4 Or their fuel

†30:11 30:11 Hebrew the bridle

‡30:13 30:13 Or with no one to assist them

§30:18 30:18 LXX; Hebrew He becomes like a garment to me or my garment is disfigured

*30:22 30:22 Or You dissolve me

†30:29 30:29 Or serpents or dragons

‡30:29 30:29 Literally of daughters of an ostrich or of daughters of an owl

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