Job 30:29 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Job 30:29

Comments

The word dragon is translated jackal by most modern versions. Job likens himself to the wild jackals and calls them brothers to indicate his closeness to them. He is like them in that he is outcast from the company of men and forced to skulk about in the shadows. The jackal is driven away from human settlements, but is attracted to them because they present a source of food; so Job felt that he was driven away from human society because of the repellent nature of his diseased appearance and because he was judged to be one condemned by God. Likewise he saw himself as a companion of ostriches, another creature noted for its dwelling in the wilderness away from human habitation. Job’s physical appearance was obvious to those around him and he says little about this (Hailey), emphasising rather those sufferings resulting from his desertion by God which could not be seen. Here however he describes the awful effects of his disease which caused his skin to blacken and peel off, something which must have been very unpleasant to observe. The disease also penetrated deep within him and caused him to experience a burning sensation in his bones which must have made him conclude that he was too far gone for hope of recovery. His harp, which would normally be an instrument of joy and happiness, was turned to mourning, and his flute, an instrument associated with celebration perhaps at weddings, had become an accompaniment to weeping more appropriate for funerals, both of which are figures of speech showing that the brightest sources of happiness in his life were destroyed and there was nothing left which he could turn to in order to lift himself out of despondency.

Application

‘How great a temptation Job endured when it seemed that his praying to God did him no good, for that is our last refuge in all our adversity, and the sovereign remedy that can never fail us. When it seems that we are disappointed in our hope, and that God acts as if he were deaf, and that our prayers profit us nothing, it is as if hell gaped upon us, and we are bound to fall into utter despair if God does not hold us back, and show that his delay in helping us is not without cause … If God now and then suffers us to linger in pain, let us wait patiently and fight against such temptations, yes, and let us endeavour also to obey him. For it is not enough to pray to God, but we must also bridle our affections … Although Job was a mirror of patience, yet he was not so self-controlled that he mastered himself when he spoke of God, for he did not proceed with that reverence that he ought to have had, but ran headlong into this temptation. Although he was not overcome, he only succeeded in resisting with much ado. Seeing that the passions within us are so out of square, let us learn to hold them, as it were, in prison, and when we have fought hard to tame ourselves, let us remember that there is much imperfection in us – enough for God to condemn us if he did not bear with us in his infinite goodness’ (Calvin – in modern English).

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Job 30:29 Commentary and Bible Study