Job 30 20

Job 30:20 kjv

I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not.

Job 30:20 nkjv

"I cry out to You, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You regard me.

Job 30:20 niv

"I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me.

Job 30:20 esv

I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me.

Job 30:20 nlt

"I cry to you, O God, but you don't answer.
I stand before you, but you don't even look.

Job 30 verses

Job 30 20 Meaning

Job 30:20 expresses Job's profound despair and feeling of divine abandonment. He laments that despite his fervent cries for help, God remains silent and unresponsive. Job perceives God as merely observing his intense suffering without offering any comfort, intervention, or even acknowledging his plea. It highlights his deepest anguish over what he experiences as God's deliberate inaction and detachment in the face of his overwhelming affliction.

Job 30 20 Context

Job chapter 30 forms a stark contrast to Job's earlier state of prosperity and honor described in chapter 29. Having detailed his past glory as a respected and compassionate community leader, Job now plunges into the depths of his current degradation and suffering. He describes his abject physical pain (vv. 16-19), the mockery he endures from the lowest strata of society (vv. 1-15), and the total breakdown of his physical being. Within this context of extreme personal anguish, Job turns his lament directly to God. Verse 20 represents a pivot from detailing his condition to expressing his desperate and bitter complaint against God's perceived inaction. He feels actively tormented and passively ignored by the very God he believes has brought this suffering upon him. Historically, in the ancient Near East, suffering was typically attributed to sin or divine punishment. Job's insistent claim of innocence, coupled with God's silence, directly challenges this prevailing theology, posing a significant polemic against the simplistic understanding of divine justice common to his era and to his friends.

Job 30 20 Word analysis

• I cry (Hebrew: אֶצְעַק, ets'aq): This word signifies a loud, desperate shout or scream, a cry of deep distress or pain. It's not a calm request but an urgent appeal born out of torment. Its use implies an extremity of suffering that demands immediate divine attention. In the broader biblical narrative, such a cry often invokes God's swift response, particularly for the oppressed (e.g., Ex 2:23; Dt 26:7). Here, Job notes God's atypical silence.
• to you (Hebrew: אֵלֶיךָ, eleikha): Direct, personal address to God. Job’s complaint is directly pointed at his perceived source of torment and hope for intervention, highlighting his continued faith that God is the one capable of acting, even as God appears not to.
• for help, and you do not answer me (Hebrew: וְלֹא תַעֲנֵנִי, velo ta'aneni - "and you do not answer me"): The "for help" is implied by the crying. The negative "not" coupled with "answer" (ענה, ʿana, to respond, answer, or intervene) highlights the agonizing reality of God’s silence. Job’s pleas for vindication, relief, or understanding receive no verbal reply, no miraculous intervention, and no comfort, a deeply disturbing experience for a righteous sufferer expecting divine presence. This directly confronts the ancient expectation that righteous prayer would be heard and answered by God.
• I stand (Hebrew: אֶעֱמוֹד, e'emod): This verb can imply standing firm, waiting, presenting oneself, or standing in a position to be judged. Here, it suggests Job’s persistence in his complaint, his continued state of enduring affliction, or his act of presenting himself before God as a defendant seeking a hearing or as an innocent one waiting for justice. It could also mean he has taken a posture of ready anticipation, awaiting a response or divine judgment.
• and you merely look at me (Hebrew: וַתִּתְבּוֹנֵן בִּי, vatitt'bonen bi - "and you intently look at me"): The verb (hitpa'el of בין, bin) suggests a focused, contemplative, or discerning gaze, a "looking closely." For Job, this deep observation is utterly frustrating and distressing because it is devoid of action or empathy. God observes his suffering with apparent understanding, yet chooses not to alleviate it. The word choice intensifies Job’s perception of God’s detached, indifferent scrutiny rather than compassionate intervention. It’s a polemic against a purely omniscient God who sees but does not necessarily save or sympathize as per conventional theology.

Words-group by words-group analysis:

• "I cry to you for help, and you do not answer me": This phrase captures the core of Job’s lament—unanswered prayer and the profound silence of God. It's a poignant depiction of a believer’s greatest fear: God’s apparent absence or indifference in suffering. The active pursuit of God's attention ('I cry') met with absolute divine passivity ('do not answer') creates an agonizing tension, reflecting the human struggle to reconcile a just, loving God with the reality of intense, seemingly unwarranted pain.
• "I stand, and you merely look at me": This expands on the theme of divine passivity. Job’s patient endurance or posture of persistent waiting ('I stand') is met only with observation, not intervention ('you merely look'). The implication is not just that God doesn't answer, but that He sees the plight perfectly and still chooses to do nothing. This suggests God is a spectator rather than a rescuer, a concept deeply unsettling to Job and to traditional theology that emphasizes God's active involvement and care. This challenge implies Job questions divine benevolence, not merely omnipotence.

Job 30 20 Bonus section

The audacity of Job's direct accusation against God (charging Him with active affliction and passive observation) is a significant aspect of the book. Unlike the comforters who attribute suffering to hidden sin or an unknowable divine decree, Job holds God accountable to his perception of justice. His complaint highlights a central theological tension within the Book of Job: the problem of righteous suffering and God's role within it. It serves as an example that while the believer should appeal to God in prayer, there are times when silence and perceived non-intervention will be profoundly challenging, leading even the most righteous to question and lament the nature of divine engagement. Job's words foreshadow Christ's cry of dereliction on the cross (Mt 27:46), connecting human suffering with a profound sense of divine forsakenness, yet holding firm to faith in the ultimate source of all power.

Job 30 20 Commentary

Job 30:20 articulates Job’s bitter, existential crisis, marking a profound complaint directly leveled at God. Job feels that his persistent, agonizing pleas for help meet only with divine silence and a detached gaze. This is more than unanswered prayer; it's a sense of divine abandonment where God, fully aware of Job's suffering, chooses not to intervene or communicate. This verse reveals Job's raw honesty in confronting God, even while in agony. He does not deny God's existence or power but passionately questions His justice and compassion in His dealings with a righteous sufferer. This verse embodies the anguish of the "dark night of the soul," where faith wrestles with the overwhelming experience of a seemingly absent or indifferent God. It affirms that genuine faith can exist even amid profound doubt and direct theological accusation, demonstrating the depth and complexity of human-divine relationship.