Job 30 3

Job 30:3 kjv

For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.

Job 30:3 nkjv

They are gaunt from want and famine, Fleeing late to the wilderness, desolate and waste,

Job 30:3 niv

Haggard from want and hunger, they roamed the parched land in desolate wastelands at night.

Job 30:3 esv

Through want and hard hunger they gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation;

Job 30:3 nlt

They are gaunt from poverty and hunger.
They claw the dry ground in desolate wastelands.

Job 30 verses

Job 30 3 Meaning

Job 30:3 graphically describes individuals enduring the most profound degradation and suffering imaginable. They are depicted as physically emaciated ("gaunt") due to extreme deprivation ("want and famine"). Their destitution is so dire that they are reduced to consuming barren soil ("gnaw the dry ground") in their desperate struggle for survival. Their existence is relegated to the most remote and inhospitable places—a "wilderness, desolate and waste"—symbolizing their complete social ostracism and utter hopelessness. This verse portrays the depths of human misery, setting a stark contrast for Job's own unexpected descent into a similar, if not worse, state of abject suffering and contempt.

Job 30 3 Context

Job 30 opens with a stark contrast to the preceding chapter, Job 29. In chapter 29, Job recounted his former days of glory, respect, prosperity, and righteous compassion—a revered leader who provided justice and succor to the downtrodden. Now, in chapter 30, Job paints a vivid picture of his absolute humiliation and suffering. He laments being mocked and scorned by the lowest echelons of society, specifically those whom he himself once dismissed as too ignoble even for the service of his sheep, or those who were driven out to dwell in desolate wastes. This verse (Job 30:3) serves to amplify the shocking reversal of Job's fortune by describing the wretched condition of these outcasts. Job implies that he has fallen to a state even worse than, or at least comparable to, these most pitiable and marginalized individuals. It underlines the profundity of Job's despair and his feeling of abandonment by both God and humanity, showcasing suffering beyond conventional understanding.

Job 30 3 Word analysis

• "For want": Implies a deep and fundamental deficiency or deprivation. In Hebrew, this conveys ḥāsar (חָסַר), denoting scarcity, need, or a lacking state. It indicates the absence of basic necessities.

• "and famine": Refers specifically to extreme hunger and the absence of food. The Hebrew rāʿāv (רָעָב) is common, emphasizing intense, gnawing hunger that impacts a person's very being. It is more than just hunger; it's widespread and prolonged food shortage.

• "they are gaunt": Describes their physical appearance, revealing emaciation and a wasted condition. The underlying Hebrew might derive from roots like ʿāmal (עָמַל) signifying exhaustion or labor, or verbs indicating languishing or wasting away. This portrays visible signs of severe suffering.

• "they gnaw": This powerfully evokes an action of desperate, extreme effort to find any scrap of sustenance. The specific Hebrew verb is textually debated, but the conceptual meaning conveyed is a scraping, licking, or consuming of inedible substances due to utter starvation. It paints a picture of beings reduced to animalistic survival instincts.

• "the dry ground": Refers to barren, infertile land or dust itself. In Hebrew, this could be yabbāshāh (יַבָּשָׁה) for dry land or ʿāphār (עָפָר) for dust/earth. It emphasizes the absolute absence of food; what they attempt to "gnaw" has no nutritional value. It underscores their complete lack of provision.

• "in the wilderness": Refers to the midbār (מִדְבָּר) in Hebrew, which is a barren, uninhabited, desolate place. Biblically, it often represents a place of danger, judgment, testing, and extreme isolation, cut off from community and resources. It's not just a location but a state of existence.

• "desolate": Expresses utter emptiness, ruin, or waste. The Hebrew shmāmāh (שְׁמָמָה) denotes destruction or desolation, often implying the outcome of judgment or utter abandonment.

• "and waste": Reinforces the sense of utter emptiness and formlessness. This Hebrew term, tōhû (תֹּהוּ), also found in Gen 1:2, refers to a state of primordial chaos, void, or unproductive nothingness. Here, it stresses the extreme barrenness and futility of their surroundings and lives.

• Words-group by words-group analysis:

  • "For want and famine they are gaunt": This opening phrase establishes the causal relationship between deprivation and physical deterioration. It highlights a common experience of severe hunger and poverty leading to skeletal emaciation, signifying a state of profound physiological suffering and lack of dignity.
  • "they gnaw the dry ground": This vivid, visceral image goes beyond simple hunger. It portrays a scene of ultimate desperation, where even the infertile earth becomes a last, futile attempt at sustenance. It speaks of a sub-human existence, an unimaginable depth of craving when all else has vanished.
  • "in the wilderness, desolate and waste": This triple description of their habitat underscores their total isolation, marginalization, and utter lack of hope or comfort. The wilderness, desolate, and waste combined emphasizes that they are not merely removed from society but cast into a state mirroring primordial chaos—an unproductive, unredeemable environment that mirrors their internal despair and outward social rejection.

Job 30 3 Bonus section

The profound destitution described in Job 30:3 carries implicit polemical undertones against the prevailing retribution theology of Job's day. While Job's friends vehemently argued that suffering directly equates to sin, Job's own experience, and his description of these suffering individuals (whom he himself perhaps once dismissed or judged), calls into question such simplistic interpretations. The righteous Job experiences a fate mirroring these outcasts, shattering the neat correlation between piety and prosperity. In the ancient Near East, the wilderness was often seen as a place associated with curses, divine wrath, or banishment—a dangerous, untamed frontier contrasting with the ordered, fertile land of blessings. This verse places its subjects in the very heart of such an inhospospitable place, magnifying their plight through cultural understanding of such environments.

Job 30 3 Commentary

Job 30:3 powerfully illustrates the utter collapse of human existence when subjected to the extremes of deprivation and societal abandonment. It functions as a counterpoint to Job's former exalted status, emphasizing the depths to which he feels he has fallen. The vivid imagery of "gnawing the dry ground" transcends mere hunger, depicting an act of such desperation that it strips away human dignity, reducing individuals to a primal struggle for survival. The "wilderness, desolate and waste" is not merely a geographic location but a metaphorical realm of utter barrenness and hopelessness, reflective of both the physical hardship and the spiritual desolation endured. This verse forces the reader to confront the limits of human endurance and the profound sense of neglect, whether by fellow man or perceived divine judgment. For Job, his unexpected and unjust suffering places him among, or even beneath, these lowest of outcasts, further magnifying his inexplicable anguish and challenging the conventional wisdom that only the wicked experience such profound misery.