Job 30:28

Old Testament Wisdom/Poetry ASV (1901)

What does Job 30:28 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “I go mourning without the sun: I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

I go mourning without the sun: I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.
Job 30:28 — American Standard Version

Context — Job 30

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
28I go mourning without the sun: I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“I went mourning without the sun, etc.] So overwhelmed with grief, that he refused to have any comfort from, or any advantage by the sun; hence Mr. Broughton renders it, “out of the sun”; he did not choose to walk in the sunshine, but out of it, to indulge his grief and sorrow the more; or he went in black attire, and wrapped and covered himself with it, that he might not see the sun, or receive any relief by it: or “I go black, [but] not by the sun” f1117; his face and his skin were black, but not through the sun looking upon him and discolouring him, as in (<220106>Song of Solomon 1:6); but through the force of his disease, which had changed his complexion, and made him as black as a…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“mourning--rather, I move about blackened, though not by the sun; that is, whereas many are blackened by the sun, I am, by the heat of God's wrath (so "boiled," Job 30:27); the elephantiasis covering me with blackness of skin (Job 30:30), as with the garb of mourning (Jer 14:2). This striking enigmatic form of Hebrew expression occurs, Isa 29:9. stood up--as an innocent man crying for justice in an assembled court (Job 30:20).”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“I went mourning - Or rather, “I go,” in the present tense, for he is now referring to his present calamities, and not to what was past. The word rendered “mourning,” however (קדר qâdar), means here rather to be dark, dingy, tanned. It literally means to be foul or turbid, like a torrent, Job 6:16; then to go about in filthy garments, as they do who mourn, Job 5:11; Jeremiah 14:2; then to be dusky, or of a dark color, or to become dark. Thus, it is applied to the sun and moon becoming dark in an eclipse, or when covered with clouds, Jeremiah 4:28; Joel 2:10; Joel 3:15; Micah 3:6. Here it refers to the fact that, by the mere force of his disease, his skin had become dark and swarthy, though…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“Without the sun - Heb. black, not by the sun. My very countenance became black, tho' not by the sun, but by the force of my disease. Job 30:29”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“30:28 Before his testing began, Job had been respected in the public square (29:7-10, 21-25); he helped others who were in need (29:11-17).”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“Psa 38:6, Psa 42:9, Psa 43:2; Isa 53:3, Isa 53:4; Lam 3:1-3 Job 30:29”
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Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · Commentary on the Old Testament · 19th-century historical commentary
“28 I wandered about in mourning without the sun; I rose in the assembly, I gave free course to my complaint. 29 I am become a brother of the jackals And a companion of ostriches. 30 My skin having become black, peels off from me, And my bones are parched with dryness. 31 My harp was turned to mourning, And my pipe to tones of sorrow. Several expositors (Umbr., Vaih., Hlgst.) understand קדר of the dirty-black skin of the leper, but contrary to the usage of the language, according to which, in similar utterances ( Psa 35:14; Psa 38:7; Psa 42:10; Psa 43:2, comp. supra, Job 5:11), it rather denotes the dirty-black dress of mourners (comp. Arab. qḏḏr, conspurcare vestem); to understand it of…”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification