“I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.”
I go about blackened but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry out, describing Job's appearance as darkened by suffering and his continued, though now futile, attempt to address the community. The blackening not by the sun suggests illness or grief rather than sunburn. The standing in assembly and crying out suggests that Job continues to seek audience and response despite his degradation. The verse suggests Job's persistent articulation of his condition even as his voice goes unheeded.
Church Fathers on Job 30:28
I went mourning: without rage rising up, I cried out in the crowd. I see that it is a thing to be carefully noted historically considered, that the holy man who a little before said, Thou hast lifted me up, added below, I went mourning. For by a wonderful arrangement at one and the same time there is wont to meet together in the courses of good men, at once without, the honour of the highest pitch, and within, the mourning of afflicted abasement. Hence the holy man likewise,…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!