New English Translation
Job 30:4
4By the brush they would gather herbs from the salt marshes, and the root of the broom tree was their food.
Job 30:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.
- New International Version (NIV)In the brush they gathered salt herbs, and their food was the root of the broom bush.
- English Standard Version (ESV)they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes, and the roots of the broom tree for their food.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Who pluck mallow by the bushes, And broom tree roots for their food.
Context of Job 30:4
2Moreover, the strength of their hands – what use was it to me? Men whose strength had perished; 3gaunt with want and hunger, they would gnaw the parched land, in former time desolate and waste. By the brush they would gather herbs from the salt marshes, and the root of the broom tree was their food. 5They were banished from the community – people shouted at them like they would shout at thieves – 6so that they had to live in the dry stream beds, in the holes of the ground, and among the rocks.
Read all of Job 30Job 30:4 word by word
הַקֹּטְפִ֣ים מַלּ֣וּחַ עֲלֵי־שִׂ֑יחַ וְשֹׁ֖רֶשׁ רְתָמִ֣ים לַחְמָֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 30:4
- 2 Kings 4:38Now Elisha went back to Gilgal, while there was famine in the land. Some of the prophets were visiting him and he told his servant, “Put the big pot on the fire and boil some stew for the prophets.”
- Amos 7:14Amos replied to Amaziah, “I was not a prophet by profession. No, I was a herdsman who also took care of sycamore fig trees.
- Luke 15:16He was longing to eat the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
Commentaries on Job 30:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Who cut up mallows by the bushes - מלוח malluach, which we translate mallows, comes from מלח melach, salt; some herb or shrub of a salt nature, sea-purslane, or the salsaria, salsola, or saltwort. Bochart says it is the ̔ of the Greeks, and the halimus of the Romans. Some translate it nettles. The Syriac and Arabic omit the whole verse. The halimus, or atriplex halimus, grows near the sea in different countries, and is found in Spain, America, England…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Who cut up mallows - For the purpose of eating. Mallows are common medicinal plants, famous for their emollient or softening properties, and the size and brilliancy of their flowers. It is not probable, however, that Job referred to what we commonly understand by the word mallows. It has been commonly supposed that he meant a species of plant, called by the Greeks Hallimus, a sunfish plant, or “salt wort,” growing commonly in the deserts and poor land…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-31Job compares his past happiness, honor, and wealth with his current loss of social dignity and divine friendship (chapters 29 and 30). He ends his speech with broad vows of innocence (chapter 31).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. mallows--rather, "salt-wort," which grows in deserts and is eaten as a salad by the poor [Maurer]. by the bushes--among the bushes. juniper--rather, a kind of broom, Spartium junceum [Linnæus], still called in Arabia, as in the Hebrew of Job, retem, of which the bitter roots are eaten by the poor.Read the comment
Topics related to Job 30:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 30
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
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Commentaries