Job 30:13 — Word Study
WLCנָתְס֗וּ נְֽתִיבָ֫תִ֥י לְהַוָּתִ֥י יֹעִ֑ילוּ לֹ֖א עֹזֵ֣ר לָֽמוֹ׃
BSAThey tear upnâthâç△■ [destroy] my pathnâthîyb [road, journey] they profityaʻal▸ [gain, benefit] from my destructionhavvâh [calamity, ruin] with no onelôʼ [none, no helper] to restrainʻâzar [help, aid]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| נָתְס֗וּ | they have torn down | Verb, Qal, perfect third person common plural |
| נְֽתִיבָ֫תִ֥י | pathway my | Noun common feminine singular construct, suffix |
| לְהַוָּתִ֥י | to destruction my | Preposition, noun common feminine singular construct, suffix |
| יֹעִ֑ילוּ | they benefit | Verb, Hiphil, imperfect third person masculine plural |
| לֹ֖א | not | Particle |
| עֹזֵ֣ר | a helper | Verb, Qal, participle (active) masculine singular |
| לָֽמוֹ׃ | [belongs] to them | Preposition, suffix |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | They tear up my path; they profit from my destruction, with no one to restrain them. |
| KJV | They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper. |
| ASV | They mar my path, They set forward my calamity, Even men that have no helper. |
| YLT | They have broken down my path, By my calamity they profit, 'He hath no helper.' |
| WEB | They mar my path. They promote my destruction without anyone’s help. |
| BBE | They have made waste my roads, with a view to my destruction; his bowmen come round about me; |
The translations agree on the core meanings, particularly regarding the actions of Job's adversaries.
The sentence is structured with two main actions followed by a clarifying phrase, emphasizing the destructive actions of Job's enemies.
8 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them ›
clause
subjectעָזַר
verbנָתַס
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
1 of 7 occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament — a word chosen on purpose.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Job 30:13
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — Job's Lamentationgenerated
Job 30:13 reflects Job's despair as he describes how his enemies have torn down his path and profited from his suffering. This verse captures the intensity of his feelings of abandonment and the relentless attacks he faces, paralleling earlier verses where he speaks of the hostility surrounding him, as seen in Job 30:12 and Job 30:14.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Psalm 69:26 | For they persecute the one You struck and recount the pain of those You wounded. |
| 2 | Zechariah 1:15 | but I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease. For I was a little angry, but they have added to the calamity. ’ |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 2 references, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — נָתְס֗וּ, na.te.Sugenerated
The verb נָתַס (na.tas) means to tear up or break down. In this context, it conveys the action of destroying Job's path, symbolizing the disruption of his life and direction. The parsing indicates it is a perfect tense, third person plural, suggesting that this action has been completed by Job's adversaries.
This word emphasizes the violence of their actions against him, as they not only harm him but also gain from his misfortune. It is a strong expression of the emotional and physical destruction Job experiences.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
In the Berean Standard Bible, the verse uses tear up and profit, which aligns with the KJV and ASV.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The verse contains two main clauses linked by a conjunction. The first clause, led by the verb נָתְס֗וּ, describes the action of tearing up Job's path, while the second clause, beginning with יֹעִ֑ילוּ, states that they benefit from his destruction. The structure emphasizes the contrast between the destruction of Job's life and the gain his enemies achieve.
The order of the Hebrew words places emphasis on the actions of Job's adversaries, highlighting the destructive nature of their deeds first, followed by the consequences of those deeds.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates נָתְס֗וּ as ἐχετρίβησαν, which carries a similar meaning of tearing or breaking down. This choice reflects a direct interpretation of the Hebrew action, indicating a consistent understanding of the destructive force against Job.
However, the Greek version may emphasize the impact of the actions differently, potentially broadening the interpretation of Job's suffering.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Job 30:13 shows Job expressing deep sorrow as he describes how his enemies destroy his path and take advantage of his suffering. He feels utterly alone, with no one to help him against their actions.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
Job is expressing that his enemies are disrupting his life and journey, making it difficult for him to find direction or peace.
They gain an advantage or benefit from his suffering, possibly by taking opportunities that arise from his misfortune.
Job feels abandoned and helpless, indicating that there is no one to defend him or stop the actions of his adversaries.
This verse encapsulates Job's feelings of despair and isolation amidst his suffering, highlighting the cruelty of those around him.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What are some ways I can support those who feel torn down by others, like Job?
- How do I respond when I see someone profiting from another's misfortune?
- In what situations have I felt abandoned or without help, and how did I cope?
- What can I learn from Job's experience about resilience in the face of adversity?
The early church on this verse — how the Fathers read it
Early commentary on Job's lament highlights the struggles against unseen enemies, as noted in this quotation from Gregory the Dialogist.
They did away with my paths, they plotted against me, and prevailed, and there was not any to bring help. Let blessed Job tell these things of evil spirits, i.e. of secret enemies.Early Church Fathers on Job 30 →
Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Job 30:13 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleThey mar my path,.... Hindered him in the exercise of religious duties; would not suffer him to attend the ways and worship of God, or to walk in the paths of holiness and righteousness; or they
Read John Gill on Job 30 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryThey mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper. Image of an assailed fortress continued. They tear up the path by which succour might reach me. Set forward - in calamity (Zechariah 1:15).
Read Robert Jamieson on Job 30 →Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy BibleAs I am in great misery, so they endeavour to stop all my ways out of it, and to frustrate all my counsels and courses of obtaining relief or comfort. And although Job had no hopes of a temporal deliverance or restitution, yet he could not but observe and resent the malice of those who did their utmost to hinder it. Or the sense is, They pervert all my ways, putting perverse and false constructions upon them, censuring all my conscientious discharges of my duty to God and men, as nothing but craft and hypocrisy. They set forward my calamity; increasing it by their bitter taunts, and invectives, and censures. Or, they profit by, or are pleased and satisfied with, my calamity. It doth them…
Read Matthew Poole on Job 30 →John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New TestamentsJob 30:13 They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.Ver. 13. They mar my paths] That is, all my studies and endeavours; they obstruct all passages whereby I might hope for help, as if they were resolved upon my ruin. They set forward my calamity] See Zechariah 1:15. Or they count it profitable to them to vex me, so great is their malice against me. And though it do them no good, yet if they may do me hurt, they have enough. They have no helper] Neither need they any to animate them or egg them on to mischief, who of themselves are overly forward, though but small and young, as Vajezatha, Haman’ s youngest son, was.
Read John Trapp on Job 30 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(13) They have no helper—i.e., probably without deriving therefrom any help or advantage themselves.
Read Charles John Ellicott on Job 30 →AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the BibleVerse 13. They mar my path] They destroy the way-marks, so that there is no safety in travelling through the deserts, the guide-posts and way-marks being gone. These may be an allusion here to a besieged city: the besiegers strive by every means and way to distress the besieged; stopping up the fountains, breaking up the road, raising up towers to project arrows and stones into the city, called here raising up against it the ways of destruction, Job 30:12; preventing all succour and support. They have no helper.] "There is not an adviser among them."-Mr. Good. There is none to give them better instruction.
Read AdamClarke on Job 30 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges13. They mar my path] Or, they break up my path. The reference can hardly be to the path or way leading to the besieged place (Job 30:12), so that the approach of succour is cut off; if the figure be continued the path must rather be the way of escape. Perhaps the figure is departed from in this clause, and the words may be taken more generally as meaning the path of his life, which they make it impossible to go in. set forward my calamity] i. e. help on my downfall—aggravate my afflictions and advance the issue of them. they have no helper] Or, they who have no helper. The phrase “to have no helper” means to be one shunned and despised of all. Yet Such persons now persecute him with…
Read Cambridge on Job 30 →Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the BibleThey mar my path - They break up all my plans. Perhaps here, also, the image is taken from war, and Job may represent himself as on a line of march, and he says that this rabble comes and breaks up his path altogether.
Read Albert Barnes on Job 30 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
They tear up my path; they profit from my destruction, with no one to restrain them.
They mar my path. They promote my destruction without anyone’s help.
They tear up my path; they profit from my destruction, with no one to restrain them.
They destroy my path; they succeed in destroying me without anyone assisting them.
Tyndale line
They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.
They mar my path, They set forward my calamity, Even men that have no helper.
They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, even men that have no helper.
They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.
They haue destroyed my paths: they tooke pleasure at my calamitie, they had none helpe.
Strictly literal
They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, without any to help them;
They have broken down my path, By my calamity they profit, 'He hath no helper.'
They have broken down my path, || They profit by my calamity: He has no helper.
They destroy my footpath, they help forward my downfall, without any one to aid them.
They destroy my path; they push forward disaster for me, men who have no one to hold them back.
From the Latin
They have destroyed my ways, they have lain in wait against me, and they have prevailed, and there was none to help.
Simplified
They cut off my way of escape; they bring about my downfall and do this without anyone's help.
They have made waste my roads, with a view to my destruction; his bowmen come round about me;
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text and the Septuagint largely agree in content, with five of the seven words matched. This correspondence suggests a shared understanding of the verse's meaning, though the Septuagint's word order may differ from the Hebrew.
נָתְס֗וּ נְֽתִיבָ֫תִ֥י לְהַוָּתִ֥י יֹעִ֑ילוּ לֹ֖א עֹזֵ֣ר לָֽמוֹ׃
5 of the 7 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Job 30:13
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
נָתַס (nathac) is a primitive root meaning to tear up or break down. It is primarily used in the Qal form, as seen in Job 30:13, where it conveys the action of breaking down.
[נָתַס] vb. tear or break down;—Qal Jb 30:13
ref
H5420 נָתַס
5420 nathac naw-thas'
a primitive root; to tear up:--mar.
נָתַס (na.tas) — to break.
1) to tear down, break down
1a) (Qal) to break down
V-Qal-Perf-3cp — Verb · Qal · perfect third person common pluralHVqp3cp
נָתִיב (nathiyb) refers to a path or pathway, emphasizing a trodden track. It can denote both a physical path and the concept of travel or a traveler. The feminine form נְתִיבָה (nethiybah) shares the same meaning. The word is derived from an unused root meaning to tramp.
נָתִיב n.m. path, pathway
base
נְתִיבָה n.f. id. [n.gd.ab];—path
base
H5410a נָתִיב path, pathway H5410b נְתִיבָה id. [5410a]
5410 nathiyb naw-theeb'
or (feminine) nthiybah {neth-ee-baw'}; or nthibah (Jeremiah
6:16) {neth-ee-baw'}; from an unused root meaning to tramp; a
(beaten) track:--path((-way)), X travel(-ler), way.
נָתִיב (na.tiv) — path.
1) trodden with the feet, path, pathway
2) path, pathway, traveller
נְתִיבָה (ne.ti.vah) — path.
1) trodden with the feet, path, pathway
2) path, pathway, traveller
Also means: na.tiv (נָתִיב "path" H5410A)
N-cs | Suff — Noun common feminine singular construct · suffixHNcfsc/Sp1bs
הַוָּה (havvah) primarily means 'desire,' often with a negative connotation, indicating a bad or wicked desire. It can also refer to a 'chasm' or figuratively to destruction and calamity. The word is built from the root associated with eager coveting and falling into ruin.
הַוָּה n.f. 1. desire; 2. chasm, fig. destruction
base
H1942 הַוָּה 1. desire; 2. chasm, fig. destruction
1942 havvah hav-vaw'
from 1933 (in the sense of eagerly coveting and rushing upon;
by implication, of falling); desire; also ruin:--calamity,
iniquity, mischief, mischievous (thing), naughtiness, naughty,
noisome, perverse thing, substance, very wickedness.
see HEBREW for 01933
הַוָּה (hav.vah) — desire.
1) desire
1a) desire (in bad sense)
2) chasm (fig. of destruction)
2a) engulfing ruin, destruction, calamity
Prep | N-fs | Suff — Preposition · noun common feminine singular construct · suffixHR/Ncfsc/Sp1bs
יָעַל (ya'al) is a Hebrew verb that primarily appears in the Hiphil form, meaning to profit, benefit, or avail. It is built from a root that suggests the idea of ascending or being valuable. The lexicons emphasize its use in contexts related to gaining or being useful.
[יָעַל] vb. only Hiph. profit, avail, benefit
base
H3276 יָעַל only Hiph. profit, avail, benefit
3276 ya`al yaw-al'
a primitive root; properly, to ascend; figuratively, to be
valuable (objectively: useful, subjectively: benefited):--X at
all, set forward, can do good, (be, have) profit, (able).
יָעַל (ya.al) — to gain.
(Hiphil) to gain, profit, benefit, avail
V-Hiphil-Imperf-3mp — Verb · Hiphil · imperfect third person masculine pluralHVhi3mp
ben'-e-fit (gemul = "a deed," 2Ch 32:25); yaTabh = (causat.) "to make well," "to do good" (Jer 18:10). The plural of gemul, is found is found in Ps 103:2. Ps 68:19 (the King James Version) should be translated "Blessed be the Lord. Day by day he sustains us; God is our salvation." charis = "gift"; "grace" (2Co 1:15, "a second benefit": that is, two visits in the same journey). euergesia = "good deed done" (1Ti 6:2: "because they that partake of the benefit (of their service) are believing and beloved"); agathos = "good" (
לֹא (lo') is a Hebrew word meaning 'not' or 'no.' It serves as a simple negation and can imply absence or prohibition. The word can also be used in various contexts, often combined with other particles for emphasis or clarification. Its Aramaic equivalent is לָא (la), which also means 'not.'
לֹא or לוֹא adv. not
base
H3808 לֹא or לוֹא not
3808 lo' lo
or lowi {lo}; or loh (Deut. 3:11) {lo}; a primitive particle;
not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often
used with other particles (as follows):--X before, + or else,
ere, + except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never,
no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), (X as though...,(can-), for) not (out
of), of nought, otherwise, out of, + surely, + as truly as, +
of a truth, + verily, for want, + whether, without.
לֹא (lo) — not.
1) not, no
1a) not (with verb-absolute prohibition)
1b) not (with modifier-negation)
1c) nothing (subst)
1d) without (with particle)
1e) before (of time)
Aramaic equivalent: la (לָא "not" H3809)
Part — ParticleHTn
עָזַר (azar) is a Hebrew verb meaning to help or succour. It is built from a primitive root that conveys the idea of surrounding or protecting. The entries indicate its use in various forms: Qal (to help), Niphal (to be helped), and Hiphil (to help). The word captures the essence of providing support or aid.
[עָזַר] 82 vb. help, succour
Qal help
Niph. I am helped
Hiph. v. Qal.
base
H5826 [עָזַר] help, succour
5826 `azar aw-zar'
a primitive root; to surround, i.e. protect or aid:--help,
succour.
עָזַר (a.zar) — to help.
1) to help, succour, support
1a) (Qal) to help
1b) (Niphal) to be helped
1c) (Hiphil) to help
V-Qal — Verb · Qal · participle (active) masculine singularHVqrmsa
הֶם (hem) — them.
Personal object pronoun - suffix for propositions and verbs without an object: 3rd person masculine plural
HR/Sp3mp — Preposition · suffixHR/Sp3mp