Job 30:4
New International Version
In the brush they gathered salt herbs, and their food was the root of the broom bush.

New Living Translation
They pluck wild greens from among the bushes and eat from the roots of broom trees.

English Standard Version
they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes, and the roots of the broom tree for their food.

Berean Standard Bible
They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.

King James Bible
Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.

New King James Version
Who pluck mallow by the bushes, And broom tree roots for their food.

New American Standard Bible
Who pluck saltweed by the bushes, And whose food is the root of the broom shrub.

NASB 1995
Who pluck mallow by the bushes, And whose food is the root of the broom shrub.

NASB 1977
Who pluck mallow by the bushes, And whose food is the root of the broom shrub.

Legacy Standard Bible
Who pluck mallow by the bushes, And whose food is the root of the broom tree.

Amplified Bible
“They pluck [and eat] saltwort (mallows) among the bushes, And their food is the root of the broom shrub.

Christian Standard Bible
They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.

American Standard Version
They pluck salt-wort by the bushes; And the roots of the broom are their food.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
For all strength was lost upon them

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Who compass the salt places on the sounding shore, who had salt herbs for their food, and were dishonorable and of no repute, in want of every good thing; who also ate roots of trees by reason of great hunger.

Contemporary English Version
They gather tasteless shrubs for food and firewood,

Douay-Rheims Bible
And they ate grass, and barks of trees, and the root of junipers was their food.

English Revised Version
They pluck salt-wort by the bushes; and the roots of the broom are their meat.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
They pick saltwort from the underbrush, and the roots of the broom plant are their food.

Good News Translation
They pulled up the plants of the desert and ate them, even the tasteless roots of the broom tree!

International Standard Version
"They would pluck off herbs from salt marshes to eat; and roots of the broom shrub for food.

JPS Tanakh 1917
They pluck salt-wort with wormwood; And the roots of the broom are their food.

Literal Standard Version
Those cropping mallows near a shrub, | And their food [is] root of broom trees.

Majority Standard Bible
They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.

New American Bible
They plucked saltwort and shrubs; the roots of the broom plant were their food.

NET Bible
By the brush they would gather herbs from the salt marshes, and the root of the broom tree was their food.

New Revised Standard Version
they pick mallow and the leaves of bushes, and to warm themselves the roots of broom.

New Heart English Bible
They pluck salt herbs by the bushes. The roots of the broom are their food.

Webster's Bible Translation
Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their food.

World English Bible
They pluck salt herbs by the bushes. The roots of the broom tree are their food.

Young's Literal Translation
Those cropping mallows near a shrub, And broom-roots is their food.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Job's Honor Turned into Contempt
3Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night. 4They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food. 5They were banished from among men, shouted down like thieves,…

Cross References
1 Kings 19:4
while he himself traveled on a day's journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers."

Job 30:3
Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night.

Job 30:5
They were banished from among men, shouted down like thieves,


Treasury of Scripture

Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.

for their meat

2 Kings 4:38,39
And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets…

Amos 7:14
Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:

Luke 15:16
And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

Jump to Previous
Broom Brush Brushwood Bushes Cut Food Gather Gathered Herbs Juniper Leaves Making Mallows Meal Meat Pick Pluck Pulling Root Roots Salt Shrub Themselves Tree Warm Wormwood
Jump to Next
Broom Brush Brushwood Bushes Cut Food Gather Gathered Herbs Juniper Leaves Making Mallows Meal Meat Pick Pluck Pulling Root Roots Salt Shrub Themselves Tree Warm Wormwood
Job 30
1. Job's honor is turned into extreme contempt
15. and his prosperity into calamity














Verse 4. - Who cut up mallows by the bushes. One of the plants on which they feed is the malluch, not really a "mallow," but probably the Atriplex halimus which is "a shrub from four to five feet high, with many thick branches; the leaves are rather sour to the taste; the flowers are purple, and very small; it grows on the sea-coast in Greece, Arabia, Syria, etc., and belongs to the natural order Chenopodiace" (see Smith's 'Dict. of the Bible,' vol. 2. p. 215). And juniper roots for their meat. Most moderns regard the rothen as the Genista monosperma, which is a kind of broom. It is a leguminous plant, having a white flower. and grows plentifully in the Sinaitic desert, in Palestine, Syria, and Arabia. The root is very bitter, and would only be used as food under extreme pressure, but the fruit is readily eaten by sheep, and the roots would, no doubt, yield some nourishment (see Dr. Cunningham Geikie's work,' The Holy Land and the Bible,' vol. 1. p. 258).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
They plucked
הַקֹּטְפִ֣ים (haq·qō·ṭə·p̄îm)
Article | Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine plural
Strong's 6998: To pluck off or out

mallow
מַלּ֣וּחַ (mal·lū·aḥ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4408: Sea-purslain

among
עֲלֵי־ (‘ă·lê-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the shrubs,
שִׂ֑יחַ (śî·aḥ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7880: A bush, shrub, plant

and the roots
וְשֹׁ֖רֶשׁ (wə·šō·reš)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 8328: A root

of the broom tree
רְתָמִ֣ים (rə·ṯā·mîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 7574: Broom plant, retem

were their food.
לַחְמָֽם׃ (laḥ·mām)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 3899: Food, bread, grain


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OT Poetry: Job 30:4 They pluck salt herbs by the bushes (Jb)
Job 30:3
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