Job blackend

[TruthSeekerNSF]

I don't quite understand a point in Job 30:28. " I go about blackened, but not by the sun;", what does this sentence represent? Does that mean Job's skin got blackend naturally caused by some sickness or bad nutrition taking? Or does that refer to that blackened skin for a fair skinned man without burning by the sunlight is a sign of demon-possession? Also, in Chinese version of the Bible, Job says " my face has been blackened, but it's not due to being illuminated by the sunlight", which was translated by myself literally though. What should the original meaning be?

 

[Sarah G]

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
28. I went mourning Better perhaps, I go blackened, not by the sun. The reference is to his appearance from his disease: he is black, but his blackness is not due to the sun, comp. Song of Solomon 1:6.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(28) I went mourning without the sun.—Rather, I go mourning without the sun; or, according to some, “blackened, but not by the sun.” We give the preference to the other.

Job 30:28 Commentaries: "I go about mourning without comfort; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.


Black moods. Feeling very dark. As Morrissey sang: I wear black on the outside, because black is how I feel on the inside. He wasn't referring to being transracial but to his dark, emo, depressive, mournful nature.

 

[Catherineanne]

I don't quite understand a point in Job 30:28. " I go about blackened, but not by the sun;", what does this sentence represent? Does that mean Job's skin got blackend naturally caused by some sickness or bad nutrition taking? Or does that refer to that blackened skin for a fair skinned man without burning by the sunlight is a sign of demon-possession? Also, in Chinese version of the Bible, Job says " my face has been blackened, but it's not due to being illuminated by the sunlight", which was translated by myself literally though. What should the original meaning be?

He has covered himself in ashes; a sign of mourning and/or repentance.

 

[TruthSeekerNSF]

He has covered himself in ashes; a sign of mourning and/or repentance.

Sounds reasonable. Is that from acknowledged hermeneutics or from your assumption?

 

[mark kennedy]

I don't quite understand a point in Job 30:28. " I go about blackened, but not by the sun;", what does this sentence represent? Does that mean Job's skin got blackend naturally caused by some sickness or bad nutrition taking? Or does that refer to that blackened skin for a fair skinned man without burning by the sunlight is a sign of demon-possession? Also, in Chinese version of the Bible, Job says " my face has been blackened, but it's not due to being illuminated by the sunlight", which was translated by myself literally though. What should the original meaning be?

There are alternative translations:

"I go about mourning without comfort; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help. (NASB)

I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation. (KJV)

(H6937 - qadar קָדַר) a primitive root; to be ashy, i.e. dark-colored; by implication, to mourn.​

Of the seventeen times it's used in the OT, 6 times it's translated mourn in the KJV. It can also be translated 'dark', probably due to the fact that sackcloth and ashes were symbolic of mourning and grief. The prophets often wore sackcloth and ashes, thus the grief over sin. The two witnesses in Jerusalem that preach for 3 1/2 years are wearing sackcloth and ashes.

Grace and peace,
Mark

 

[Sarah G]

Edit wrong thread sorry!