Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?
Parallel translations
- WEB Of what use is the strength of their hands to me, men in whom ripe age has perished?
- BSB What use to me was the strength of their hands, since their vigor had left them?
- NKJV Indeed, what profit is the strength of their hands to me? Their vigor has perished.
- NASB “Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me? Vigor had perished from them.
- NLT A lot of good they are to me— those worn-out wretches!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Job dismisses the worth of these mockers, whose strength and vigor had wasted away.
Overview
Job describes his tormentors as men whose physical strength was useless and whose prime had perished. He emphasizes their feebleness and lack of standing to heighten the indignity of being scorned by them. The verse reflects how thoroughly his honor had collapsed, that even the weakest now looked down on him.
Cross-references & the web
No cross-references recorded for this verse.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 30:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.