4 In the brush they gathered salt herbs, and their food[1] was the root of the broom bush.

Other Translations of Job 30:4

King James Version

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

English Standard Version

4 they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes, and the roots of the broom tree for their food.Or warmth

The Message

4 Homeless guttersnipes chewing on old bones and licking old tin cans;

New King James Version

4 Who pluck mallow by the bushes, And broom tree roots for their food.

New Living Translation

4 They pluck wild greens from among the bushes and eat from the roots of broom trees.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Job 30:4

Commentary on Job 30:1-14

(Read Job 30:1-14)

Job contrasts his present condition with his former honour and authority. What little cause have men to be ambitious or proud of that which may be so easily lost, and what little confidence is to be put in it! We should not be cast down if we are despised, reviled, and hated by wicked men. We should look to Jesus, who endured the contradiction of sinners.