In chapter 29 Job lamented over the loss of his honor, but in chapter 30 he begins to lament over how vilely he was treated, especially by folks, whom he viewed as the meanest class of society, no matter what their power or wealth. Both Job and those in his social circle avoided such people. Indeed, they were considered outcasts by righteous folk, who dwelt apart from them, as though they were wild beasts, untamed and unwilling to contribute to a righteous society (Job 30:1-4). Job explains that they were so beneath him that the dogs, which he used to work his sheep, were more trustworthy than they or their fathers would have been.
Wisdom comes with age, or so it is the assumed, a common development of a man’s behavior, but it wasn’t so for these young men, whom Job describes. They never really matured as contributors, so they were useless, as far as normal society was concerned. They benefited no one, and were unfit for even the most unpleasant services that might be of value to Job or anyone else (Job 30:2). As I concluded above, even dogs were of more value, than they would be for any necessary matter.
Most Biblical scholars believe Job describes a group of vagabonds who had been reduced to poverty due to famine and were cast out of society to dwell in the desert and desolate places away from populated areas. However, I think the context points to our taking these things figuratively. For one thing, why would Job condemn folks who had been reduced to poverty due to famine, especially when he regarded his compassion for such folks as part of his defense that he wasn’t wicked (Job 29:11-13)? A literal sense doesn’t seem to fit.
Rather, Job seems to be describing folks who had no training in doing good, and for this reason they had become sterile, as that pertains to producing anything of value for society. The desert or desolate place (Job 30:3) represents a famine of instruction and understanding. The Lord had taken Israel out of the wilderness and instructed him (Deuteronomy 32:10). Consider how Job described these folks in chapter 24. They weren’t desert dwellers! Instead, they were members of society, but non-participants. That is, they reaped the fields, which others labored in, and they broke into houses during the night, which they marked out during the daylight hours, and stole its contents. They were murders and did many wicked things, enriching themselves at the expense of others. Job knew many of them but wouldn’t have anything to do with them. In fact, it is this sort of people that Job, as magistrate, ruled against and in favor of their victims.
In other words, they were wicked folks, sometimes powerful and influential, but whatever their position in society, they were deceitful, wicked men. Therefore, the wild animals of the desert are used to represent them (Job 24:5). These are they, whom righteous men avoid. In this context, therefore, it can be said that they were driven away from civilized society for the thieves they were (Job 30:5). In other words, they dwelt in cliffs and caves and rocks (Job 30:6), which folks resorted to, whenever a stronger army than they could defend against invaded their country. In the context of Job’s speech, they dwelt away from God, whom they rejected, and whose judgment they feared (Job 30:3-8; cp. Isaiah 2:21; Luke 23:30).
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