What is the meaning of Job 30:25?

Have I not wept for those in trouble?

“Have I not wept for those in trouble?” (Job 30:25a)

• Job reminds his friends that compassion has always marked his life. In the previous chapter he said, “I delivered the poor who cried for help” (Job 29:12).

• His tears were real, not performative. Like David who “wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting” for the sick (Psalm 35:13–14), Job’s sorrow identified him with sufferers.

• Scripture affirms this shared burden: “Weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15) and “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26).

• Job’s words expose the irony of his present loneliness. He had been quick to comfort others, yet now, in distress, he receives no comfort from his friends.

• By recounting his past mercy, Job highlights the moral disconnect in the friends’ accusation that his calamity stems from hidden sin (see Job 4:7-8).

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Has my soul not grieved for the needy?

“Has my soul not grieved for the needy?” (Job 30:25b)

• Job goes deeper than outward sorrow; his “soul” ached for the poor. Compassion flowed from the heart, mirroring God’s own care: “He raises the poor from the dust” (Psalm 113:7).

• True godliness always includes such inner grief: “Blessed is he who is kind to the needy” (Proverbs 14:21); “If there is a poor man among your brothers… you shall open wide your hand” (Deuteronomy 15:7-8).

• Isaiah links heartfelt concern with genuine worship: “If you extend your soul to the hungry… then your light will rise” (Isaiah 58:10).

• The New Testament echoes this standard: “Religion that is pure… to visit orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27).

• Job’s interior grief underscores that his righteousness was not superficial; it sprang from love, challenging the notion that he now suffers because of a callous spirit.

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summary

Job 30:25 records Job’s testimony of lifelong empathy. He had both wept outwardly and grieved inwardly for people in hardship. Scripture consistently commends such compassion, making Job’s present isolation an unjust reversal of how he once treated others. The verse therefore strengthens Job’s claim to integrity: his suffering is not divine retribution for indifference but a mysterious trial permitted by God, inviting readers to trust the Lord’s justice even when the righteous hurt.