What Does “to gnaw” Mean? (Job 30:3)

by Ester yusufu | 15 June 2023 08:46 am06

Job 30:2–3

“Of what use was the strength of their hands to me, since their vigor had gone from them?
Haggard from want and hunger, they gnawed the dry ground in desolate wastelands at night.”

In this context, Job is describing people who are completely broken—poor, weak, and cast out. The image of them “gnawing the dry ground” paints a picture of people trying to survive in hopeless conditions, with nothing left but barren earth. It reflects suffering that strips away dignity, strength, and purpose.

This passage is more than just a description of physical suffering. It is symbolic of what happens to those who live outside of God’s presence—those abandoned to their own strength or forsaken by society. It echoes the spiritual consequence of putting trust in man rather than in God.

This idea is reinforced in Jeremiah 17:5–6 

5 “This is what the Lord says: Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.”

When we trust in human strength alone—whether it’s our own or someone else’s—we separate ourselves from the source of life. Like the people Job described, we end up spiritually dry, empty, and struggling to find sustenance in lifeless places.

But when we trust in the Lord, we experience the opposite:

Jeremiah 17:7–8 

7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream…”

Let us not be like those who “gnaw the dry ground” in spiritual desolation. Instead, may we place our full trust in the Lord, who alone provides living water, strength, and restoration—no matter the season.

Come, Lord Jesus!

Source URL: https://wingulamashahidi.org/en/2023/06/15/what-does-to-gnaw-mean-job-303/

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