Job 9 · Verse 30

Job 9:30

If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;
Job 9:30, King James Version

Job 9:30 in other translations

BSBIf I should wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye,
WEBIf I wash myself with snow, and cleanse my hands with lye,
ASVIf I wash myself with snow water, And make my hands never so clean;
YLTIf I have washed myself with snow-water, And purified with soap my hands,
DARBYIf I washed myself with snow-water, and cleansed my hands in purity,
BBEIf I am washed with snow water, and make my hands clean with soap;
WebsterIf I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;

What does Job 9:30 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
30. snow water--thought to be more cleansing than common water, owing to the whiteness of snow (Psa 51:7; Is 1:18). never so clean--Better, to answer to the parallelism of the first clause which expresses the cleansing material, "lye:" the Arabs used alkali mixed with oil, as soap (Psa 73:13; Jr 2:22).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 30 If I wash myself with snow water - Supposed to have a more detergent quality than common water; and it was certainly preferred to common water by the ancients. Of this we find an example in an elegant but licentious author: Tandem ergo discubuimus, pueris Alexandrinis Aquam in manus Nivatam infundentibus, aliisque insequentibus ad pedes - Petr. Satyr., cap. xxxi. "At length we sat down, and had snow water poured on our hands by lads of Alexandria," etc. Mr. Good supposes that there is an allusion here to the ancient rite of washing the hands in token of innocence. See Psa 26:6 : I will Wash my hands in Innocency; and Psa 73:13 : Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and Washed my Hands in Innocency. And by this ceremony Pilate declared himself innocent of the blood of Christ, Mat 27:24.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 9:25-35

What little need have we of pastimes, and what great need to redeem time, when it runs on so fast towards eternity! How vain the enjoyments of time, which we may quite lose while yet time continues! The remembrance of having done our duty will be pleasing afterwards; so will not the remembrance of having got worldly wealth, when it is all lost and gone. Job's complaint of God, as one that could not be appeased and…

Read the full comment on Job 9:25-35 →

Job 9:30 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

אִם\־'im-ifH518
הִתְרָחַ֥צְתִּיhit.ra.Chatz.tiI washed myselfH7364
בְמֵיve.movin water ofH4325
שָׁ֑לֶגSha.legsnowH7950
וַ֝הֲזִכּ֗וֹתִיva.ha.zi.Ko.tiand I cleansedH2141
בְּבֹ֣רbe.Vorwith potashH1253
כַּפָּֽי\׃ka.Paihands myH3709

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Job 9:30

  • Jeremiah 2:22

    For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God.

  • Psalms 26:6

    I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O Lord:

  • 1 John 1:8

    If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

  • Isaiah 1:16-18

    Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

  • Jeremiah 4:14

    O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?

  • Romans 10:3

    For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

  • Proverbs 28:13

    He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

  • Job 31:7

    If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Ps 26:6; Pr 28:13; Isa 1:16-18; Jer 2:22; 4:14; Ro 10:3; 1Jo 1:8

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Job 9:29

    If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?

  • Job 9:30

    If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;

  • Job 9:31

    Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me.

Read all of Job 9

Job 9:30 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Aunque me lave con aguas de nieve, y limpie mis manos con la misma limpieza,
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Si je me lave avec de l’eau de neige, et que je nettoie mes mains dans la pureté,
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wenn ich mich mit Schnee wüsche und meine Hände mit Lauge reinigte,
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Si lotus fuero quasi aquis nivis, et fulserint velut mundissimæ manus meæ,