The Meaning of Job 9:30 Explained

Job 9:30

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

YLT: If I have washed myself with snow-water, And purified with soap my hands,

Darby: If I washed myself with snow-water, and cleansed my hands in purity,

ASV: If I wash myself with snow water, And make my hands never so clean;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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

What does Job 9:30 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 9:1-35 - "the Daysman"
Ponder the sublimity of the conceptions of God given in this magnificent passage. To God are attributed the earthquake that rocks the pillars on which the world rests, Job 9:6; the eclipse which hides the heavenly bodies, Job 9:7; the storm in which he bows the heavens and treads majestically on the waves, Job 9:8; and the creation of the constellations, Job 9:9. Who can dare to argue with or call to account so great a God as this? Job 9:10-19. Even if a man be outwardly and inwardly righteous (that is, so far as the measure of his light), yet in such a Presence the heart of the most perfect must condemn him. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves"¦. God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." We cannot but feel that this old-world thinker had a truer view of that conscious imperfection and sin which must be experienced by every mortal who has a right appreciation of the holiness of God, than have those who refuse to say the Lord's Prayer because it contains a petition for forgiveness!
Truly we need that Daysman! But we have Him in Jesus our Mediator, who can lay His hand on God and us, Job 9:33; 1 Timothy 2:5. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 9

1  Job acknowledges God's justice
22  Man's innocence is not to be condemned by afflictions

What do the individual words in Job 9:30 mean?

if I wash myself - with water snow and cleanse with soap my hands
אִם־ הִתְרָחַ֥צְתִּי [במו־] (בְמֵי־) שָׁ֑לֶג וַ֝הֲזִכּ֗וֹתִי בְּבֹ֣ר כַּפָּֽי

הִתְרָחַ֥צְתִּי  I  wash  myself 
Parse: Verb, Hitpael, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: רָחַץ  
Sense: to wash, wash off, wash away, bathe.
[במו־]  - 
Parse: Preposition
(בְמֵי־)  with  water 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine plural construct
שָׁ֑לֶג  snow 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מַיִם  
Sense: water, waters.
וַ֝הֲזִכּ֗וֹתִי  and  cleanse 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Conjunctive perfect, first person common singular
Root: זָכַךְ  
Sense: to be pure, be bright, be clean, be bright, clean.
בְּבֹ֣ר  with  soap 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular
Root: בֹּר  
Sense: lye, potash, alkali used in smelting metal.
כַּפָּֽי  my  hands 
Parse: Noun, fdc, first person common singular
Root: כַּף  
Sense: palm, hand, sole, palm of the hand, hollow or flat of the hand.