The verse reads,

With want and hunger they are gaunt,

They gnaw the desert, in former time desolate and waste.

The first clause refers to the "shriveled" appearance of these outcasts from want; the second to their devouring the roots which they can gather in the steppe (Job 30:4), which has for long been desolate and unproductive. The word rendered "they gnaw" occurs again of Job's gnawing pains, Job 30:17. For "in former time," i. e. for long, others translate darkness: the darkness of desolation and waste a description of the desert.

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