Job 29:6-16

6 when my feet were bathed in cream and the rock[a] poured out streams of oil for me!
7 When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the town square,
8 the young men saw me and withdrew, while older men stood to their feet.
9 City officials stopped talking and covered their mouths with [their] hands.[b]
10 The noblemen's voices were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
11 When they heard me, they blessed me, and when they saw me, they spoke well of me.[c]
12 For I rescued the poor man who cried out for help, and the fatherless child who had no one to support him.[d]
13 The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow's heart rejoice.
14 I clothed myself in righteousness, and it enveloped me; my just decisions were like a robe and a turban.[e]
15 I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame.[f]
16 I was a father to the needy, and I examined the case of the stranger.

Job 29:6-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 29

In this chapter Job gives an account of his former and wishes it was with him now as then; and which he describes with respect to his own person, and the favours he personally enjoyed, whether temporal or spiritual, Job 29:1-4; with respect to his family and domestic affairs, Job 29:5,6; with regard to the esteem he had from men of every age and station, Job 29:7-11; the reasons of which were the mercy and compassion he showed to the poor, the fatherless, and the widow, and the justice he administered in the execution of his office as a magistrate, Job 29:12-17; in which honour and prosperity he expected to have lived and died, Job 29:18-20; and which he further describes by the respect he had among men, and the power and authority he exercised over them, Job 29:21-25.

Footnotes 6

  • [a]. Dt 8:15; 32:13; 1 Co 10:4
  • [b]. Jb 21:5; 32:6; Isa 52:15
  • [c]. Lit When an ear heard, it called me blessed, and when an eye saw, it testified for me
  • [d]. Jb 36:15; Ps 10:14; 72:12
  • [e]. 2 Ch 6:41; Ps 132:9; Isa 59:17
  • [f]. Isa 35:6; 42:7,16; Mt 11:5
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