Job 29:1-8

Job's Past Was Glorious

1 And Job again took up his 1discourse and said,
2 "Oh * that I were as in months gone by, As in the days when God 2watched over me;
3 When 3His lamp shone over my head, And 4by His light I walked through darkness;
4 As I was in the prime of my days, When the 5friendship of God was over my tent;
5 When the Almighty was yet with me, And my children were around me;
6 When my steps were bathed in 6butter, And the 7rock poured out for me streams of oil!
7 "When I went out to 8the gate of the city, When I took my seat in the square,
8 The young men saw me and hid themselves, And the old men arose and stood.

Job 29:1-8 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.

Cross References 8

  • 1. Numbers 23:7; Numbers 24:3; Job 13:12; Job 27:1
  • 2. Jeremiah 31:28
  • 3. Job 18:6
  • 4. Job 11:17
  • 5. Job 15:8; Psalms 25:14; Proverbs 3:32
  • 6. Deuteronomy 32:14; Job 20:17
  • 7. Deuteronomy 32:13; Psalms 81:16
  • 8. Job 31:21

Footnotes 4

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