Job 29:1-8

1 Iyov went on speaking:

2 "I wish I were as in the old days, back in the times when God watched over me;

3 when his lamp shone over my head, and I walked through the dark by its light;

4 as I was when I was young, and God's counsel graced my tent.

5 Then Shaddai was still with me, my children were around me;

6 my steps were awash in butter, and the rocks poured out for me streams of olive oil.

7 I would go out to the city gate and set up my seat in the open space;

8 when young men saw me they would hide themselves, while the aged 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.