Job 29:1-8

1 Iyov again took up his parable, and said,

2 "Oh that I were as in the months of old, As in the days when God watched over me;

3 When his lamp shone on my head, And by his light I walked through darkness;

4 As I was in the ripeness of my days, When the friendship of God was in my tent;

5 When Shaddai was yet with me, And my children were around me;

6 When my steps were washed with butter, And the rock poured out streams of oil for me!

7 When I went forth to the city gate, When I prepared my seat in the street,

8 The young men saw me and hid themselves, The aged rose up 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.