Job 29:7-25

7 When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square,

8 the young men saw me and withdrew, and the old men rose to their feet.

9 The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.

10 The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.

11 For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me,

12 because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.

13 The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.

14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban.

15 I served as eyes to the blind and as feet to the lame.

16 I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.

17 I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.

18 So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand.

19 My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.

20 My glory is ever new within me, and my bow is renewed in my hand.’

21 Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my counsel.

22 After my words, they spoke no more; my speech settled on them like dew.

23 They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers.

24 If I smiled at them, they did not believe it; the light of my countenance was precious.

25 I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.

Job 29:7-25 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.