Job 29:8

8 young men saw me and kept out of sight. Old men stood up straight out of respect [for me].

Job 29:8 Meaning and Commentary

Job 29:8

The young men saw me, and hid themselves
Through a veneration of him; which was much, since young men, through a vain conceit and opinion of themselves, are apt to treat their superiors in age with slight, neglect, and contempt; or through fear, lest he should spy them, and call them to him, and examine them closely concerning their conduct and behaviour, and reprove them for their youthful follies he might have knowledge of:

and the aged arose [and] stood up;
as he passed by them, to show their respect unto him; or when he came into court, they rose up, and continued standing until he had took his seat; and even then kept the same posture, attending to his counsel and instruction, to his definitive sentence and decision of matters in debate; though they were venerable persons themselves, and such as before whom young men were to arise, ( Leviticus 19:32 ) ; and were also men of wisdom and prudence, ( Job 12:12 ) ; yet these men rose and stood up, paying a deference to Job's superior sense and judgment.

Job 29:8 In-Context

6 my steps were bathed in buttermilk, and the rocks poured streams of olive oil on me.

7 When I went through the city gate and took my seat in the town square,

8 young men saw me and kept out of sight. Old men stood up straight out of respect [for me].

9 Princes held back [their] words and put their hands over their mouths.

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