Job 29:15-25

15 I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame.

16 I was a father to the needy, and I championed the cause of the stranger.

17 I broke the fangs of the unrighteous, and made them drop their prey from their teeth.

18 Then I thought, "I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days like the phoenix;

19 my roots spread out to the waters, with the dew all night on my branches;

20 my glory was fresh with me, and my bow ever new in my hand.'

21 "They listened to me, and waited, and kept silence for my counsel.

22 After I spoke they did not speak again, and my word dropped upon them like dew.

23 They waited for me as for the rain; they opened their mouths as for the spring rain.

24 I smiled on them when they had no confidence; and the light of my countenance they did not extinguish.

25 I chose their way, and sat as chief, and I lived like a king among his troops, like one who comforts mourners.

Job 29:15-25 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or [like sand]
• [b]. Heb lacks [like dew]
• [c]. Meaning of Heb uncertain