Job 29:25

I chose out their way,.... When his friends and neighbours came to him for advice in things civil, he marked out their way for them, directed what steps to take, what methods to pursue for their

I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners. I chose ... their way - i:e., I willingly went up to their assembly from my country residence (Job 29:7).

I chose out their way; they sought to me for my advice in all doubtful and difficult cases, and I chalked out their path, and directed them what methods they should take to accomplish their desires. Sat, as a prince or judge, whilst they stood waiting for my counsel. Chief, or head; as their head or ruler, and my mind and word was as a law or oracle to them. As a king in the army, whose presence puts life, and courage, and joy into the whole army. And no less acceptable was my presence to them. As one that comforteth the mourners; as I was able and ready to comfort any afflicted or sorrowful persons, so my consolations were always grateful and welcome to them. Or, when he, to wit, the king, comforteth the mourners, i.e. his army, when they are under some great consternation or dejection, by reason of some great loss or danger, but are revived by the presence and speech of a wise and valiant king or general.

Job 29:25 I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one [that] comforteth the mourners.Ver. 25. I chose out their way, and sat chief] In those days I was the only man in all matters, chosen by consent of all, to be the prolocutor and advanced to the first place in all assemblies and places of judicature, &c. Tremellius and others read it thus, If I chose their way (that is, if of mine own accord I came unto them at any time), I sat chief, and was chairman; in a word, I dwelt as a king amidst his troopers, when he comforteth them being cast down; that is, when, after some defeat or disappointment, he cheereth up their spirits by his speeches, and cries, Courage, my hearts: Flebile principium, melior fortuna sequatur: Victorem a victo superari saepe videmus. The Tigurines render the former part of the verse thus, Accommodavi me illorum moribus cum iudicio, I fitted myself to their fashions, yet with discretion. R. Solomon and others thus, they asked me, What way shall we go? What course take? And I chose out their way, and set them down a course; as a counsellor doth to his clients, a king to his soldiers, or a casuist those that resort to him for comfort. And dwelt as a king in the army] Where he is continually surrounded by his soldiers, and highly honoured. The bees, in their commonwealth, have a king, whose palace they frame as fair in show, as strong in substance; if they find him fall, they establish him again in his throne with all duty, with all devotion; they guard him continually, for fear he should miscarry, for love he should not. Job had so tempered and mixed gravity and lenity, he had so furbished the sword of justice with the oil of mercy, that he was at once both feared as a king, and loved as a comforter. As one that comforteth the mourners] That mourn for the loss of some dear thing or person, as the word signifieth, and especially for the loss of God’ s favour, as Zechariah 12:10, groaning under the sense of sin and fear of wrath. Now to comfort such mourners in Zion is as difficult a work as to raise the dead, saith Lather; and scarce one of a thousand can skill of it, Job 33:23. Every Christian should have feeding lips and a healing tongue, to comfort the feeble minded, to drink to them in a cup of Nepenthes, that cup of consolation, Jeremiah 16:7, taking them down into Christ’ s wine cellar, Son 2:4, and there stay them with flagons and comfort them with apples, Job 29:5, those apples of the garden of Eden (as the Chaldee there hath it), the sweet and precious promises, which are pabulum fidei, the food of faith, and do give the joy of faith; even that peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them that have been in a low and lost condition.

(25) I sat.—It is still the custom among the Jews for mourners to sit upon the ground and for one who wishes to console them to occupy a seat above them. Such is Job’s pathetic lamentation over the days that were gone. He appears before us as a conspicuous example of one who had worn the poet’s crown of sorrow in the remembrance of happier things in time of sorrow. He is the type and representative of suffering humanity, of man waiting for redemption, but as yet unredeemed. It is in this way that he points us on to Christ, who, Himself the Redeemer, went through all the sorrows of sinful and unredeemed humanity. He is able to describe his former state and all its glory and bliss, while his friends are constrained to listen in silence. They have said their worst, they have aspersed and maligned his character, but they have not silenced him; he is able to make the most complete vindication of all his past life, to contrast its happiness with the present contempt and contumely of it, so much owing to them and their heartless, unsympathetic treatment of him, while they can make no reply.

Verse 25. I chose out their way, and sat chief - as a king in the army] I cannot see, with some learned men, that our version of the original is wrong. I have not seen it mended, and I am sure I cannot improve it. The whole verse seems to me to point out Job in his civil, military, and domestic life. As supreme magistrate he chose out their way, adjusted their differences, and sat chief, presiding in all their civil assemblies. As captain general he dwelt as a king in the midst of his troops, preserving order and discipline, and seeing that his fellow soldiers were provided with requisites for their warfare, and the necessaries of life. As a man he did not think himself superior to the meanest offices in domestic life, to relieve or support his fellow creatures; he went about comforting the mourners - visiting the sick and afflicted, and ministering to their wants, and seeing that the wounded were properly attended. Noble Job! Look at him, ye nobles of the earth, ye lieutenants of counties, ye generals of armies, and ye lords of provinces. Look at JOB! Imitate his active benevolence, and be healthy and happy. Be as guardian angels in your particular districts, blessing all by your example and your bounty. Send your hunting horses to the plough, your game cocks to the dunghill; and at last live like men and Christians.

25. A concluding picture of the joy which he had in the fellowship of men, and how they recognised his worth and set him as a king among them, and yet how he with his high advantages and great wealth felt towards them, being among them as one that comforteth the mourning. I chose out their way] The words probably mean that Job “chose” the way that led to the society of men, he gladly sought intercourse with them, and delighted himself in their fellowship. The other sense, I chose out the way for them to go, is less natural.

I chose out their way - That is, I became their guide and counsellor. Rosenmuller and Noyes explain this as meaning, “When I came among them;” that is, when I chose to go in their way, or in their midst.

25. I chose out their way — I proved their way. Hitzig. Way — The Hebrew, means, also, “usage,” “conduct,” “mode of life,” Job 23:11; Psalms 5:8; Psalms 27:11.