Job 29

1. AND Job 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 shined upon my head, And by his light I walked through darkness; 4 As I was in the ripeness of my days, When the secret of God was upon my tent; 5 When the Almighty was yet with me, And my children were about me; 6 When my steps were washed with butter, And the rock poured me out streams of oil! 7 When I went forth to the gate unto the city, When I prepared my seat in the street, 8 The young men saw me and hid themselves, And the aged rose up and stood; 9 The princes refrained talking, And laid their hand on their mouth; 10 The voice of the nobles was hushed, And their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth. 11 For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me; And when the eye saw me, it gave witness unto me: 12 Because I delivered the poor that cried, The fatherless also, that had none to help him. 13 The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me:

Jon having declared fully the principles by which he is guided in his consideration of God’s government, reverts to a pathetic description of his present misery contrasted with his former happiness. The style of the rest of his discourse differs somewhat from that of the preceding portions; while it is equally conspicuous for power, conciseness, beauty, and copiousness of illustration, it is clearer, and flows in a more equable and limpid current; it is as though the storm-clouds are broken, and things stand out in their true light and just proportions, now that the struggles of contending emo-

And I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.

14. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: My justice was as a robe and a diadem.

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

16. I was a father to the needy: And the cause of him that I knew not I searched out.

17. And I brake the jaws of the unrighteous, And plucked the prey out of his teeth.

18. Then I said, I shall die in my nest, And I shall multiply my days as the sand:

19. My root is spread out to the waters, And the dew lieth all night upon my branch:

20. My glory is fresh in me, And my bow is renewed in my hand.

21. Unto me men gave ear, and waited, And kept silence for my counsel.

22. After my words they spake not again; And my speech dropped upon them.

23. And they waited for me as for the rain; And they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.

24. I laughed on them, when they had no confidence, And the light of my countenance they cast not down.

25. I chose out their way, and sat as chief, And dwelt as a king in the army, As one that comforteth the mourners.

tions are passing away. Job does not, indeed, and cannot, comprehend the cause of his calamities, or reconcile them with what he could conjecture of the Almighty by whose hand they are inflicted; but he sees them as they are; the present and the past are before him; and though he cannot formally express a hope, for which he has no sure objective grounds, yet the tone of his pleading with God indicates a deep under-current of pious feeling, while the complete and exhaustive examination of a life which has been passed in the faithful discharge of duty and in abstinence from all forms of wilful sin, cannot but impart some comfort and suggest some hope, or at least some preparation for hope to a conscience singularly free from offence. Cook.

Chaps. 29-31. Job takes a comprehensive survey of his mysterious history as a whole. First, looking back with pathetic regret upon his former days, when his children were about him and he was prosperous and honored among men (chap. 29); second, contrasting with this happier past his present abasement, the contempt in which he is held by the lowest of mankind, and the mysterious afflictions of God upon him (chap. 30); and third, protesting that this affliction had come upon him for no sin of which he had been guilty; and ending with the impassioned cry that God would make known to him the charge which He has against him (chap. 31). A. B. D.

Chap. 29. In chap. 28 Job’s thought of God’s ineffable wisdom came from the contemplation of his own mysterious sufferings, bringing him to the grand conclusion, that it is man’s wisdom to believe and adore when he cannot understand. This high train of thought carries him for a season out of and above himself. Such a pitch, however, cannot be sustained, and so he comes down again to his own sorrows, his ever smarting pains, and that leads to the contemplation of former happiness, which the same unsearchable wisdom had so bountifully bestowed upon him. This is far from being an unnatural transition, although it is emotional rather than logical. It may be said, too, that the descent, if we may call it such, is all the more pathetic, as thus succeeding a meditation so glorious and profound. T. Lewis.

In this chapter we have a description of the life of a great chieftain, no mere sheikh of a nomad tribe, but the prince of a state in which civilization had made considerable progress, and laws were administered with intelligence and care. The points which he enumerates are important for their bearing on the date of the work; they belong to an early age, and are entirely free from allusions to habits or institutions of later origin, from aught that can remind us of Judah under the successors of David. Cook.

A pathetic picture of Job’s former prosperity and respect. The passage has these parts: First (vs. 2-10), a sorrowful review of the happiness of former days, in which the things that made up this happiness, now departed, are enumerated: God’s keeping of him (v. 2), His light upon his path (v. 3), and His intimacy and protection over his tent (v. 4); the presence of his children about him (v. 5); the prosperity, almost more than natural, that flowed in upon him in ways unsought (v. 6); and above all the respect and reverence paid him by his fellow-citizens, as he sat in their council and went among them (vs. 7-10). This last is the great thought that fills the chapter and forms the contrast to the wretchedness and the contempt from the meanest of mankind which he now endures (chap. 30); second (vs. 11-17), the reason of this universal reverence of men for him—his benevolence and impartial justice; third (vs. 18-20), an almost involuntary reference to his calm and sure outlook into the future amid this universal respect; fourth (vs. 21-25), after which the great thought of the passage, his high place among men and the delight which his benevolent intercourse with them was to him, again rushes into his mind. A. B. D.

1. It would seem that when Job had brought his discourse to the point which forms the close of the last chapter, he again paused to see if any of the friends were disposed to speak. But as none answered, he proceeded; for at the beginning of this chapter we again meet with the unusual formula, “And Job again took up his parable.” The interval may have been of some duration, during which he appears to have been musing deeply on his former prosperity and happiness, and on the contrast to it which his present condition offered. The influence of these thoughts is seen when he again speaks. His speech is full of lingering regrets over the pleasant memories of his past estate, of which he gives a most eloquent description, replete with natural touches of pathos and tenderness. It marks the character of the man, that so far from being alienated from loving sympathies with his kind by the miseries he had suffered and the injurious treatment to which he had been exposed, he looks back with peculiar pleasure upon the good which in better days his wealth and influence enabled him to accomplish. Kitto.

2-9. He refers it all to God as the author and upholder thereof. It was His light that shone upon him, and by which he walked through darkness. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him (Psalm 25:14), and this was upon Job’s tabernacle. God showed him that in His covenant which is hidden from the men of the world, and revealed unto the children of light. There are some fine touches of pathos in this retrospective description of what he was when his children were about him, and he was surrounded by the homage and respect of all who knew him. The exuberance of his wealth is expressed under the figure of “the rock pouring out rivers of oil.” In Syria and Arabia the olive abounds in rocky places. One of God’s blessings on Jacob was, that “He made him suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock.” We have here a most eloquent representation of the universal esteem in which Job was held—of the awe which his presence inspired among the young, and the reverence that was called forth from the aged. T. C.

2. Months of old. Job looks back to his lost happiness as to a thing long since passed away; it is lost in a mist of blinding sorrow.

When God watched over me. Job never omits to refer all to God. It is the habit, or, as old logicians say, the form of his mind; it belongs to his inmost nature. Cook.

That he had comfort in his God was the chief thing he rejoiced in in his prosperity, as the spring of it and the sweetness of it; that he had the favor of God and the tokens of that favor. He makes the same acknowledgment that David does (Psalm 30:7). Thou, by Thy favor, hast made my mountain stand strong. A gracious soul delights in God’s smiles, not in the smiles of this world.

3. God’s candle shined upon his head—that is, God lifted up the light of His countenance upon him, gave him the assurances and relishes of His love. Such abundant satisfaction did Job take in the Divine favor, that by the light of that he walked through darkness; that guided him in his doubts, comforted him in his griefs, bare him up under his burdens, and helped him through all his difficulties. Those that are interested in the favor of God and know how to value it can, by the light of that, walk cheerfully and comfortably through all the darkness of this vale of tears. That puts gladness into the heart, enough to balance the grievances of this present time.

4. The secret of God was upon my tabernacle—that is, when God conversed freely with him, as one bosom friend with another. The secret of the Lord is said to be with them that fear Him, for He shows them that in His covenant which others see not (Psalm 25:14). God communicates His favor and grace to His people, and receives the returns of their devotion in a way secret to the world. H.

5. The blessed fellowship of Eloah, indicating familiarity, confiding, unreserved intercourse, ruled over his tent; the Almighty was still with him, protecting and blessing him; and his children were round about him. D.

My children were about me. He must be made of hard stuff who hears not in these words the echo of a sigh. The sentiment is exquisitely tender. He could not bear to dwell upon it—nor need we do so; it is a most intelligible stroke of natural emotion. Kitto.—When our children are children we should really have them “about us.” When our children are about us we should consider, with Job, that we are prosperous. When our children are about us we should tend them very carefully, and train them up in the way they should go. When our children are about us we should be careful not only to teach them, but to learn the lessons which they can teach us. These lessons are taught in no other school so well. When our children are about us we should anticipate the time when, as in the case of the patriarch, they will all be away. Many a Job stands amid the relics of the past, looking back, and plaintively or thankfully recalling the days when the children were about him. Well, but look forward. Antedate the time. Anticipate the inevitable severance and work for the formation of the deeper, the immortal union. If you have wealth—heart property—in these children, as children, know it now; for the riches will “make to themselves wings, and flee away.” If you have nurture to give them, suitable to their tenderness, preparation for their strength, give it now; in a little while they will be too hard and strong in nature’s growth to take it. If there are lessons which the Master would have you learn of them while they are yet young, and which they cannot teach, nor you learn of them when they are older, then learn the lessons now, for soon the little faces will be seen no more at your table, the patter of the little feet heard no more in your rooms. A. Raleigh.

7. Job, a rich landowner, probably did not live in the city, but on his estate that adjoined it. He took part, however, in all the life of the city, and sat in the council that guided its affairs. The “gate” is spoken of as the place where the council or assembly of the town met. Such a “gate” is usually a building of considerable size, like an arcade, and hence it is spoken of here as an independent edifice by or beside the city. A. B. D.—Judgment was administered in the gate, the place of concourse, to which every man might have a free access; that every one who would might be a witness to all that was said and done; and that, when judgment was given against the guilty, others might hear and fear. H.

11-25. It was not his wealth alone which procured for him all this consideration; his goodness, more than his greatness, had to do with it. He was the object of a general and grateful benediction because of his kindness to the poor and those who were ready to perish. There was a moral reverence awarded to him, not for his humanity alone, but also for his justice—he sat on the seat of judgment, where he searched out the cause that was brought before him and redressed the wrongs of the injured. In the days of his affluence and high reputation it was not his worth only, but his wisdom that drew upon him the general confidence and respect of the community—men kept silence at his counsel, and after his words spake not again. And he not only spoke to them with the weight of an adviser, but with the authority of a king. He chose out their way and sat amongst them as a chief among his subjects—“and the light of his countenance they cast not down.” It was not undervalued as the familiarity is which breeds contempt; but his notice and smile conferred a felt distinction on those to whom he gave them. Altogether, he presents us with a striking picture of the elevation and glory to which God had raised him. T. C.

11-14. He valued himself by the care he took of those that were least able to help themselves—the poor and the needy, the widows and the fatherless, the blind and lame, who could not be supposed either to merit his favor or ever to be in a capacity to recompense it. He valued himself by the conscience he made of justice and equity in all his proceedings; his friends had unjustly censured him as an oppressor: “So far from that,” says he, “that I always made it my business to maintain and support right.” He devoted himself to the administration of justice. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me—that is, he had an habitual disposition to execute justice, and put on a fixed resolution to do it. H.

14. This beautiful figure is common in Hebrew and in Arabic poetry. The robes of state worn on such occasions by judges and chieftains were thus regarded as a symbol or representation of the clothing of righteousness; the man is lost in the judge; all private, selfish feelings are covered over, forgotten, and buried. The two clauses are no mere tautology. Job put on righteousness, that was his free act, and it in return clung to him, became at once a permanent habit and a glorious ornament. Diadem, i.e., the turban of costly shawls wound round the head: a primeval custom. Cook.—Job clothed himself with righteousness, so that as a man he was lost in the justice that clothed him; and justice clothed itself in him—he, on the other hand, was justice become a person. A. B. D.

Where silence against false imputations may be interpreted a confession, there the protestation of a man’s own innocency is ever just, and sometimes necessary. When others do us open wrong it is not vanity, but charity, to do ourselves open right; and whatsoever appearance of folly or vain boasting there is in so doing, they are chargeable with all that compel us thereunto, and not we. “I am become a fool in glorying,” saith Paul, “ye have compelled me” (2 Cor. 12:11). It was neither pride nor passion in Job, but such a compulsion as this that made him so often in this book proclaim his own righteousness. Bishop Sanderson.

15,16. From speaking of rendering simply right and justice without respect of persons, Job next refers to acts of beneficence—to the blind, the lame, the needy, and the shrinking sufferers that avoid notoriety. To care for the stranger was reckoned an especial duty among the Orientals. Job, without specifically defending himself against Eliphaz’s uncharitable and unjust imputations (chap. 22), answers them by appealing to the facts, which could not be denied. Instead of oppressing the needy and helpless, he had been their constant friend and benefactor. Curry.

16. The cause of him whom I knew not. Not merely the poor about him, to whom he might feel that he owed help, but even strangers who had a cause that needed unravelling he aided by his wisdom and justice. A. B. D.

17. The picture is that of hardened and heartless tyrants and oppressors (especially unrighteous judges seem to be here meant), who are compared to ravening beasts of prey, from whose teeth the prey must be rescued. The figure of breaking the jaw is forceful and well suited to the purpose of indicating the only proper method of dealing with such miscreants. Curry.—As an advocate Job won the cause; then as chief he enforces the sentence; he is advocate, judge, sheriff, and executioner; a necessary and effective combination of offices in an imperfectly organized community. Cook.

24. “I laughed on them, when they had no confidence,

And the light of my countenance they cast not down.”

Job, with his broader insight and more capable counsel, smiled on those who were perplexed and despondent; what seemed insurmountable difficulty or threatened disaster to them, seemed to him a thing easy to overcome and nothing to create alarm; while, on the other hand, the despondency of others was never able to cloud

the cheerfulness of his countenance, so full was his mind of resource.