Job 29:1-25

Job 29. Job's Former Happy Days.

Job 29:1. Job longs that he might once again live as of old under God's favour. In Job 29:4 secret means intimacy (cf. Psalms 25:14).

Job 29:7. Job describes the reverence done to him by not only the young, but even the aged and the honourable. The gate of the city is the place of assembly, the counsel-house. Job lives on his country estate, but goes into the city to give counsel.

Job 29:21 should probably now follow (Budde, Peake). These verses continue the subject of Job 29:7. In Job 29:22 dropped means dropped as rain (Job 29:23). In Job 29:24 a mg. yields a better sense than text. Budde reads I laughed on them and they were confident. In Job 29:25, their way probably means their course of action. Job means that he chose out their fine of action in the counsel.

Job 29:11. This follows well upon Job 29:25. In this beautiful passage Job classifies himself as a helper of the helpless. In Job 29:11 blessed me means called me happy, i.e. because of his good life which must bring prosperity; the eye's witness means that it saw what Job was doing and testified his praise. In Job 29:14 a diadem is as in mg. turban.

Job 29:18. Consequently Job looked forward to a long and untroubled life. In Job 29:18 b read as mg. as the phœ nix. The poet refers to the Egyptian story of this bird, which renewed its life every 500 years, and was naturally, therefore, an illustration of great longevity. The bow in Job 29:20 is the symbol of strength.