CHAPTER XXIX _Job laments his present condition, and gives an affecting_ _account of his former prosperity, having property in_ _abundance, being surrounded by a numerous family, and enjoying_ _every mark of the approbation of God_, 1-6. _Speaks of the respect he had from the young_, 7, 8; _an... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 29:2. _O THAT I WERE AS_ IN _MONTHS PAST_] Job seems here to make an apology for his complaints, by taking a view of his former prosperity, which was very great, but was now entirely at an end. He shows that it was not removed because of any bad use he had made of it; and describes how he... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 29:3. _WHEN HIS CANDLE SHINED UPON MY HEAD_] Alluding most probably to the custom of illuminating festival or assembly rooms by lamps pendant from the ceiling. These shone literally _on the_ _heads_ of the guests. _BY HIS LIGHT I WALKED_ THROUGH _DARKNESS_] His _light _- prosperity and pe... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 29:4. _THE DAYS OF MY YOUTH_] The original word rather means _in_ _the days of my winter_, חרפי charpi, from חרף _charaph_, "to strip or make bare." Mr. _Harmer_ supposes the _rainy season_ is intended, when the fields, c., parched up by long drought, are revived by the _plentiful showers_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 29:6. _WASHED MY STEPS WITH BUTTER_] Job 20:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 29:7. _WHEN I WENT OUT TO THE GATE_] Courts of justice were held at the gates or entrances of the cities of the East; and Job, being an _emir_, was _supreme magistrate_: and here he speaks of his going to the gate to administer justice. _I PREPARED MY SEAT IN THE STREET_] I administered j... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 29:8. _THE YOUNG MEN SAW ME, AND HID THEMSELVES_] From all classes of persons I had the most marked respect. The YOUNG, through modesty and bashfulness, shrunk back, and were afraid to meet the eye of their prince; and the AGED _rose from their seats_ when I entered the place of judgment.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 29:9. _THE PRINCES REFRAINED TALKING_] They never ventured an opinion in opposition to mine; so fully were they persuaded of the justice and integrity of my decision.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 29:10. _THE NOBLES HELD THEIR PEACE_] PRINCES שרים _sarim_, and NOBLES, נגידים _negidim_, must have been _two_ different classes of the great men of Idumea. שר _sar_, PRINCE, _director_, or _ruler_, was probably the _head of a township_, or what we would call a _magistrate_ of a particula... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 29:11. _WHEN THE EAR HEARD ME_] This and the six following verses present us with a fine exhibition of a man full of benevolence and charity, acting up to the highest dictates of those principles, and rendering the miserable of all descriptions happy, by the constant exercise of his unconf... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 29:12. _BECAUSE I DELIVERED THE POOR THAT CRIED_] This appears to be intended as a _refutation_ of the charges produced by _Eliphaz_, Job 22:5, to confute which Job appeals to _facts_, and to _public testimony_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 29:15. _I WAS EYES TO THE BLIND, AND FEET_ WAS _I TO THE LAME._] Alluding probably to the difficulty of travelling in the Arabian deserts. _I was eyes to the blind _- those who _did not know the way_, I furnished with _guides. I was feet to the lame_-those who were _worn_ _out_, and _incap... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 29:16. _THE CAUSE_ WHICH _I KNEW NOT I SEARCHED OUT._] When any thing difficult occurred, I did not give it a _slight_ consideration; I examined it to the bottom, whatever pain, time, and trouble it cost me, that I might not pronounce a hasty judgment.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 29:17. _I BRAKE THE JAWS OF THE WICKED_] A metaphor taken from hunting. A _beast of prey_ had entered into the fold, and carried off a _sheep_. "The _huntsman_ comes, assails the _wicked_ beast, _breaks his jaws_, and _delivers the spoil out of his teeth_. See the case 1 Samuel 17:34-9.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 29:18. _I SHALL DIE IN MY NEST_] As I endeavoured to live _soberly_ and _temperately, fearing God_, and _departing from evil_, endeavouring _to promote the welfare of all around me_, it was natural for me to conclude that I should live long, be very prosperous, and see my posterity multipl... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 29:19. _MY ROOT_ WAS _SPREAD OUT BY THE WATERS_] A metaphor taken from a healthy tree growing beside a rivulet where there is plenty of water; which in consequence flourishes in _all seasons_; its leaf does not _wither_, nor its fruit _fall off_. See Psalms 1:3; Jeremiah 17:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 29:20. _MY GLORY_ WAS _FRESH IN ME_] My _vegetative_ power was great; my _glory _- my splendid _blossom_, large and _mellow fruit_, was always in season, and in every season. _MY BOW WAS RENEWED_] I was never without means to accomplish all my wishes. I had prosperity everywhere.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 29:21. _UNTO ME_ MEN _GAVE EAR_] The same idea as in Job 29:9.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 29:22. _MY SPEECH DROPPED UPON THEM._] It descended as _refreshing dew_; they were encouraged, comforted, and strengthened by it.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 29:23. _THEY WAITED FOR ME AS FOR THE RAIN_] The idea continued. They longed as much to hear me speak, to receive my counsel and my decisions, as the thirsty land does for refreshing waters. _THEY OPENED THEIR MOUTH WIDE_] A metaphor taken from ground _chapped_ with long drought. _THE LA... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 29:24. _I LAUGHED ON THEM, THEY BELIEVED_ IT _NOT_] Similar to that expression in the Gospel, Luke 24:41: _And while they believed not for joy, and wondered, he said ___. Our version is sufficiently perspicuous, and gives the true sense of the original, only it should be read in the _indic... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Job 29:25. _I CHOSE OUT THEIR WAY, AND SAT CHIEF - AS A KING IN THE_ _A__rmy_] 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_, an... [ Continue Reading ]