Job 29

Job went on with his speech. He said:

1Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,

NoteThe King James word "parable" here does not mean a short teaching story. It translates the Hebrew *mashal*, a formal, elevated speech in poetry. Chapters 29-31 are Job's last long speech, delivered after his three friends have run out of arguments.

2"How I wish I were as I was in the months now gone, in the days when God watched over me,

2Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;

3when his lamp shone above my head, and I walked through the dark by his light,

3When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness;

NoteA lamp burning above the doorway or in the middle of the tent stood for a household that was alive, secure and prospering. To speak of someone's lamp going out was to say his family and fortunes had ended.

4when I was in my best years, when God's friendship rested on my tent,

4As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle;

Note"The days of my youth" in the King James is misleading: the Hebrew word suggests ripeness or harvest-time, a man at the height of his powers, not a boy. "The secret of God" translates *sod*, a word for confidential conversation among close friends or trusted advisers; hence "friendship." A tent, not a house, is the normal dwelling in the world of the book.

5when the Almighty was still with me, and my children were all around me,

5When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;

Note"The Almighty" translates *Shaddai*, an old title for God used far more often in Job than anywhere else in the Bible. Its literal meaning is uncertain; "Almighty" is the traditional guess rather than a certain translation.

6when my steps were washed in cream, and the rock poured out streams of olive oil for me!

6When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;

NoteTwo pictures of absurd plenty. Curds or cream were a luxury of the herdsman's life, and washing your feet in them means having so much that you waste it. Olive presses were often cut into bare rock, and olive trees grow in rocky ground, so the rock itself seems to pour out oil - the staple used for food, lamps, medicine and washing.

7When I went out through the city to the gate, and took my seat in the open square,

7When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!

NoteThe gateway of a walled town was its civic center. The gate structure and the open space inside it were where elders sat, contracts were witnessed, disputes were judged and public business was done. "I prepared my seat" means Job took his recognized place among the men who decided such cases - the whole scene that follows is a court in session.

8the young men saw me and hid themselves, and the old men rose and stood up.

8The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up.

9The leading men stopped talking and put their hands over their mouths.

9The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.

NoteCovering the mouth with the hand was a recognized gesture of deference and silence: it signaled that a man had nothing to add and would not interrupt.

10The voices of the important men went quiet, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.

10The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.

11Everyone who heard me spoke well of me, and everyone who saw me spoke up for me,

11When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:

Note"Gave witness to me" is courtroom language, continuing the scene at the gate: those who saw Job's conduct testified in his favor. In a society without written records, a man's standing rested on what others would publicly say about him.

12because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the child with no father, and anyone who had no one to help him.

12Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.

Note"The fatherless" means a child who has lost his father. Together with widows and resident foreigners, such people had no adult male to press their case at the gate, which is exactly why they appear so often in lists of those who need protecting.

13The man who was about to die blessed me, and I made the widow's heart sing for joy.

13The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.

Note"Him that was ready to perish" is a person at the point of death or ruin. A blessing spoken by such a person was not a polite thank-you: words of blessing were felt to carry real force and to bring good on the one they were spoken over.

14I put on right living, and it clothed me. Fair judgment was my robe and my turban.

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

Note"Judgment" here means justice - giving people their due in a dispute. The image is of justice worn like clothing. The "diadem" is not a crown in the royal sense but a wound turban, headgear that marked a man's rank and office.

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

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

16I was like a father to the poor, and I looked into the case of someone I did not know.

16I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.

Note"The cause which I knew not" means the lawsuit of someone Job had no connection with - a stranger with no family or patron in the town. The point of "I searched out" is that he investigated the facts instead of deciding in favor of the people he knew.

17I broke the jaws of wicked men and pulled what they had seized out of their teeth.

17And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.

NoteThe wicked man is pictured as a wild animal with prey in its mouth. "Spoil" means what the beast has seized; breaking the jaws is the only way to make it let go.

18So I thought, 'I will die in my own nest, and my days will be as many as grains of sand.

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

Note"Die in my nest" means to die at home, old and undisturbed, rather than being driven out or cut off. The Hebrew word rendered "sand" can also be read as the name of the legendary phoenix, a bird said to live for centuries and renew itself; ancient interpreters were divided, and both readings give the same basic sense of an immensely long life.

19My roots spread out to the water, and the dew lies on my branches all night.

19My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch.

NoteIn a dry land a tree whose roots reach water survives the summer, and the night dew is a real source of moisture in a rainless season. Both details say: constantly supplied, never withering.

20My honor stays fresh in me, and the bow in my hand is always new.'

20My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand.

Note"Glory" here means honor and reputation among other people. A bow left strung loses its spring, so a bow that is always "renewed" - restrung, taut - stands for strength and effectiveness that never slackens.

21Men listened to me and waited, and kept quiet while I gave my advice.

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

22After I had spoken, they had nothing to add. My words fell gently on them.

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

23They waited for me as people wait for rain, and they opened their mouths wide as for the spring rains.

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

NoteIn this climate the rains came in two seasons: the early rain in autumn that softened the ground for plowing, and the latter or spring rain that swelled the grain just before harvest. Missing the latter rain meant a ruined crop, so people watched for it with real anxiety. Opening the mouth wide is the gesture of parched ground or a gasping person drinking it in.

24If I smiled at them, they could hardly believe it, and they did not let the light of my face fall.

24If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down.

NoteThis verse is one of the hardest in the book, and translators disagree. The Hebrew can mean that Job's favor was so far above them that they could scarcely believe he would smile on them, or that his cheerfulness lifted men who had given up hope. "The light of my countenance" - a bright, favorable face - was a standard way of speaking of a superior's goodwill; "they cast it not down" may mean they did nothing to dim it, or that they never let his goodwill fail them.

25I chose the road they should take and sat as their chief. I lived like a king among his troops, like one who comforts people who are grieving."

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

Note"Sat chief" means presided as head of the assembly. The last line comes without warning and its connection to the rest is unclear in the Hebrew: Job's picture of himself as a commanding figure ends, oddly, with the image of a man consoling the bereaved.