Job 29 · ESV Study Bible

Job’s Summary Defense

JOB 29 [†]And Job again z took up his discourse, 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 a lamp shone upon my head,

and by his light I walked through darkness,

4 as I was in my prime, [1]

when the b friendship of God was upon my tent,

5 when the Almighty was yet with me,

when my c children were all around me,

6[†] when my steps were d washed with e butter,

and f the rock poured out for me streams of g oil!

7[†] When I went out to h the gate of the city,

when I prepared my seat in the square,

8 the young men saw me and withdrew,

and the aged rose and stood;

9 the princes refrained from talking

and i laid their hand on their mouth;

10 the voice of the nobles was hushed,

and their j tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.

11[†] When the ear heard, it called me blessed,

and when the eye saw, it approved,

12 because I k delivered the poor who cried for help,

and the fatherless who had none to help him.

13 l The blessing of him who was m about to perish came upon me,

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

14[†] I o put on righteousness, and it clothed me;

my justice was like a robe and p a turban.

15 I was q eyes to the blind

and feet to the lame.

16[†] I was a father to the needy,

and I searched out r the cause of him whom I did not know.

17[†] I s broke t the fangs of the unrighteous

and made him drop his prey from his teeth.

18 u Then I thought, ‘I shall die in my v nest,

and I shall multiply my days as w the sand,

19 my x roots spread out to y the waters,

with the dew all night on my z branches,

20[†] my glory fresh with me,

and my a bow ever b new in my hand.’

21 “Men listened to me and waited

and kept silence for my counsel.

22 After I spoke they did not speak again,

and my word c dropped upon them.

23 They waited for me as for the rain,

and they d opened their mouths as for the e spring rain.

24[†] I smiled on them when they had no confidence,

and f the light of my g face they did not cast down.

25[†] I chose their way and sat as chief,

and I lived like h a king among his troops,

like one who comforts mourners.

JOB—NOTE ON 29:14–16 Job had been a person of significant means (see v. 6) who used his possessions and influence as if he were clothed with righteousness and justice (v. 14) to provide what the blind, lame (v. 15), needy, and those he did not know (v. 16) could not do for themselves. Job’s actions contrast with how he is treated now that he is in need (see 30:10–15).

JOB—NOTE ON 29:16 searched out the cause. Job took up legal cases even when there could be no possible benefit for him.

JOB—NOTE ON 29:17 The wicked are pictured here as if they hunt for victims like a predator. Job describes his actions on behalf of the needy as equivalent to breaking the fangs of the unrighteous, presumably because he exposed and unraveled the means by which they had snared the poor as their prey.

JOB—NOTE ON 29:7–25 Job opens and closes this section with a description of the honor that he once received from people in every sphere of influence (vv. 7–10, 21–25). Job’s wish is not simply that he would regain his honor but that the grounds for this respect would be remembered (beginning with because in v. 12): he not only spoke in wisdom but also embodied what it required by caring for the poor and fatherless (v. 12), for the one about to perish, and for the widow (v. 13), and by protecting and preserving the needy (vv. 14–17). When Job looks back on what he thought the course of his life would be, he uses several images, including that of a well-rooted tree that would continue to bear fruit, benefiting himself and others (vv. 18–20; for similar images of the benefits of a faithful life, see Ps. 1:3; Prov. 3:18; Jer. 17:7–8).

JOB—NOTE ON 29:11–13 The blessing that Job received from others (v. 13; see also v. 11) signified the blessing he had been to those who had no one to help them and needed to be delivered (v. 12). In the next section, Job will lament his need for someone to deliver him, now that he is the one crying for help (see 30:20, 28; also 30:24).

JOB—NOTE ON 29:20 Job is likely referring to the internal strength (my glory) and the external vigor (my bow) that were the mutual signs of the benefits of a life lived in wisdom.

JOB—NOTE ON 29:24 As one who utilized his means for righteousness and justice (vv. 12–17), the smile and light of Job’s face encouraged those without hope and reflected the character and presence of God (see “lamp” and “light” in v. 3).

JOB—NOTE ON 29:1–25 Job laments the loss of the past, when he felt that he had the presence and protection of God (vv. 1–6) as well as the respect of all those among whom he lived (vv. 7–25), which matched the way he lived his life in pursuit of righteousness and justice (see vv. 12–17).

JOB—NOTE ON 29:1 And Job again took up his discourse. See note on 27:1.

JOB—NOTE ON 29:1–31:40 The Path of Job’s Life. Job reflects on his life in the past (29:1–25), the present (30:1–31), and what he wishes would be revealed and vindicated in the future (31:1–40). Much as Job’s soliloquy in ch. 3 launched the dialogues with his somber reflection on his origins, so too chs. 29–31 conclude the dialogues with Job’s reflections on his current and future state.

JOB—NOTE ON 29:25 It is with some irony that Job refers to the past, when some listened for his words and did not speak afterward (vv. 21–22), and also to the way that he formerly lived like one who comforts mourners. His friends originally set out to comfort him (see 2:11) but instead became agitated with his words and ended up acting as his accusers.

JOB—NOTE ON 29:6 washed with butter. Job was renowned for his herds of cattle and his olive groves that produced riches from the earth.