Bible Commentaries

Job 29-31. Job's Reply to Zophar.—He sums up his whole case, ending with an appeal to God. In Job 29 he surveys his former happy days, in Job 30 his present misery. Job 31 is his great oath of clearing": Job solemnly protests his innocence and invites God to judge his case. In Job 30:21-24 Job almost returns to his former feeling against God. Since Job 19:25 f. he has moved away from his great conviction that God will ultimately right him, to face the general problem of Providence, and has come to the dreadful conclusion that there is no moral law in the universe. He comes back, therefore, to the point from which he started, and demands that God should clear up matters here and now. It was necessary to the poet that Job should thus present his case in order to prepare for the Divine revelation which is the answer to the problem of Providence. He allows Job to gain the victory of faith and then to lose ground again, so as to state the wider problem and deal with it.

Job 29. Job's Former Happy Days.

Job 29:1-6. 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 29:7-10. 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 29:21-25 should probably now follow (Budde, Peake). These verses continue the subject of Job 29:7-10. 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 29:11-17. 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 29:18-20. Consequently Job looked forward to a long and untroubled life. In Job 29:18 b read as mg. "as the phœnix." 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.