Job 29 Study Notes: Job Remembers His Former Days
Job looks back with longing on the time when God protected him and his children were with him. He recalls the honor he received at the city gate, his care for the poor, orphans, widows, the blind and the lame, and how people hung on his counsel as he led them like a chief.
General
How does Job describe the way people received his counsel in 29:21-23?
Answer: They waited eagerly for his words, like dry land waiting for rain
Job says that people listened to him with hope and waited quietly for his advice (29:21). When he finished speaking, no one added anything, because his words settled on them gently like dew (29:22). They waited for him the way people wait for rain and soaked up his words like the spring rains (29:23). He chose their course, sat as their chief, lived like a king leading his army, and comforted those who mourned (29:25). Even Eliphaz had admitted that Job used to teach many and strengthen the weak (4:3-4). Moses used the same picture of teaching that comes down like rain and dew (Deuteronomy 32:2). The man who once comforted others now has friends who give him no comfort, and in the next chapter he says he has become a joke and is mocked in song (30:9).
- Job 29:21-23 (BSB)“Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my counsel. After my words, they spoke no more; my speech settled on them like dew. They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers.”People waited silently for Job’s counsel and received his words like rain.
- Job 29:25 (BSB)“I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.”Job led like a chief and comforted mourners.
- Job 4:3-4 (BSB)“Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands. Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling.”Even Eliphaz had said Job used to instruct many and strengthen the weak.
- Deuteronomy 32:2 (BSB)“Let my teaching fall like rain and my speech settle like dew, like gentle rain on new grass, like showers on tender plants.”Moses uses the same picture of teaching that falls like rain and dew.
- Job 30:9 (BSB)“And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.”Job goes on to say that he has now become a byword and is mocked in song.
Theological
How does Job portray the community’s reception of his counsel in 29:21-23?
Answer: They waited eagerly for his words, like dry land waiting for rain
Job recalls that men heard him expectantly and waited in silence for his counsel (29:21); after he spoke no one replied, for his words fell on them gently like dew (29:22), and they longed for him as for rain, drinking in his speech like the spring rains (29:23). He directed their course, presided as chief and dwelt like a king amid his army, one who consoled mourners (29:25). Eliphaz had conceded as much, recalling how Job instructed many and strengthened the feeble (4:3-4). The image recalls Moses’ wish that his teaching would come down as rain and dew (Deuteronomy 32:2). The irony is pointed: the comforter of mourners is now left without comfort and, as the next chapter laments, has become a byword mocked in song (30:9).
- Job 29:21-23 (BSB)“Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my counsel. After my words, they spoke no more; my speech settled on them like dew. They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers.”People waited silently for Job’s counsel and received his words like rain.
- Job 29:25 (BSB)“I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.”Job led like a chief and comforted mourners.
- Job 4:3-4 (BSB)“Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands. Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling.”Even Eliphaz had said Job used to instruct many and strengthen the weak.
- Deuteronomy 32:2 (BSB)“Let my teaching fall like rain and my speech settle like dew, like gentle rain on new grass, like showers on tender plants.”Moses uses the same picture of teaching that falls like rain and dew.
- Job 30:9 (BSB)“And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.”Job goes on to say that he has now become a byword and is mocked in song.
General
True or False: Job says that in his days of blessing he expected to live a long life and die peacefully in his own home.
Answer: True
This is true. Job remembers thinking that he would die at home, safe in his own nest, and that his days would be as many as grains of sand (29:18). He pictured himself like a well-watered tree with roots reaching the water and dew on its branches, his honor always fresh and his strength renewed (29:19-20). Instead, his life was suddenly overturned. Job himself had confessed that the LORD gives and the LORD takes away (1:21), and Proverbs warns that nobody can tell what tomorrow will hold (Proverbs 27:1). In the end, as a gift of God’s grace rather than a reward owed to him, Job did live many more years and died at a great age, his life complete (42:16-17).
- Job 29:18-20 (BSB)“So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand. My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches. My glory is ever new within me, and my bow is renewed in my hand.’”Job recalls expecting a long life and lasting strength.
- Job 1:21 (BSB)“saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.””Job had confessed that the LORD gives and the LORD takes away.
- Proverbs 27:1 (BSB)“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”No one knows what a day may bring.
- Job 42:16-17 (BSB)“After this, Job lived 140 years and saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so Job died, old and full of years.”In the end Job lived many more years and died old and full of years.
Theological
True or False: Job recalls that in his prosperity he expected a long life and a peaceful death in his own home.
Answer: True
This is true. Job remembers his settled expectation that he would die in his own nest and multiply his days like the sand (29:18), flourishing like a tree whose roots reach the waters and whose branches are refreshed by dew, with honor ever new and strength renewed (29:19-20). The expectation was suddenly overturned, illustrating his own confession that the LORD gives and takes away (1:21) and the proverb that nobody can tell what tomorrow will hold (Proverbs 27:1). In the end God did grant Job many more years, so that he died at a great age with his life complete (42:16-17), as an act of God’s grace, not as a rule owed to the righteous.
- Job 29:18-20 (BSB)“So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand. My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches. My glory is ever new within me, and my bow is renewed in my hand.’”Job recalls expecting a long life and lasting strength.
- Job 1:21 (BSB)“saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.””Job had confessed that the LORD gives and the LORD takes away.
- Proverbs 27:1 (BSB)“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”No one knows what a day may bring.
- Job 42:16-17 (BSB)“After this, Job lived 140 years and saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so Job died, old and full of years.”In the end Job lived many more years and died old and full of years.
General
How did people respond in Job’s former days when he went out and took his seat at the city gate (29:7-10)?
Answer: Young men stepped aside, elders stood, and leaders fell silent
The city gate was where the leaders of a town met to settle cases and make decisions, and taking a seat there was a sign of honor (Proverbs 31:23). When Job went to the gate in his former days (29:7), the young men stepped back out of respect, and the elderly got up from their seats (29:8). Princes stopped talking and put a hand over their lips, and nobles fell silent (29:9-10). Everyone waited to hear what Job would say. The memory makes his present state all the more painful. He had already complained that God had stripped him of his honor (19:9), and in the next chapter he says that now even younger men mock him (30:1).
- Job 29:7-10 (BSB)“When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square, the young men saw me and withdrew, and the old men rose to their feet. The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands. The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.”When Job came to the city gate, young and old, princes and nobles showed him honor.
- Proverbs 31:23 (BSB)“Her husband is known at the city gates, where he sits among the elders of the land.”Sitting among the elders at the city gate was a mark of honor and standing.
- Job 19:9 (BSB)“He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head.”Job had complained that God had stripped him of his honor.
- Job 30:1 (BSB)““But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs.”Job goes on to say that now younger men mock him.
Theological
What reception did Job receive at the city gate in his former days, according to 29:7-10?
Answer: Young men stepped aside, elders stood, and leaders fell silent
The gate was the seat of civic judgment, and a place among the elders there marked a man of standing (Proverbs 31:23). Job recalls that when he took his seat in the square (29:7), the young withdrew in deference, the aged stood up (29:8), princes fell quiet with hands over their mouths, and nobles fell silent (29:9-10). His word carried decisive weight in the community. The recollection sharpens the contrast with his present humiliation, which he had already lamented as God stripping him of his glory (19:9) and which he develops in the following chapter, where younger men now deride him (30:1).
- Job 29:7-10 (BSB)“When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square, the young men saw me and withdrew, and the old men rose to their feet. The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands. The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.”When Job came to the city gate, young and old, princes and nobles showed him honor.
- Proverbs 31:23 (BSB)“Her husband is known at the city gates, where he sits among the elders of the land.”Sitting among the elders at the city gate was a mark of honor and standing.
- Job 19:9 (BSB)“He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head.”Job had complained that God had stripped him of his honor.
- Job 30:1 (BSB)““But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs.”Job goes on to say that now younger men mock him.
General
What does Job long for most as he remembers his former days in 29:2-5?
Answer: The time God guarded him and was a friend in his household
Job looks back to earlier months with deep longing (29:2). What he misses most is God’s care. In those days God watched over him, and God’s lamp shone over his head so that he could walk through darkness by His light (29:2-3). God’s close friendship was upon his home, the Almighty was with him, and his children were around him (29:4-5). Those children had since been killed (1:18-19). Even Satan had admitted in the opening scene that God had put a protective hedge around Job and all he had (1:10). The psalmist speaks of the LORD lighting his lamp (Psalm 18:28), and Proverbs says the LORD is close to people who are upright (Proverbs 3:32).
- Job 29:2-5 (BSB)““How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me, when His lamp shone above my head, and by His light I walked through the darkness, when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God rested on my tent, when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,”Job longs for the months when God watched over him and His friendship rested on his home.
- Job 1:10 (BSB)“Have You not placed a hedge on every side around him and his household and all that he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.”In the prologue Satan says God had placed a protective hedge around Job and his household.
- Psalm 18:28 (BSB)“For You, O LORD, light my lamp; my God lights up my darkness.”The psalmist says the LORD lights his lamp and brightens his darkness.
- Proverbs 3:32 (BSB)“for the LORD detests the perverse, but He is a friend to the upright.”The LORD is a friend to the upright.
Theological
What is the chief object of Job’s longing as he recalls his former days in 29:2-5?
Answer: The time God guarded him and was a friend in his household
Job’s retrospect opens with longing for the months when God kept watch over him (29:2). At the heart of his memory is not wealth but communion with God: the divine lamp shining over his head and guiding him through darkness (29:3), the intimate friendship of God upon his tent, the Almighty’s presence, and his children around him (29:4-5), the children he has since lost (1:18-19). Satan himself had acknowledged the protective hedge God set around Job’s household (1:10). The imagery matches the psalmist’s confession that the LORD lights his lamp (Psalm 18:28) and the proverb that the LORD befriends the upright (Proverbs 3:32).
- Job 29:2-5 (BSB)““How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me, when His lamp shone above my head, and by His light I walked through the darkness, when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God rested on my tent, when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,”Job longs for the months when God watched over him and His friendship rested on his home.
- Job 1:10 (BSB)“Have You not placed a hedge on every side around him and his household and all that he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.”In the prologue Satan says God had placed a protective hedge around Job and his household.
- Psalm 18:28 (BSB)“For You, O LORD, light my lamp; my God lights up my darkness.”The psalmist says the LORD lights his lamp and brightens his darkness.
- Proverbs 3:32 (BSB)“for the LORD detests the perverse, but He is a friend to the upright.”The LORD is a friend to the upright.
General
According to 29:11-13, why did those who heard and saw Job call him blessed and speak well of him?
Answer: Because he came to the aid of the poor, the orphan and the widow
Job says that people who heard him called him happy and honored, and everyone who saw him spoke well of him (29:11). The reason was the way he helped those who could not help themselves. He rescued poor people who called for help and orphans who had no one to help them (29:12). People near death blessed him, and he made widows sing for joy (29:13). This is the kind of care God Himself shows, for He upholds justice for the orphan and the widow (Deuteronomy 10:18). Psalm 82 calls those with power to defend the weak and rescue the needy (Psalm 82:3-4), and James says that pure religion includes looking after widows and orphans in hardship (James 1:27).
- Job 29:11-13 (BSB)“For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me, because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper. The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.”People blessed Job because he rescued the poor and fatherless and gladdened the widow.
- Deuteronomy 10:18 (BSB)“He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.”God Himself executes justice for the fatherless and widow.
- Psalm 82:3-4 (BSB)“Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; uphold the rights of the afflicted and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; save them from the hand of the wicked.”Those with authority are called to defend and rescue the weak and needy.
- James 1:27 (BSB)“Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”Pure religion includes caring for orphans and widows in their distress.
Theological
On what ground, according to 29:11-13, did those who heard and saw Job pronounce him blessed?
Answer: Because he came to the aid of the poor, the orphan and the widow
Job’s reputation rested not on wealth or rank but on his deeds of mercy: those who heard him pronounced him blessed and onlookers bore witness (29:11), because he delivered the needy who called for help and the fatherless without a helper (29:12), received the blessing of the dying, and filled widows with joy (29:13). His conduct mirrored God’s own character as the One who defends the orphan and the widow (Deuteronomy 10:18), fulfilled the charge laid on those in authority to defend and rescue the needy (Psalm 82:3-4), and matches the New Testament description of pure religion as looking after orphans and widows (James 1:27).
- Job 29:11-13 (BSB)“For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me, because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper. The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.”People blessed Job because he rescued the poor and fatherless and gladdened the widow.
- Deuteronomy 10:18 (BSB)“He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.”God Himself executes justice for the fatherless and widow.
- Psalm 82:3-4 (BSB)“Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; uphold the rights of the afflicted and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; save them from the hand of the wicked.”Those with authority are called to defend and rescue the weak and needy.
- James 1:27 (BSB)“Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”Pure religion includes caring for orphans and widows in their distress.
General
In 29:14-17 Job says righteousness clothed him and that he helped the blind, the lame, the needy and the stranger. How does the book’s opening bear on these claims?
Answer: It confirms them, since the narrator and God call Job blameless
Job says he wore righteousness and justice like a robe and turban (29:14). He acted as sight for the blind and legs for the lame, was like a parent to the poor, and took up the cause of strangers he did not know (29:15-16). He also broke the power of the wicked and pulled their victims from their grip (29:17). These are not empty boasts. The opening of the book calls Job blameless and upright (1:1), and the LORD Himself says nobody anywhere in the world is like him (1:8). Job’s words answer Eliphaz, who had accused him of taking the clothes off people who had nothing to wear, refusing food to the hungry and turning widows away with nothing (22:6-9). That charge was false. Job’s goodness was real, the fruit of his fear of God, though he was not sinless, and he later admits that he spoke of things he did not understand (42:3).
- Job 29:14-17 (BSB)“I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban. I served as eyes to the blind and as feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger. I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.”Job describes his righteousness and his help for the blind, the lame, the needy and the stranger.
- Job 1:1 (BSB)“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.”The opening verse calls Job blameless and upright.
- Job 1:8 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.””The LORD says there is no one on earth like Job.
- Job 22:6-9 (BSB)“For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing. You gave no water to the weary and withheld food from the famished, while the land belonged to a mighty man, and a man of honor lived on it. You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.”Eliphaz had accused Job of mistreating the poor, the widow and the fatherless.
Theological
How does the prologue bear on Job’s claims in 29:14-17 that he was clothed with righteousness and served the blind, the lame, the needy and the stranger?
Answer: It confirms them, since the narrator and God call Job blameless
Job describes righteousness and justice as the garments he wore (29:14), and his service as sight for the blind, feet for the lame, a parent to the poor and an advocate for the stranger’s cause (29:15-16), breaking the power of wrongdoers and rescuing their prey (29:17). The prologue vindicates the claim: the narrator calls Job blameless and upright (1:1), and the LORD testifies that none on earth is like him (1:8). The passage directly rebuts Eliphaz’s charge that Job had oppressed the naked, the hungry, the widow and the fatherless (22:6-9), a charge that the verdict of the prologue shows to be false. Job’s righteousness is genuine, the fruit of his fear of God, not sinless perfection; he later confesses that he spoke of things beyond his understanding (42:3).
- Job 29:14-17 (BSB)“I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban. I served as eyes to the blind and as feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger. I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.”Job describes his righteousness and his help for the blind, the lame, the needy and the stranger.
- Job 1:1 (BSB)“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.”The opening verse calls Job blameless and upright.
- Job 1:8 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.””The LORD says there is no one on earth like Job.
- Job 22:6-9 (BSB)“For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing. You gave no water to the weary and withheld food from the famished, while the land belonged to a mighty man, and a man of honor lived on it. You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.”Eliphaz had accused Job of mistreating the poor, the widow and the fatherless.