Job 29:4 KJV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 29:1-6

Losers may have leave to speak, and there is nothing they speak of more feelingly than of the comforts they are stripped of. Their former prosperity is one of the most pleasing subjects of their thoughts and talk. It was so to Job, who begins here with a wish (Job 29:2): O that I were as in months past! so he brings in this account of his prosperity. His wish is, 1. ?O that I were in as good a state as I was in then, that I had as much wealth, honour, and pleasure, as I had then!? This he... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 29:4

As I was in the days of my youth ,.... Either taken literally, he being one like Obadiah, that feared God from his youth upward, 1 Kings 18:3 ; or figuratively, for his former state of prosperity, when he was like a tree in autumn laden with ripe and rich fruit, and in great abundance; and so some render the words "in the days of my autumn", or "autumnity" F18 בימי חרפי "in autumno dierum mearum", Hottinger. Thesaur. Phiolog. p. 507. "in diebus autumnitatis meae", Schultens; so the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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, etc., parched up by long drought, are revived by the plentiful showers. Mr. Good thinks the word as found in the Arabic, which means top or summit, and which he translates perfection, is that which should be preferred. Others think the autumnal state is meant, when he was loaded... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 29:1-25

From these deep musings upon the nature of true wisdom, and the contrast between the ingenuity and cleverness of man and the infinite knowledge of God, Job turns to another contrast, which he pursues through two chapters ( Job 29:1-25 ; Job 30:1-31 .)—the contrast between what he was and what he is—between his condition in the period of his prosperity and that to which he has been reduced by his afflictions. The present chapter is concerned only with the former period; and gives a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 29:1-25

Job's second parable: 1. Regretful memories of bygone days. I. DAYS OF RELIGIOUS HAPPINESS . In tender elegiActs strains Job resumes his monologue of sorrow, casting a pathetic glance upon "the times of yore," already faded in the far past and gone beyond recall; not the days of his youth (Authorized Version), hut the autumn season of his mature manhood, when, like a field that the Lord had blessed ( Genesis 27:27 ), groaning beneath the exuberance of its harvest fruits, he was... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 29:1-25

Wistful retrospect of past happy days. I. PICTURES OF MEMORY ; HAPPINESS FOUNDED ON THE FRIENDSHIP OF GOD . ( Job 29:1-10 .) 1 . Friendship with God the source of happiness. ( Job 29:1-5 .) This is beautifully indicated in figurative expressions. He thinks of the days when God's light beamed upon his brow, by God's light he walked through the darkness; the days of his ripe and mellow age (rather than of his "youth"), when the secret, i.e. the intimacy, of the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 29:1-25

A mournful reflection upon a happy past. Job had lived in honour and great respect. He was "the greatest of all the men of the East." The Divine testimony concerning him was, "There is none like him in the earth." Job's was an enviable condition, and his own words indicate how sensible he was of it. In his mournful utterance, made as he looks back upon a dead past, we see wherein consisted his happiness; and we learn what arc the elemental conditions of the highest felicity in human life—at... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 29:2-4

Regrets for the happy past. I. IT IS NATURAL TO LOOK BACK WITH REGRET ON THE HAPPY PAST . The memory of past joy is not wholly pleasant. If the joy is gone, the memory only adds pain to the present sense of loss. Several things contribute to give intensity to the feeling of regret. 1 . Many of the best blessings are not appreciated while we possess them. We have to lose them to learn their value. This is especially true of great common blessings, such as the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 29:4

As I was in the days of my youth ; literally, in the days of my autumn— by which Job probably means the days of his "ripeness" or "full manhood"—which he had reached when his calamities fell upon him . When the secret of God was upon my tabernacle ; or, the counsel of God ; when, i.e; in my tent I held sweet counsel with God, and communed with him as friend with friend (comp. Psalms 25:14 , "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant;"... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 29:4

As I was in the days of my youth - The word here rendered “youth” (חרף chôreph), properly means “autumn - from” (חרף châraph), to “pluck, pull,” as being the time when fruits ace gathered. Then it means that which is mature; and the meaning here is probably “mature” or “manly” - “As I was in the days of my ripeness;” that is, of my vigor or strength. The whole passage shows that it does not mean “youth,” for he goes on to describe the honor and respect shown to him when in mature life. So the... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 29:1-6

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 29:4

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 29:4

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 29:1-25

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 29:1-25

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 29:1-25

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 29:1-25

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 29:2-4

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 29:4

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 29:4

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