Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 29:18
Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply [my] days as the sand.
18. in my nest ] i. e. surrounded by those belonging to him; he should die before them, not they before him, and in the midst of his possessions.
my days as the sand ] Sand is the usual rendering of the word occurring here an image of countless number. Most modern writers translate as the Phnix, in accordance with Jewish tradition. The Sept. renders as the branch of the palm ( ). The Heb. word however can hardly have been translated palm, a meaning which does not belong to it, and the present Sept. text may have arisen from a misunderstanding of its original reading, like the Phnix. The word “nest” in the first clause favours this translation. This bird was fabled to live 500 years, and to consume himself and his nest with fire, only to arise anew to life out of the ashes. Hence the name became a proverb, expressing the highest duration of life, , to live as long as the Phnix. The fable being current in Egypt the author of the Book might readily become acquainted with it.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
18 20. Job’s outlook on the future, amidst this benevolent and active life. He anticipated length of days and continued prosperity.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Then I said – So prosperous was I, and so permanent seemed my sources of happiness. I saw no reason why all this should not continue, and why the same respect and honor should not attend me to the grave.
I shall die in my nest – I shall remain where I am, and in my present comforts, while I live. I shall then die surrounded by my family and friends, and encompassed with honors. A nest is an image of quietness, harmlessness, and comfort. So Spenser speaks of a nest:
Fayre bosome! fraught with virtues richest tresure,
The neast of love, the lodging of delight,
The bowre of bliss, the paradise of pleasure.
Sonnet LXXVI
The image here expresses the firm hope of a long life, and of a peaceful and tranquil death. The Septuagint renders it, My age shall grow old like the trunk of a palm tree – stelechos phoinikos – I shall live long; compare Bochart, Hieroz. P. ii. Lib. vi. c. v. p. 820, for the reason of this translation.
And I shall multiply my days as the sand – Herder renders this, the Phoenix; and observes that the Phoenix is obviously intended here, only through a double sense of the word, the figure of the bird is immediately changed for that of the palm-tree. The rabbis generally understand by the word here rendered sand ( chol) the Phoenix – a fabulous bird, much celebrated in ancient times. Osaia in the book Bereshith Rabba, or Commentary on Genesis, says of this bird, that all animals obeyed the woman (in eating the forbidden fruit) except one bird only by the name of chul, concerning which it is said in Job, I will multiply my days as the kechul. Jannai adds to this, that this bird lives a thousand years, and in the end of the thousand years, a fire goes forth from its nest, and burns it up, but there remains, as it were, an egg, from which again the members grow, and it rises to life: compare Nonnus in Dionys. Lib. 40. Martial, Claudian, and others in Bochart, Hieroz. P. ii. Lib. vi. c. v. pp. 818-825. But the more correct rendering is, doubtless, the common one, and it is usual in the Scriptures to denote a great, indefinite number, by the sand; Gen 22:17; Jdg 7:12; Hab 1:9. A comparison similar to this occurs in Ovid, Metam. Lib. xiv. 136ff:
– Ego pulveris hausti
Ostendens cumulum, quot haberet corpora pulvis,
Tot mihi natales contingere vana rogavi.
The meaning is, that he supposed his days would be very numerous. Such were his expectations – expectations so soon to be disappointed. Such was his condition – a condition so soon to be reversed. The very circumstances in which he was placed were fitted to beget a too confident expectation that his prosperity would continue, and the subsequent dealings of God with him should lead all who are in similar circumstances, not to confide in the stability of their comforts, or to suppose that their prosperity will be uninterrupted. It is difficult, when encompassed with friends and honors, to realize that there ever will be reverses; it is difficult to keep the mind from confiding in them as if they must be permanent and secure.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Job 29:18
Then I said, I shall die in my nest.
The disappointments of life
If we examine the world, we shall everywhere discover variety, changeableness, and succession. Our bodies, our relations, our conditions and circumstances are perpetually changing. But this diversity constitutes the beauty and the glory of providence. It displays the Divine perfections, by rendering their interposition necessary and obvious. It furnishes means by which the dispositions of men are tried, and their characters formed. It lays hold of their hope and fear, joy and sorrow; and exercises every principle of their nature, in their education for eternity. Providence is God in motion; God fulfilling, explaining, enforcing His own word.
I. In these words we see something good. Even in his greatest prosperity, Job thought of dying. Death is always an irksome consideration to the man of the world. He strives to banish it from his thoughts. But the believer keeps up a familiar acquaintance with it. It is far more difficult to maintain a right state of mind in pleasing and prosperous circumstances, than in trying and distressing scenes.
II. We see something desirable. Who does not wish to have his possessions and enjoyments continued; to escape painful revolutions in his circumstances? We talk of the benefit of affliction–but affliction, simply considered, is not eligible. We decry the passions,–but we are required to regulate the passions, rather than expel them. Temporal things are good in themselves and needful. Our error in desiring them consists in two things.
1. In desiring them unconditionally. In praying for temporal blessings, we are always to keep a reserve upon our wishes, including submission to the will of God, and a reference to our real welfare.
2. When we desire them supremely. For whatever be their utility, they are not to be compared with spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Things are to be valued and pursued according to their importance.
III. We find something very common. It is affluence and ease cherishing confidence and presumption. It is a supposition that we shall have no changes because we feel none. The consequence is natural, and it is easily explained. Present things most powerfully impress the mind.
IV. Something very false and vain. Then I said, I shall die in my nest. Oh, Job! Boast not thyself of tomorrow. So ignorant are we of futurity, so erroneous are we in our calculations; so liable are we to mortifying vicissitudes. Whatever engages our affection may become a source of sorrow; whatever excites our hope may prove the means of disappointment. Such is the hard condition upon which we take all our earthly comforts. Are we secure from disappointment with regard to life; or health; or children; or friendship; or property? Observe, however, that we do not recommend you to cherish everlasting apprehension and gloom. It is displeasing to God when we pour the mercies He gives us to enjoy by mistrust. We may avoid solicitude, and not be guilty of the worldly confidence which we have condemned. It does require you–
1. To be moderate in your attachments, and sober in your expectations. The way to escape disappointment is to keep your hopes humble.
2. It calls upon you to seek a better ground of confidence, and to make the Lord your trust.
3. It calls upon you to seek after a preparation for all the changing scenes of life.
4. It calls upon you to look beyond this vain and mutable world to a state of solid and unchangeable happiness. (William Jay.)
The disappointments of life
We have here the sadness and lamentation of a disappointed man. Matters had turned out differently to his expectations. Many things conspired against Job, and the providence of God doomed him to disappointment. In the chapter before us, and in the next following, he speaks of the hopes that he once had, and the frustration of these hopes for which he now mourned, as he seated himself in the ashes, and clothed himself with sackcloth. Having regard to Jobs position and circumstances, none could say that his expectations were extravagant. But before old age came, he found himself with his nest torn to pieces, his reputation shattered, his prosperity perished, his influence destroyed, and foul disease threatening to sweep his body to an untimely grave. As we pass from one stage of life to another, we have to confess that many of our glowing expectations have turned out nothing but day dreams. Who has not had to mourn for frustrated hopes? These disappointments in life befall us under the providence of God; therefore we may be certain that they are meant for our instruction and discipline, as a test of principle for the maturing of our character and the promotion of our spiritual prosperity. These disappointments come in two ways.
1. We strive for that which we are never able to secure.
2. Disappointment comes to men when they reach the point for which they started, and then find it does not correspond with their expectations. Illustrate by the race for riches, or the desire for power. In the region of usefulness there is often disappointment. The same truth is illustrated in personal character. One thing this disappointment does–it drives us nearer to God. I can sometimes thank God for all the dark things in human life which prevent my leaning on anything but the One above, who is perfect both in wisdom and in love. (Charles Vince.)
Life; its hopes and disappointments, and their gracious design
(verses 18-20; 30:26, 31). It would be impossible to find a more admirable description of prosperity than that given in this chapter. Job fondly anticipated that all this prosperity and power would be continued to him. How different the result proved. Jobs experience has its counterpart in that of the children of men in general; in some, of course, more than in others, yet more or less in all. For some the disappointment of life is the disappointment of non-attainment. This may be illustrated in Abraham. What is Gods loving design in lifes disappointments? They form the medium whereby we reach higher blessings than those we miss. How was Job recompensed? Not by material blessings, which were but incidental. The true recompense lay in the purifying and perfecting of his character and life; in the spiritual blessings he reaped as the result of the discipline. So with ourselves. If rightly exercised by lifes adverse influences, we may find gain in every loss. The disappointments of life operate favourably by bringing us nearer to God. (S. D. Hillman.)
My root was spread out by the waters.—
The commendable and censurable in character
I. Here is something very good. In his greatest prosperity Job had thoughts of dying.
II. Here is something very desirable. Job desired a continuation of his providential mercies. The wrong in desiring worldly good is when we desire it unconditionally and supremely.
III. Here is something very common. Job in his affluence cherished confidence and presumption.
IV. Here is something very false. Job calculated on dying in his nest when the storm was gathering round him. (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 18. I shall die in my nest] As I endeavoured to live soberly and temperately, fearing God, and departing from evil, endeavouring to promote the welfare of all around me, it was natural for me to conclude that I should live long, be very prosperous, and see my posterity multiply as the sands on the seashore.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Then I said, i.e. I persuaded myself, being thus strongly fortified with the conscience of my own universal integrity, and with the singular favour of God, and of all men. But although this was sometimes Jobs opinion, yet at other times he was subject to fears, and expectation of changes, as appears from Job 3:25,26.
I shall die in my nest; not a violent or untimely, but a natural, and peaceable, and seasonable death, sweetly expiring in my own bed and habitation, in the midst of my children and friends, leaving the precious perfume of a good name behind me, and a plentiful inheritance to all my posterity.
As the sand; which is innumerable. See Gen 22:17; 41:49.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. I saidin my heart (Ps30:6).
inrather, “withmy nest”; as the second clause refers to long life. Instead ofmy family dying before me, as now, I shall live so long as to diewith them: proverbial for long life. Job did realize his hope (Job42:16). However, in the bosom of my family, gives a goodsense (Num 24:21; Oba 1:4).Use “nest” for a secure dwelling.
sand (Gen 22:17;Hab 1:9). But the Septuagintand Vulgate, and Jewish interpreters, favor the translation,”the phoelignix bird.” “Nest” in the parallelclause supports the reference to a bird. “Sand” formultitude, applies to men, rather than to years. Themyth was, that the phoelignix sprang from a nest of myrrh, made byhis father before death, and that he then came from Arabia (Job’scountry) to Heliopolis (the city of the Sun) in Egypt, once in everyfive hundred years, and there burnt his father [HERODOTUS,2:73]. Modern research has shown that this was the Egyptian mode ofrepresenting hieroglyphically a particular chronological era orcycle. The death and revival every five hundred years, and thereference to the sun, implies such a grand cycle commencingafresh from the same point in relation to the sun from which theprevious one started. Job probably refers to this.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then I said, I shall die in my nest,…. Job, amidst all his prosperity, knew he should die, death and the grave being appointed for all men; and he often thought of it, and of the manner of it; but he concluded that death was as yet some distance from him, as appears from the following clause; and that, when the time was come, he should not die on the ground, but in the city in which he lived m, in his house, and on his bed; that he should die with all his children about him, like a bird in its nest full of young; whereas now he was stripped of them all, and likely to die childless; that he should die amidst all his outward enjoyments, in an affluence of good things, in honour, credit, and esteem among men; whereas now he was deprived of all his substance, and had in contempt by friends and foes; and that he should die in great tranquillity of mind and peace of soul, in the enjoyment of the divine Presence, and under rich discoveries of his love and grace; whereas now God had hid himself from him, and the arrows of the Almighty stuck fast in him. Job now had dropped his former confidence, and yet after all he did die in all the circumstances he believed he should; see Job 42:10; and this confidence might rise not from any mercenary spirit in him, as if this would be the fruit and reward of his integrity and uprightness, justice and faithfulness, and as due to him on that account; but from the promises of God, which to the patriarchs were usually of temporal blessings, as types of spiritual ones; though it may be there was in this somewhat of the infirmity of the flesh, as in David, Ps 30:7; and an inattention to the uncertainty of all temporal enjoyments; nor might he then be so well acquainted with the doctrine of the cross he now had an experience of:
and I shall multiply [my] days as the sand; which is not to be numbered; an hyperbolical expression, to denote the long life he expected to enjoy, and which was promised to good men; and which Job, notwithstanding his present despair of it, was favoured and satisfied with, Ps 91:16. Some versions render it, “as the phoenix” n, a bird of that name, spoken of by many writers as a very long lived one; some say it lived five hundred years o, others five hundred forty p, others six hundred sixty q; yea, some, and so the Jewish writers, as Jarchi and others r, make it to live a thousand years, and some say s more; and it is reported of it, though not with sufficient evidence, that there is never but one of the kind at a time; which, perceiving its end drawing near, it makes a nest of cassia, frankincense, and other spices, and sets fire to it, and burns itself in it, and that out of its ashes comes forth an egg, which produces another; and some of the ancient writers, as Tertullian t particularly, have made use of this as an emblem of the resurrection; and to which some think Job has here respect; that he should live long like this bird, and then die and rise again; but inasmuch as this seems to be a fabulous bird, and that there is not, nor ever was, any such in being, it cannot well be thought that Job should allude unto it; though his making mention of his nest, in the former clause, may seem to favour it, and which has induced some to give into it u: others render it, “as the palm tree” w; between which and the phoenix there is thought to be some likeness on account of duration x, and both in the Greek tongue have the same name; the palm tree is an evergreen, and endures a long time; Pliny y speaks of a palm tree in his time at Delos, said to have been there from the days of Apollo, which is supposed to be 1400 years; and it is observed z that this tree does continue two or three hundred years; and this version may seem to be countenanced and confirmed by what follows: but since the Hebrew word here used is never used but of sand, it is best so to understand it here, seeing it as fully answers Job’s purpose; which was to express his confidence of a very long life. Sand is frequently used in Scripture for what is innumerable; so in Aristophanes a, for what cannot be numbered, and are equal to a mountain of sand.
m So Rufus Virginius used to call the villa where he dwelt, “Senectutio suae Nidulum”, Plin. l. 6. Ep. 10. n “sicut phoenix”, Pagninus; so Mercerus, Piscator. o Herodot Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 73. Pompon. Mela de situ Orbis, l. 6. c. 58. Tacit. Annal. l. 6. c. 28. p Solin. Polyhistor. c. 46. q Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 2. r Bereshit Rabba, sect. 19. fol. 15. 2. Yalkut in loc. par. 1. fol. 152. 2. s Vid. Texelii Phoenix. l. 2. c. 1. p. 140. t De Resurrectione, c. 13. Vid. Clement. Rom. Ep. 1. ad Corinth. p. 60. & Felli Not. in ib. u Vid. Tentzelii Dissert. de Phoenice, &c. sect. 5. w , Sept. “sicut palma”, V. L. x Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 13. c. 4. y Ib. l. 16. c. 44. z Vid. Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. l. vol. 4. p. 757. a Acharnes Act. 1. Sc. 1. & Scholia in ib.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
18 Then I thought: With my nest I shall expire,
And like the phoenix, have a long life.
19 My root will be open for water,
And the dew will lodge in my branches.
20 Mine honour will remain ever fresh to me,
And my bow will become young in my hand.
In itself, Job 29:18 might be translated: “and like to the sand I shall live many days” (Targ., Syr., Arab., Saad., Gecat., Luther, and, among moderns, Umbr., Stick., Vaih., Hahn, and others), so that the abundance of days is compared to the multitude of the grains of sand. The calculation of the immense total of grains of sand (atoms) in the world was, as is known, a favourite problem of antiquity; and in the Old Testament Scriptures, the comprehensive knowledge of Solomon is compared to “the sand upon the sea-shore,” 1Ki 5:9, – how much more readily a long life reduced to days! comp. Ovid, Metam. xiv. 136-138; quot haberet corpora pulvis, tot mihi natales contingere vana rogavi . We would willingly decide in favour of this rendering, which is admissible in itself, although a closer definition like is wanting by , if an extensive Jewish tradition did not secure the signification of an immortal bird, or rather one rising ever anew from the dead. The testimony is as follows: (1) b. Sanhedrin 108 b, according to which is only another name for the bird ,
(Note: The name is a puzzle, and does not accord with any of the mythical birds mentioned in the Zendavesta (vid., Windischmann, Zoroastrische Studien, 1863, S. 93). What Lewysohn, Zoologie des Talmuds, S. 353, brings forward from the Greek by way of explanation is untenable. The name of the bird, Vresha, in an obscure passage of the Bundehesch in Windischmann, ib. S. 80, is similar in sound. Probably, however, is one and the same word as Simurg, which is composed of si (= sin) and murg, a bird (Pehlvi and Parsi mru). This si ( sin) corresponds to the Vedic jena, a falcon, and in the Zend form, ana ( na), is the name of a miraculous bird; so that consequently Simurg = Sinmurg, Parsi Cnamru, signifies the Si- or Cna -bird (comp. Kuhn, Herabkunft des Feuers, 1859, S. 125). In the two parts of the composition seem to be reversed, and to be corrupted from . Moreover, the Simurg is like the phoenix only in the length of its life; another mythological bird, Kuknus, on the other hand (vid., the art. Phnix in Ersch u. Gruber), resembles it also in rising out of its own ashes.)
of which the fable is there recorded, that when Noah fed the beasts in the ark, it sat quite still in its compartment, that it might not give more trouble to the patriarch, who had otherwise plenty to do, and that Noah wished it on this account the reward of immortality ( ). (2) That this bird is none other than the phoenix, is put beyond all doubt by the Midrashim (collected in the Jalkut on Job, 517). There it is said that Eve gave all the beasts to eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree, and that only one bird, the by name, avoided this death-food: “it lives a thousand years, at the expiration of which time fire springs up in its nest, and burns it up to about the size of an egg;” or even: that of itself it diminishes to that size, from which it then grows up again and continues to live ( ). (3) The Masora observes, that occurs in two different significations ( ), since in the present passage it does not, as elsewhere, signify sand. (4) Kimchi, in his Lex., says: “in a correct Jerusalem MS I found the observation: , i.e., according to the Nehardean (Babylonian) reading, according to the western (Palestine) reading;” according to which, therefore, the Babylonian Masoretic school distinguished in the present passage from , Gen 22:17, even in the pronunciation. A conclusion respecting the great antiquity of this lexical tradition may be drawn (5) from the lxx, which translates , whence the Italic sicut arbor palmae , Jerome sicut palma .
If we did not know from the testimonies quoted that is the name of the phoenix, one might suppose that the lxx has explained according to the Arab. nachl , the palm, as Schultens does; but by a comparison of those testimonies, it is more probable that the translation was originally, and that is an interpolation, for signifies both the immortal miraculous bird and the inexhaustibly youthful palm.
(Note: According to Ovid, Metam. xv. 396, the phoenix makes its nest in the palm, and according to Pliny, h. n. xiii. 42, it has its name from the palm: Phoenix putatur ex hujus palmae argumento nomen accepisse, iterum mori ac renasci ex se ipsa ; vid., A. Hahmann, Die Dattelpalme, ihre Namen und ihre Verehrung in der alten Welt, in the periodical Bonplandia, 1859, Nr. 15, 16. Masius, in his studies of nature, has very beautifully described on what ground “the intelligent Greek gave a like name to the fabulous immortal bird that rises again out of its own ashes, and the palm which ever renews its youth.” Also comp. (Heimsdrfer’s) Christliche Kunstsymbolik, S. 26, and Augusti, Beitrge zur christl. Kunst-Geschichte und Liturgik, Bd. i. S. 106-108, but especially Piper, Mythologie der christl. Kunst (1847), i. 446f.)
We have the reverse case in Tertullian, de resurrectione carnis , c. xiii., which explains the passage in Ps; Psa 92:13, , according to the translation justus velut phoenix florebit , of the ales orientis or avis Arabiae , which symbolizes man’s immortality.
(Note: Not without reference to Clemens Romanus, in his I. Ep. ad Corinth. c. xxv., according to which the phoenix is an Arabian bird, which lives five hundred years, then dies in a nest which it builds of incense, myrrh, and spices, and leaves behind it the larva of a young bird, which, when grown up, brings the nest with the bones of its father and places it upon the altar of the sun at the Egyptian Heliopolis. The source of this is Herodotus ii. 73) who, however, has an egg of myrrh instead of a nest of myrrh); and Tacitus, Ann. vi. 28, gives a similar narrative. Lactantius gives a different version in his poem on the phoenix, according to which this, the only one of its race, “built its nest in a country that remained untouched by the deluge.” The Jewish tragedy writer, Ezekilos, agrees more nearly with the statement of Arabia being the home of the phoenix. In his drama , a spy sent forward before the pilgrim band of Israel, he states that among other things the phoenix was also seen; vid., my Gesch. der jd. Poesie, S. 219.)
Both figures, that of the phoenix and that of the palm, are equally appropriate and pleasing in the mouth of Job; but apart from the fact that the palm everywhere, where it otherwise occurs, is called , this would be the only passage where it occurs in the book of Job, which, in spite of its richness in figures taken from plants, nowhere mentions the palm, – a fact which is perhaps not accidental.
(Note: Without attempting thereby to explain the phenomenon observed above, we nevertheless regard it as worthy of remark, that in general the palm is not a common tree either in Syria or in Palestine. “At present there are not in all Syria five hundred palm-trees; and even in the olden times there was no quantity of palms, except in the valley of the Jordan, and on the sea-coast.” – Wetzst.)
On the contrary, we must immediately welcome a reference to the Arabico-Egyptian myth of the phoenix, that can be proved, in a book which also otherwise thoroughly blends things Egyptian with Arabian, and the more so since (6) even the Egyptian language itself supports or as a name of the phoenix; for is explained in the Coptico-Arabic glossaries by es – semendel (the Arab. name of the phoenix, or at least a phoenix-like bird, that, like the salamander, semendar , cannot be burned), and in Kircher by avis Indica, species Phoenicis .
(Note: Vid., G. Seyffarth, Die Phoenix-Periode, Deutsche Morgenlnd. Zeitschr. iii. (1849) 63ff., according to which allo (Hierogl. koli) is the name of the false phoenix without head-feathers; bne or bni (Hierogl. bnno) is the name of the true phoenix with head-feathers, and the name of the palm also. Allo, which accords with , is quite secured as a name of the phoenix.)
is Hebraized from this Egyptian name of the phoenix; the word signifies rotation (comp. Arab. haul , the year; haula , round about), and is a suitable designation of the bird that renews its youth periodically after many centuries of life: quae reparat seque ipsa reseminat ales (Ovid), not merely beginning a new life, but also bringing in a new great year: conversionem anni magni (Pliny); in the hieroglyphic representations it has the circle of the sun as a crown. In the full enjoyment of the divine favour and blessing, and in the consciousness of having made a right use of his prosperity, Job hoped (Lucian, Hermot. 53), to use a Greek expression, and to expire or die , as the first half of the verse, now brought into the right light, says. Looking to the form of the myth, according to which Ovid sings:
Quassa cum fulv substravit cinnama myrrh,
Se super imponit finitque in odoribus aevum ,
The following substantival clause, Job 29:19, is to be understood as future, like the similar clause, Job 29:16, as perfect: my root – so I hoped – will remain open (unclosed) towards the water, i.e., it will never be deficient of water in its vicinity, that it may plentifully supply the stem and branches with nourishment, and dew will lodge on my branches, i.e., will descend nightly, and remain upon them to nourish them. (corresponding to the Arab. ila , originally ilai ) occurs only in the book of Job, and here for the fourth and last time (comp. Job 3:22; Job 5:26; Job 15:22). does not signify harvest here, as the ancient expositors render it, but, like Job 14:9; Job 18:16, a branch, or the intertwined branches. The figure of the root and branch, the flow of vitality downwards and upwards, is the counterpart of Job 18:16. In Job 29:20 a substantival clause also comes first, as in Job 29:19, Job 29:16 (for the established reading is , not ), and a verbal clause follows: his honour – so he hoped – should continue fresh by him, i.e., should abide with him in undiminished value and splendour. It is his honour before God and men that is intended, not his soul (Hahn); , , certainly is an appellation of the ( Psychol. S. 98), but is not appropriate to it as predicate. By the side of honour stands manliness, or the capability of self-defence, whose symbol is the bow: and my bow should become young again in my hand, i.e., gain ever new strength and elasticity. It is unnecessary to supply (Hirz., Schlottm., and others). The verb , Arab. chlf , signifies, as the Arab. shows, properly to turn the back, then to go forth, exchange; the Hiph. to make progress, to cause something new to come into the place of the old, to grow young again. These hopes introduced with were themselves an element of his former happiness. Its description can therefore be continued in connection with the without any fresh indication.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
18 Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand. 19 My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch. 20 My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand. 21 Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel. 22 After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them. 23 And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain. 24 If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down. 25 I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners.
That which crowned Job’s prosperity was the pleasing prospect he had of the continuance of it. Though he knew, in general, that he was liable to trouble, and therefore was not secure (ch. iii. 26, I was not in safety, neither had I rest), yet he had no particular occasion for fear, but as much reason as ever any man had to count upon the lengthening out of his tranquility.
I. See here what his thoughts were in his prosperity (v. 18): Then I said, I shall die in my nest. Having made himself a warm and easy nest, he hoped nothing would disturb him in it, nor remove him out of it, till death removed him. He knew he had never stolen any coal from the altar which might fire his nest; he saw no storm arising to shake down his nest; and therefore concluded, To morrow shall be as this day; as David (Ps. xxx. 6), My mountain stands strong, and shall not be moved. Observe, 1. In the midst of his prosperity he thought of dying, and the thought was not uneasy to him. He knew that, though his nest was high, it did not set him out of the reach of the darts of death. 2. Yet he flattered himself with vain hopes, (1.) That he should live long, should multiply his days as the sand. He means as the sand on the sea-shore; whereas we should rather reckon our days by the sand in the hourglass, which will have run out in a little time. See how apt even good people are to think of death as a thing at a distance, and to put far from them that evil day, which will really be to them a good day. (2.) That he should die in the same prosperous state in which he had lived. If such an expectation as this arise from a lively faith in the providence and promise of God, it is well, but if from a conceit of our own wisdom, and the stability of these earthly things, it is ill-grounded and turns into sin. We hope Job’s confidence was like David’s (Ps. xxvii. 1, Whom shall I fear?), not like the rich fool’s (Luke xii. 19), Soul, take thy ease.
II. See what was the ground of these thoughts.
1. If he looked at home, he found he had a good foundation. His stock was all his own, and none of all his neighbours had any demand upon him. He found no bodily distemper growing upon him; his estate did not lie under any incumbrance; nor was he sensible of any worm at the root of it. He was getting forward in his affairs, and not going behind-hand; he lost no reputation, but gained rather; he knew no rival that threatened either to eclipse his honour or abridge his power. See how he describes this, Job 29:19; Job 29:20. He was like a tree whose root is not only spread out, which fixes it and keeps it firm, so that it is in no danger of being overturned, but spread out by the waters, which feed it, and make it fruitful and flourishing, so that it is in no danger of withering. And, as he thought himself blessed with the fatness of the earth, so also with the kind influences of heaven too; for the dew lay all night upon his branch. Providence favoured him, and made all his enjoyments comfortable and all his enterprises successful. Let none think to support their prosperity with what they draw from this earth without that blessing which is derived from above. God’s favour being continued to Job, in the virtue of that his glory was still fresh in him. Those about him had still something new to say in his praise, and needed not to repeat the old stories: and it is only by constant goodness that men’s glory is thus preserved fresh and kept from withering and growing stale. His bow also was renewed in his hand, that is, his power to protect himself and annoy those that assailed him still increased, so that he thought he had as little reason as any man to fear the insults of the Sabeans and Chaldeans.
2. If he looked abroad, he found he had a good interest and well confirmed. As he had no reason to dread the power of his enemies, so neither had he any reason to distrust the fidelity of his friends. To the last moment of his prosperity they continued their respect to him and their dependence on him. What had he to fear who so gave counsel as in effect to give law to all his neighbours? Nothing surely could be done against him when really nothing was done without him.
(1.) He was the oracle of his country. He was consulted as an oracle, and his dictates were acquiesced in as oracles, v. 21. When others could not be heard all men gave ear to him, and kept silence at his counsel, knowing that, as nothing could be said against it, so nothing needed to be added to it. And therefore, after his words, they spoke not again, v. 22. Why should men meddle with a subject that has already been exhausted?
(2.) He was the darling of his country. All about him were well pleased with every thing he said and did, as David’s people were with him, 2 Sam. iii. 36. He had the hearts and affections of all his neighbours, all his servants, tenants, subjects; never was man so much admired nor so well beloved. [1.] Those were thought happy to whom he spoke, and they thought themselves so. Never were the dews of heaven so acceptable to the parched ground as his wise discourses were to those that attended on them, especially to those to whom they were particularly accommodated and directed. His speech dropped upon them, and they waited for its as for the rain (Job 29:22; Job 29:23), wondering at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth, catching at them, laying hold on them, and treasuring them up as apophthegms. His servants that stood continually before him to hear his wisdom would not have envied Solomon’s. Those are wise, or are likely to be so, that know how to value wise discourse, that wish for it, and wait for it, and drink it in as the earth does the rain that comes often upon it, Heb. vi. 7. And those who have such an interest as Job had in the esteem of others whose ipse dixit–bare assertion goes so far, as they have a great opportunity of doing good, so they must take great care lest they do hurt, for a bad word out of their mouths is very infectious. [2.] Much more happy were those thought on whom he smiled, and they thought themselves so, v. 24. “If I laughed on them, designing thereby to show myself pleased in them, or pleasant with them, it was such a favour that they believed it not for joy,” or because it was so rare a thing to see this grave man smile. Many seek the ruler’s favour. Job was a ruler whose favour was courted and valued at a high rate. He to whom a great prince gave a kiss was envied by another to whom he only gave a golden cup. Familiarity often breeds contempt; but if Job at any time saw fit, for his own diversion, to make himself free with those about him, yet it did not in the least diminish the veneration they had for him: The light of his countenance they cast not down. So wisely did he dispense his favours as not to make them cheap, and so wisely did they receive them as not to make themselves unworthy of them another time.
(3.) He was the sovereign of his country, v. 25. He chose out their way, sat at the helm, and steered for them, all referring themselves to his conduct and submitting themselves to his command. To this perhaps, in many countries, monarchy owed its rise: such a man as Job, that so far excelled all his neighbours in wisdom and integrity, could not but sit chief, and the fool will, of course, be servant to the wise in heart: and, if the wisdom did but for a while run in the blood, the honour and power would certainly attend it and so by degrees become hereditary. Two things recommended Job to the sovereignty:– [1.] That he had the authority of a commander or general. He dwelt as a king in the army, giving orders which were not to be disputed. Every one that has the spirit of wisdom has not the spirit of government, but Job had both, and, when there was occasion, could assume state, as the king in the army does, and say, “Go,” “Come,” and “Do this,” Matt. viii. 9. [2.] That yet he had the tenderness of a comforter. He was as ready to succour those in distress as if it had been his office to comfort the mourners. Eliphaz himself owned he had been very good in that respect (ch. iv. 3): Thou hast strengthened the weak hands. And this he now reflected upon with pleasure, when he was himself a mourner. But we find it easier to comfort others with the comforts wherewith we ourselves have been formerly comforted than to comfort ourselves with those comforts wherewith we have formerly comforted others.
I know not but we may look upon Job as a type and figure of Christ in his power and prosperity. Our Lord Jesus is such a King as Job was, the poor man’s King, who loves righteousness and hates iniquity, and upon whom the blessing of a world ready to perish comes; see Ps. lxxii. 2, &c. To him therefore let us give ear, and let him sit chief in our hearts.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
c. The honor that was his (Job. 29:18-25)
TEXT 29:1825
18 Then I said, I shall die in my nest,
And I shall multiply my days as the sand:
19 My root is spread oat to the waters,
And the dew lieth all night upon my branch:
20 My glory is fresh in me,
And my bow is renewed in my hand.
21 Unto me men gave ear, and waited,
And kept silence for my counsel.
22 After my words they spake not again;
And my speech distilled upon them.
23 And they waited for me as for the ram;
And they opened their mouth wide as for the latter ram.
24 I smiled on them, when they had no confidence;
And the light of my countenance they cast not down.
25 I chose out their way, and sat as chief,
And dwelt as a king in the army,
As one that comforteth the mourners.
COMMENT 29:1825
Job. 29:18Praised and honored by both God and man, Job felt secure in the blessings of prosperity. He thought that he would live to a ripe old age and die surrounded by his children (in my nest)Deu. 32:11; Isa. 16:2. By a hyperbolic phrase, Job declares that his clan would be as the sand, i.e., emphasizing longevity and numerous members of the family.[299]
[299] G. R. Driver, Palestinian Exploration Quarterly, 1955, pp. 138ff; P. P. Saydon, Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 1961, p. 252; and M. Dahood, Biblica, 1967, pp. 542ff.
Job. 29:19Prosperity is expressed by images of a treeJob. 8:16 ff. The tree is green and full of life; water (long root systems, and dew on the branches) is everywhere abundantPsa. 1:3; Psa. 80:12; Jer. 17:8; Eze. 31:7.
Job. 29:20His respect and social rank (Heb. kobadglory) will continue undiminished.[300] His bow, a symbol of strength, is ever in his hands. A broken bow is a symbol of impotenceGen. 49:24; Psa. 46:9; Jer. 49:35; and Hos. 1:5. Job never anticipated anything like his present situation.
[300] Though it does yield a parallel with line two, Mansoors suggestion that glory should be emended to kidon or victory is dubious, Revue de Qumran, 19612, p. 388.
Job. 29:21Beginning with this verse and continuing to Job. 29:25, Job speaks of the response which others afforded him when he spoke (cf. Job. 29:7-10respect he received when he arrived at the gate). Before his present condition destroyed his prestige, his words brought comfort and hope to those who heard.[301]
[301] In order to maintain parallelism with the preceding verse, G. R. Driver transposes the verbs waited and kept silence, which is not impossiblesee Vetus Testamentum, III, 1955, 86.
Job. 29:22His words were accepted as an oracle. After passing his judgment, nothing remained to be said. The image used here with regard to how his words were received is a term describing a refreshing rain (A. V. droppedDeu. 32:12). His words were life-giving drops from heavenPro. 16:15; Hos. 6:3; and Deu. 11:14.
Job. 29:23His hearers drank up his words as the parched ground absorbed the rainPsa. 119:131; the word here signifies the spring rain so vital to the cropsJer. 2:3; Joe. 2:23; and Zec. 10:1, cf. you are my disciples if you abide in my word, Jesus.
Job. 29:24Even a smile from Job was considered an undeserved reward. The A. V. rendering of they had no confidence should read they did not believe, which is the common meaning of the verb. The second line means that the despondency of others never destroyed Jobs cheerfulness.
Job. 29:25Whenever Job gave directions, they were immediately carried out, as a prince (A. V. chief-king) directs his army. If the text is accepted as it stands, then Jobs consolation of mourners is emphasized. Dhorme makes a good case for a different sense in the difficult third line as he renders it where I led them, they were willing to go[302] (A. V. like one who comforts mourners). Though the text makes sense as it stands, it makes the parallelism more difficult. But now all the nobodys to whom he had been so gracious despise him.
[302] For required emendation and justification, see Dhorme, Job; and Pope, Job.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(18) I shall die in my nest.Very touching is this spontaneous expression of his almost unconscious hope when in prosperity. Some have suggested the transposition of these three verses to the end of the chapter. Though this is obviously their natural position in one sense, yet in another it is less natural. The same thing is to be seen in the last four verses of chapter 31. They carry on the previous vindication from Job. 31:34, which had been broken by the parenthesis in Job. 31:35-37.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Third strophe He had reason, therefore, to expect that such prosperity would last; that his years would be those of a patriarch, and that the time would never come when the esteem of his fellow-men should be abated; a thought he reverently dwells upon, (compare Job 29:7-10.) spurred by the sense of his present degradation, Job 29:18-25.
18. In my nest The figure is one of peace and security, taken, as Schultens thinks, from the eagles, who build in the highest rocks. Job 39:27-28; Oba 1:4. As the sand (See note, Job 6:3.) The translators of the Septuagint, led, perhaps, by the fact that the palm-tree is the hieroglyph for the year, and an image of long life, render this word, , hhol, “the trunk of the palm-tree,” see Job 14:7. The rabbins, the Talmud, Dillmann, Zockler, (in Lange,) Hitzig, and others, understand the word to denote the fabled bird called the phenix, which, from the most ancient times, ( Herodotus, 2:73,) has stood as the type of immortality. Among the fabulous versions of its death the one most popularly received is, that the phenix, every five hundred years, built a nest of cassia and myrrh, in which it burned itself, only to reappear with renewed life and youth. The Talmud states that Eve gave the fruit of the forbidden tree to all the animals, and that all of them ate save the phenix, an abstinence which accounts for its wondrous gift of immortality. Authorities equally great favour the Authorized Version, (sand,) among whom are Schultens and Gesenius; also Renan, who does not even notice the Jewish notion, which Conant properly calls a “foolish conceit;” and Cook, (Speaker’s Commentary,) who scouts the learned etymologies linked with the subject. The idea of the phenix, Hahn says, owes its existence solely to the friendly design on the part of Job’s commentators to provide his NEST with a bird.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
(18) Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand. (19) My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch. (20) My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand. (21) Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel. (22) After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them. (23) And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain. (24) If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down. (25) I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners.
Here we find Job, in his own character, speaking of himself, and giving proofs of belonging to the fallen race of men, of like passions with ourselves: many favourable accounts of himself, mingled with much self-confidence and taking complacency, in what he had been and what he had done. Precious JESUS! how refreshing is it to see, that all thy people, after all their attainments, and all the bestowed grace upon them, plainly testify the hole of the pit from whence they are taken. Yes, blessed Redeemer! as the word of thy grace represents, and the experience of thy people confirms, it is thou, and thou only, that art holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. Hail, thou Holy One of Israel, the LORD our righteousness!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Job 29:18 Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply [my] days as the sand.
Ver. 18. Then I said, I shall die in my nest ] Heb. I shall expire and breathe out my last, by a natural death, in my house, and amidst my people; as a bird dieth in his nest when he hath lived his utmost. Pollicebar mihi securitatem, I promised myself a prosperous and long life, all health and happiness (Brent.). This some make to be a fault in Job, as it was likewise in David, when in his prosperity he said, “I shall never be moved,” Psa 30:6 . And indeed the holiest hearts are apt in such a strait to grow proud and secure; like as worms and wasps eat the sweetest apples and fruits. But others are of judgment, that this was a commendable confidence in Job, grounded upon God’s promises, and the conscience of his own uprightness; an , a spiritual security, a blessed calm and composedness, a sabbath of spirit, flowing from faith, and causing joy. This was all well, only that of Bernard must be carefully heeded and held to, Laeti simus non securi, gaudentes in Spiritu Sancto, sed tamen caventes a recidivo: Be merry we may, but not carnally secure; rejoicing in the Holy Ghost, but yet beware that we backslide not. David by misreckoning of a point, missed the haven, and ran upon the rocks, Psa 30:1-12 And Job here seemeth to have been mistaken, by taking the promises of outward happiness without exception of the cross; for the which he is afterwards reproved by Elihu, and also by God himself.
And shall multiply my days as the sand
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
die in my nest. The Septuagint reads “grow old as a palm trunk”.
as the sand. A note in Codices (No. 1 in King’s Lib., British Museum) states that the Western School points this to mean “as a phoenix”. The Vulgate reads “as a palm”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Job 29:18-25
Job 29:18-25
AN ELABORATION OF JOB’S HONORED PLACE IN SOCIETY
“Then I said, I shall die in my nest,
And I shall multiply my days as the sand:
My root is spread out to the waters,
And the dew lieth all night upon my branch.
My glory is fresh in me,
And my bow is renewed in my hand.
Unto me men gave ear, and waited,
And kept silence for my counsel.
After my words they spake not again;
And my speech distilled upon them.
And they waited for me as for the rain;
And they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.
I smiled on them, when they had no confidence;
And the light of my countenance they cast not down.
I chose out their way, and sat as chief,
And dwelt as a king in the army,
As one that comforteth the mourners.”
“Although from a Pauline perspective we know that, `There is none righteous, no not one’ (Rom 3:10), the case of Job makes it clear that some men indeed are innocent and righteous.” Sinless perfection, of course, was achieved by only One in the whole history of mankind. “Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus it is He”!
As Kelly wrote, “These chapters are remarkably like the closing speech of a skilled lawyer, summing up the evidence, presenting the facts, reinforcing the legitimacy of his plea.” All along, Job has been wishing that there was a court where some judge or umpire might hear his plea and exonerate him; but, of course, there was no such court. God does not provide times when he may be arraigned, nor does he answer any human subpoenas.
The marvel about Job is that he went right on pleading his case before no visible audience whatever, except that of his skeptical and unbelieving friends. Yet God overruled the negative appearance of this situation and achieved the spread of Job’s complete lamentation upon the blessed pages of that Book that shall outlast heaven and earth! How marvelous is the justice of God!
In the days of his prosperity and happiness, Job had supposed that life would continue without intermission, with no interruption of his happiness and prosperity; and in the disasters that overwhelmed him, we must read an illustration of the eternal truth that, “Ye know not what shall be on the morrow” (Jas 4:14).
E.M. Zerr:
Job 29:18. Job believed that by following such a righteous course he would be permitted to end his days in his own home.
Job 29:19. Using a plant for illustration that sends its roots into the waters and lives, Job thought of his own past prosperity.
Verse 20. The bow was one means of defense in ancient times. Job’s successful defense was compared to one who always had his bow ready for action.
Job 29:21-25. This entire paragraph pertains to Job’s position of influence among the people. Please read my comments at Job 29:6-9. His advice was sought and followed without contention. But all of this was while he was prosperous, strong in body and able to serve others.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
I shall die: Psa 30:6, Psa 30:7, Jer 22:23, Jer 49:16, Oba 1:4, Hab 2:9
multiply: Job 5:26, Job 42:16, Job 42:17, Psa 91:16
as the sand: Gen 32:12, Gen 41:49
Reciprocal: Num 24:21 – the Kenites Job 16:12 – at ease Job 30:26 – When I looked Isa 38:17 – for peace I had great bitterness Hab 1:9 – they shall gather
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 29:18. Then I said That is, I persuaded my self, being thus strongly fortified with the consciousness of my own universal integrity, and with the singular favour of God and of all men; I shalt die in my nest Not a violent or untimely, but a natural, peaceable, and seasonable death, sweetly expiring in my own bed and habitation, in the midst of my children and friends, leaving the precious perfume of a good name behind me, and a plentiful inheritance to all my posterity. And I shall multiply my days as the sand He means, as the sand on the sea-shore: whereas, we should rather reckon our days by the sand in the hour-glass, which will be all run out in a little time. See how apt even good men are to set death at a distance from them!
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
29:18 Then I said, I shall die in my {m} nest, and I shall multiply [my] days as the sand.
(m) That is, at home in my bed without all trouble and unquietness.