Job bemoans his former prosperity, 1-25.
1 Moreover, Job continued his parable and said,
2 "Oh that I were as in months past,/
as in the days when God preserved me,
3 When his candle shined upon my head/
and by his light I walked through darkness,
4 As I was in the days of my youth;/
when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle;
5 When the Almighty was yet with me;/
when my children were around me;
6 When I washed my steps with butter,/
and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;
7 When I went out to the gate through the city;/
when I prepared my seat in the street!
8 The young men saw me and hid themselves./
And the aged arose and stood up.
9 The princes refrained from talking/
and laid their hand on their mouth.
10 The nobles held their peace/
and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
11 When the ear heard me, it blessed me./
And when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me.
12 For I delivered the poor who cried,/
and the fatherless, and him who had no one to help him.
13 The blessing of him who was ready to perish came upon me,/
and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me./
My judgment was as a robe and a diadem.
15 I was eyes to the blind/
and I was feet to the lame.
16 I was a father to the poor./
And the cause which I did not know, I searched out.
17 And I broke the jaws of the wicked/
and plucked the prey out of his teeth.
18 Then I said, 'I shall die in my nest/
and 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 To me men gave ear, waited,/
and kept silence at my counsel.
22 After my words they did not speak 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 at them, they did not believe it./
And the light of my countenance they did not cast down.
25 I chose out their way, sat as chief,/
and dwelt as a king in the army,/
as one who comforts the mourners."
Matthew Henry Commentary - Job, Chapter 29[➚]
John Gill's Chapter Summary:
In this chapter Job gives an account of his former and wishes it was with him now as then; and which he describes with respect to his own person, and the favors he personally enjoyed, whether temporal or spiritual (verses 1-4); with respect to his family and domestic affairs (verses 5-6); with regard to the esteem he had from men of every age and station (verses 7-11); the reasons of which were the mercy and compassion he showed to the poor, the fatherless, and the widow, and the justice he administered in the execution of his office as a magistrate (verses 12-17); in which honor and prosperity he expected to have lived and died (verses 18-20); and which he further describes by the respect he had among men, and the power and authority he exercised over them (verses 21-25).
[v.23] - LXX: "As the thirsty earth expecting the rain, so they [waited for] my speech."