The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Witness” it comes from the Hebrew Word “ed” which means “witness.”
Job wistfully recalls the honor and blessing he once enjoyed before his suffering began. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Job 29.
Job continues his lengthy final discourse, wishing he were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved him, when His candle shone upon his head, and by His light he walked through darkness, as he was in the days of his youth, when the secret of God was upon his tabernacle, when the Almighty was yet with him, and his children were about him.
Job remembers when he washed his steps with butter, and the rock poured him out rivers of oil, when he went out to the gate through the city, and prepared his seat in the street, the young men seeing him and hiding themselves, the aged rising up and standing, the princes refraining from talking and laying their hand on their mouth, the nobles holding their peace, their tongue cleaving to the roof of their mouth, since when the ear heard him, it blessed him, and when the eye saw him, it gave “witness,” “ed” in Hebrew, to him.
Job recalls how he delivered the poor who cried, and the fatherless, and him who had no helper, the blessing of him who was ready to perish coming upon him, and he caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy, putting on righteousness and it clothed him, his judgment being as a robe and a diadem, being eyes to the blind and feet to the lame, a father to the poor, and searching out the cause he did not know, breaking the jaws of the wicked and plucking the spoil out of his teeth. He remembers thinking he would die in his nest and multiply his days as the sand, his root spread out by the waters, and the dew lying all night upon his branch, his glory fresh in him, and his bow renewed in his hand, people listening to him and waiting, keeping silence at his counsel, a poignant, extended remembrance of dignity and influence now entirely lost.
Job’s wistful, detailed memory of his former honor and influence, especially his genuine care for the poor, fatherless, and widow, reveals that his suffering feels particularly bitter precisely because it followed such a genuinely good, generous life rather than any obvious wrongdoing. This chapter’s nostalgic tone adds emotional weight to his ongoing insistence on innocence, since the man being described clearly lived exactly the righteous life his friends keep insisting he must have secretly abandoned.
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