Job
Chapter 29
JOB’S MONOLOGUE: END OF HIS DEFENSE
What Good Times Those Were!
Job continued his discourse:
Oh, that I were in months gone by, when God watched over me,
when his light shone upon my head and I walked with it through darkness.
Oh, that I were in my prime, when God’s friendship blessed my home,
when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,
when milk bathed my footsteps and olive oil flowed from the rock.
When I arrived at the city gate and sat down in the square
the young men stepped aside and the old men rose to their feet;
the chief men dared not speak but laid their hands on their mouths;
the princes were silenced, their tongues glowed to the palate.
Whoever heard me, spoke well of me, and those who saw me praised me,
for I rescued the poor who cried for help, the fatherless and the unassisted.
I was blessed by the dying man; I brought peace to the widow’s longing.
I was wearing my honesty like a garment, my integrity was my robe and turban.
I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame,
father to the needy, the stranger’s advocate.
I broke the jaws of the wicked, and from his teeth forced out the prey.
I said to myself: “I will die old, my days as many as the grains of sand.
My roots will extend to the water; at night, my branches will be dew-wet.
My glory will stay fresh, the bow always strong in my grasp.
They listened to me quietly and waited for my advice.
Once I spoke they said no more, but drop by drop my words kept falling on them.
They waited for me as people wait for showers; they drank in my words like spring rain.
If I smiled at them, they did not dare believe it; not a glance of mine was missed.
I pointed out the way, as a leader and took a king’s place among the troops. Wherever I led them, they went.
Commentaries
Job’s Monologue: End of His Defense.
Job has exhausted all his resources. His attempts to find arbitration have been dismissed. He cannot call upon God, as God has vanished. Additionally, the witnesses are false and would testify against him in court. Job’s lengthy speech continues through chapters 29-31. It starts with a description of his former joyful relationship with God (29), then reflects on his current suffering (30) with a bitter lament, and ends with a plea for his future vindication, along with a firm declaration of innocence supported by a long list of his moral actions (31).
What Good Times Those Were.
Job begins by recalling the closeness and blessings of God that he experienced during those happy days when he was honored by everyone. In the context of the entire book, these memories are filled with bitter irony. His honorable behavior was demonstrated in how he treated others fairly, especially the poor, widows, orphans, the blind, the lame, the needy, foreigners, and victims of the wicked (12-17). Therefore, he has every right to expect the corresponding blessings that will secure him a happy old age.