Job 29:4 | KingComments | STEP | Job 29-31 form a whole. It is Job’s closing speech, a summary of what he has said so far. We can see these three chapters as a kind of triptych: 1. In Job 29 Job speaks about his former prosperity and greatness. 2. In Job 30 he speaks of his present disgrace, not so much in the loss of his possessions, but more in the loss of dignity and friendship with God. 3. In Job 31 he professes his innocence at length by swearing an oath under which he puts his signature, as it were, at the end of that chapter ( ). Maybe Job paused after his previous speech to hear if there was a reaction. Now he starts a new speech ( ). With this third part of his monologue he completes his defense. It looks like a closing argument in front of a jury. He expresses his longing for the time “gone by”. If only he could be back in that time, that time when God let him live in prosperity. The first thing he says with nostalgia for that time is that it was a time when God watched over him ( ; ). In doing so, he indicates that the greatest loss of all the losses he has suffered is the awareness of God’s nearness rather than the material loss. The protection he enjoyed then, he has now lost. He feels that God used to be for him and that He is against him now. Also in he acknowledges that his happiness and prosperity were due to God. God made His lamp shine over his head. This allowed him to go his way in His light (cf. ). God led him through all kinds of situations in which he saw no way out. But now, in addition to Divine protection ( ), he had also lost Divine guidance. He also thinks back with melancholy to “the friendship of God” ( ; ). This relationship of friendship was over his tent, which means that his home and family were marked by it. He knew and experienced this relationship “in the prime” of his days. By this is not meant his ‘boyhood days’, but the time of his maturity, when his life had come to full development and he was in the power of his life. But also fellowship with God was gone, as was the protection and guidance of God already mentioned ( ). Job knew God as “the Almighty” ( ). He knew that this Almighty God was with him. It was not a general knowledge for him, but he lived in the consciousness of God’s presence. But also the joy of God’s presence was gone. He also lost his “children”. How he had enjoyed them when they were around him. Their presence was all the more proof of God’s blessing as a result of his fear of Him ( ). The bathing of his steps in butter is the figurative indication of the abundant production of milk from his cattle, from which butter was also made ( ). Butter here is lebani , a curds or drained yogurt. He also possessed a large quantity of oil that his olive trees had produced. Olive trees grow on rocky ground. When he saw his supply of olive oil, it was as if it had been poured by the rock into a stream. All this abundance indicates that Job was a very wealthy man. But nothing is left of all this prosperity.

‏ Job 29:4

Introduction

Job 29-31 form a whole. It is Job’s closing speech, a summary of what he has said so far. We can see these three chapters as a kind of triptych:

1. In Job 29 Job speaks about his former prosperity and greatness.

2. In Job 30 he speaks of his present disgrace, not so much in the loss of his possessions, but more in the loss of dignity and friendship with God.

3. In Job 31 he professes his innocence at length by swearing an oath under which he puts his signature, as it were, at the end of that chapter (Job 31:35).

Domestic Prosperity

Maybe Job paused after his previous speech to hear if there was a reaction. Now he starts a new speech (Job 29:1). With this third part of his monologue he completes his defense. It looks like a closing argument in front of a jury.

He expresses his longing for the time “gone by”. If only he could be back in that time, that time when God let him live in prosperity. The first thing he says with nostalgia for that time is that it was a time when God watched over him (Job 29:2; Psa 91:11 ; Psa 121:7). In doing so, he indicates that the greatest loss of all the losses he has suffered is the awareness of God’s nearness rather than the material loss. The protection he enjoyed then, he has now lost. He feels that God used to be for him and that He is against him now.

Also in Job 29:3 he acknowledges that his happiness and prosperity were due to God. God made His lamp shine over his head. This allowed him to go his way in His light (cf. Job 18:6). God led him through all kinds of situations in which he saw no way out. But now, in addition to Divine protection (Job 29:2), he had also lost Divine guidance.

He also thinks back with melancholy to “the friendship of God” (Job 29:4; Psa 25:14). This relationship of friendship was over his tent, which means that his home and family were marked by it. He knew and experienced this relationship “in the prime” of his days. By this is not meant his ‘boyhood days’, but the time of his maturity, when his life had come to full development and he was in the power of his life. But also fellowship with God was gone, as was the protection and guidance of God already mentioned (Job 29:2-3).

Job knew God as “the Almighty” (Job 29:5). He knew that this Almighty God was with him. It was not a general knowledge for him, but he lived in the consciousness of God’s presence. But also the joy of God’s presence was gone. He also lost his “children”. How he had enjoyed them when they were around him. Their presence was all the more proof of God’s blessing as a result of his fear of Him (Psa 128:3).

The bathing of his steps in butter is the figurative indication of the abundant production of milk from his cattle, from which butter was also made (Job 29:6). Butter here is lebani, a curds or drained yogurt. He also possessed a large quantity of oil that his olive trees had produced. Olive trees grow on rocky ground. When he saw his supply of olive oil, it was as if it had been poured by the rock into a stream. All this abundance indicates that Job was a very wealthy man. But nothing is left of all this prosperity.