Albert Barnes Commentary Job 29

Moreover, Job continued his parable - See the notes at (Job 27:1). It is probable that Job had paused to see if anyone would attempt a reply. As his friends were silent, he resumed his remarks and went into a fuller statement of his sufferings. The fact that Job more than once paused in his addresses to give his friends an opportunity to speak, and that they were silent when they seemed called upon to vindicate their former sentiments, was what particularly roused the wrath of Elihu and induced him to answer (Job 32:2–5).

Oh that I were - (Hebrew: “Who will give?”). This is a common way of expressing a wish (Job 11:5; Job 13:5; Job 23:3).

As in months past - Oh that I could recall my former prosperity, and be as I was when I enjoyed the protection and favor of God. Probably one object of this wish was that his friends might see from what a state of honor and happiness he had been brought down.

They complained of him as impatient. He may have designed to show them that his lamentations were not unreasonable, when it was borne in mind from what a state of prosperity he had been taken, and to what a condition of woe he had been brought.

He, therefore, goes into this extended description of his former happiness, and dwells particularly upon the good which he was enabled then to do, and the respect which was shown him as a public benefactor. A passage strikingly similar to this occurs in Virgil, Aeneid viii. 560:

O mihi praeteritos referat si Jupiter annos!
Qualis eram, cum primam aciem Praeneste sub ipsa
Stravi, scutorumque incendi victor acervos.

“O would kind heaven my strength and youth recall,
Such as I was beneath Praeneste’s wall;
There where I made the foremost foes retire,
And set whole heaps of conquered shields on fire!”

When his candle shone upon my head – The margin reads, “or, lamp;” (compare the notes on Job 18:6). It was remarked in the note on that passage that it was common to have lamps or lights always burning in a house or tent. When Job speaks of the lamps shining “on his head,” the allusion is probably to the custom of suspending a lamp from the ceiling, a custom that prevails among the wealthy Arabs. “Scott.” Virgil speaks of a similar thing in the palace of Dido:

Dependent lychni laquearibus aureis Incensi.
(Aeneid 1:726.)
“From gilded roofs depending lamps display
Nocturnal beams that imitate the day.”
—Dryden

See also Lucretius 2:24. Indeed, the custom is common everywhere, and the image is a beautiful illustration of divine favor—of light and happiness imparted by God, the great source of blessedness from above.

The Hebrew word translated “shone,” בהלו (behilô), has caused some perplexity regarding its form. According to Ewald, Hebrew Grammar, p. 471, and Gesenius, Lexicon, it is the Hiphil form of הלל (hâlal) – to shine – with the He preformative dropped. The sense is, “In his causing the light to shine.” Others suppose that it is the infinitive of the Qal, with a pleonastic suffix, meaning “when it shone;” that is, the light. The sense is essentially the same; compare Schultens and Rosenmuller in loc.

And when by his light – Under his guidance and direction.

I walked through darkness – “This probably refers to the fires or other lights that were carried before caravans in their nightly travels through the deserts.” “Noyes.” The meaning is that God provided him with protection, instruction, and guidance.

In places and on subjects that would have been otherwise dark, God counseled and led him. He enjoyed the manifestations of divine favor; his understanding was enlightened, and he was enabled to comprehend subjects that would have been otherwise perplexing and difficult. He refers, probably, to the inquiries about divine government and administration, and to the questions that came before him as a magistrate or an umpire—questions that he was enabled to determine with wisdom.

As I was in the days of my youth - The word here translated “youth” (חרף chôreph), properly means “autumn”—from (חרף châraph), to “pluck” or “pull,” as being the time when fruits are gathered. Then it means that which is mature; and the meaning here is probably “mature” or “manly”—“As I was in the days of my ripeness;” that is, of my vigor or strength. The whole passage shows that it does not mean “youth,” for he goes on to describe the honor and respect shown to him when in mature life.

So the Septuagint translates it—Ὅτε ἤμην ἐπιβρίθων ὁδούς (Hote ēmēn epibrithōn hodous)—“When I made heavy or laded my ways,” an expression referring to autumn as being laden with fruit. Similarly, we speak of the spring, the autumn, and the winter of life, and by the autumn denote the maturity of vigor, experience, and wisdom. The Greeks also used the word ὀπώρα (opōra)—Pindar, Isthm. 2, 7, 8; (Nehemiah 5:10); Aeschylus, Suppl. 1005, 1022.

So Ovid:

Excessit Autumnus posito fervore juventae
Maturus, mitisque inter juvenemque senemque;
Temperie medius, sparsis per tempora canis.
Inde senilis hiems tremulo venit horrida passu.
Aut spoliata suos, aut, quos habet, alba capillos.
Metam. 15.200.

The wish of Job was that he might be restored to the vigor of mature life, and to the influence and honors which he had then; or rather, perhaps, it was that they might have a view of what he was then, that they might see from what a height he had fallen, and what cause he had of complaint and grief.

When the secret of God was upon my tabernacle - The meaning of this language is not clear, and considerable variety has occurred in its interpretation. The Septuagint translates it, “When God watched over—ἐπισκοπὴν ἐποιεῖτο (episkopēn epoieito)—my house.” The Vulgate has, “When God was secretly in my tabernacle.” Noyes translates it, “When God was the friend of my tent.” Coverdale renders the whole, “As I stood when I was wealthy and had enough; when God prospered my house.” Umbreit translates, “Als noch traulich Gott in meinem Zette weilte”—that is, “When God remained cordially in my tent.” Herder offers, “When God took counsel with me in my tent.”

The word translated “secret” (סוד sôd) means a “couch” or “cushion” on which one reclines, and then a divan, or circle of friends sitting together in consultation (see the word explained in the notes at Job 15:8). The idea here probably is that God came into his tent or dwelling as a friend, and that Job was, as it were, admitted to the secrecy of his friendship and to an acquaintance with his plans.

When the Almighty was yet with me - Job regarded God as withdrawn from him. He now looked back with deep interest to the time when He dwelt with him.