Глава 29

Job's first speech to his friends. 1–25. Description of former happiness. Job 29:1. And Job continued his lofty speech and said: The silence of his friends gives Job the opportunity to continue and finish his speech. Reviewing everything that has been said previously, the sufferer again claims that he does not deserve the misfortune and does not know its causes. Job 29:2. Oh, if only I were like in previous months, like in those days when God kept me, Fear of God (Job 28.28) is not able to destroy in the sufferer the feeling of bitterness that arises when remembering the past days of past happiness, the basis of which was God and His protection. Oh, if only - he exclaims - someone would give me the opportunity to relive the past, to return to my former happiness! Job 29:3. when His lamp shone over my head, and by His light I walked in the midst of darkness; At this time of no return, divine help and blessings poured out on Job like light from a lamp, and protected him from dangers Job 29:4. as I was in the days of my youth, when the mercy of God was over my tent, Job 29:5. when the Almighty was still with me, and my children around me, Job 29:6. when my paths were drenched with milk, and the rock brought out streams of oil for me! “In the days of his youth” (Hebrew “horeth” - “winter” - Gen 8.22; Proverbs 20.4; Jer 36.22; Am 3.15; the time opposite to summer; the period of enjoying the harvested fruits - autumn) more precisely during his manhood (v. 5) Job was in communion with God (Hebrew "sod" - the shortest acquaintance - Job 19.9; Ps 24.14; Ps 54.15; Proverbs 3.22), enjoyed, like a righteous man, family happiness (“my children are around me”, cf. Ps 126.3 etc.) and an abundance of earthly blessings (v. 6; cf. Job 20.17; Gen 49.11–12; Exod 3.8; Deut 32.13). Job 29:7. when I went out to the gates of the city and set up my seat in the square, Job 29:8. the young men, seeing me, hid, and the elders got up and stood; Job 29:9. the princes refrained from speaking and put their fingers on their lips; Job 29:10. the voice of the nobles fell silent, and their tongue stuck to their throats. In addition, Job enjoyed universal respect, which was especially clear at the time when he took part in public, in particular, court cases decided in the square in front of the city gates: “in the square he set up his seat” (cf. Job 5.4, 31.21; Proverbs 31.23; Nehemiah 8.1, 3, 16). When Job appeared here, out of respect for him, the young men did not dare to show themselves, the elders stood up, waiting for him to sit down (cf. 1 Kings 2.19), the princes - the leaders of the city, for the same reasons, refrained from speaking, giving him the first word (cf. Job 32.4 etc.), and the nobles fell silent, not knowing what to add to what he said. Job 29:11. The ear that heard me pleased me; the eye that saw praised me, The impression made by Job’s personality, his public and private activities, was such that those who heard about him considered him worthy of all good things and called upon them for him, and those who saw them could not refrain from glorifying him (cf. Proverbs 31.28). Job 29:12–17. The reasons for this attitude towards Job were his virtue, and especially mercy and justice. Job 29:12. because I saved the crying sufferer and the helpless orphan. Job 29:13. The blessing of the perishing one came to me, and I brought joy to the widow’s heart. He not only did not oppress the helpless, widows and orphans, as Eliphaz claimed (Job 22.9), but provided them with support and help, and did not remain deaf to their cries (cf. Ps 71.12). Therefore, he was blessed by those who were on the verge of destruction (“perishing”, Hebrew “obed”, cf. Job 31.19–20; Proverbs 31.6), whom he saved (cf. Ps 71.12–15). Job 29:14. I clothed myself with righteousness, and my judgment clothed me like a mantle that faded away. Another virtue of Job was truth, strict adherence to the will of God, and judgment (“mishfat”) - the determination to stand for truth against untruth. He covered himself with the first (Heb. “labash”), like clothing (cf. Ps 131.9; Is 11.5, 59.11), the second made up his headdress, a turban, i.e. Job was the bearer, the organ of these virtues (cf. Judges 6.34: “The Spirit of the Lord came upon (Heb. “labesh”) Gideon" - he became his organ). Job 29:15. I was the eyes of the blind and the feet of the lame; Job 29:16. I was a father to the beggars and I examined the litigation, which I did not know, carefully. Job 29:17. I crushed the jaws of the lawless and plucked the stolen goods from his teeth. Help adapted to the needs of the unfortunate served as a clear manifestation of the truth that gave everyone their due. She made up for their shortcomings, as if returning lost organs: “I was eyes to the blind” (cf. Numbers 10.31). “Judgment” manifested itself in strict and impartial justice: Job carefully examined the litigation of persons unknown to him, freed those suffering from unjust oppressors (“from the teeth... he plucked out what was stolen” - v. 17) and deprived the latter of the opportunity to harm (“he broke the jaws of the wicked”, cf. Ps 3.8, 57.7). Job 29:18. And I said: I will die in my nest, and my days will be as long as sand; According to the theory of earthly rewards, the pious Job counted on a peaceful death among his family ("I will die in my nest" - I will die like a bird surrounded by chicks; cf. Ps 83.4) after a long life: "my days will be as many as sand" (Hebrew "hol", - sand, - a symbol of multiplicity: Job 6.3; Gen 22.17, 32.12, 41.49; Is 10.22; Jer 33.22). Instead of “like sand”, LXX read: “ὡς στέλεχος φοίνικος” - like the trunk of a palm tree (“date stem” - Slavic), ancient Italian translation: - “sicut arbor palmae”, Vulgate: “sicul palma”; my life will be like the existence of a palm tree, a long-lived plant, often renewing itself in its roots. The Jewish tradition, reproduced by the Talmud (Sanhedrin fol. 108), midrashim, rabbis Kimhi, Iarchi and adopted by some of the newest exegetes - Delitzsch, Hitzig, etc., understands by “hol” the legendary phoenix bird reborn after death to a new life. Indirect confirmation of this view is the Egyptian name of this bird “khol”, or “khul” and the coincidence of Job’s desire: “I will die in my nest”, with the detail reported in the legends about the phoenix that the phoenix brought the remains of its deceased father to Heliopolis to the church of the sun and there paid its last respects to him. It is even suggested that the original edition of the LXX only had: “ὥσπερ φοῖνιξ” (“like a phoenix”), and the modern reading: “ὥσπερ στέλεχος”... is a later phenomenon. LXX could not combine the meaning of “palm” with the Hebrew “hol”, since palm in Hebrew is “tamar”, and the meaning of this word LXX is well known (Ps 91.13; Song 7.8-9; Joel 1.12). Job 29:19. My root is open to water, and the dew spends the night on my branches; Job hoped for the same freshness of strength, vigor that falls to the lot of a plant, the moisture necessary for the growth of which is supplied both from below (“my root is open to water”; cf. Job 14.8–9) and from above (“the dew spends the night on my branches”; cf. Job 18.16; Gen. 27.39; Proverbs 19.12), Job 29:20. My glory never grows old, my bow is strong in my hand. At the same time, Job counted on the constant respect of those around him (“my glory never grows old”) and on his own strength to support him (“my bow is strong”; cf. 1 Sam. 2.4; Ps. 45.10, 75.4, etc.). Job 29:21–25. The mention of past glory will give Job a reason to dwell on this subject again, to relive the past once again. Job 29:21. They listened to me and waited, and remained silent at my advice. Job 29:22. After my words they no longer reasoned; my speech dripped on them. Job 29:23. They waited for me like the rain, and opened their mouths like the latter rain. None of those listening to Job dared to interrupt him; everyone was waiting for the end of his speech, and at the end of it they were silent (“they did not reason”), unable to add anything to what he said: Job’s reasoning completely exhausted the issue under discussion. His speech satisfied, nourished everyone, like rain on dry ground (cf. Deut. 32.2; Ps. 71.6). Therefore, they waited for her with the same passionate impatience (“they opened their mouths”; cf. Ps 119.131), with which they wait for the March-April rain (“late”; cf. Deut. 11.14; Jer 3.3, 5.24; Hos 6.3; Joel 2.23), which falls before the sowing of summer fruits. Job 29:24. Sometimes I would smile at them and they wouldn’t believe me; and they did not darken the light of my face. With his wisdom, Job seemed so unattainably great that his smile was considered an honor; not everyone believed in such mercy, condescension towards himself on his part, and no one dared to sadden him in any way (“they did not darken the light of my countenance”; cf. Proverbs 16.15). Job 29:25. I appointed their paths and sat at their head and lived like a king in the circle of warriors, like a comforter to those who mourn. Respected by everyone for his wisdom, Job was the leader of his fellow citizens in life, he was their head. You might be interested in: