the Week of Proper 24 / Ordinary 29
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King James Version
Job 29:19
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- InternationalParallel Translations
For I am like a tree whose roots reach the water, whose branches are refreshed with the dew.
My root is spread out to the waters, and the dew lieth all night upon my branch:
My root is spread out to the waters, And the dew lies all night on my branch;
My roots will reach down to the water. The dew will lie on the branches all night.
My roots reach the water, and the dew lies on my branches all night long.
My root [was] spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch.
My root is spread out to the waters, The dew lies all night on my branch;
'My root is spread out and open to the waters, And the dew lies all night upon my branch.
my roots spread out to the waters, with the dew all night on my branches,
My roote is openyde bisidis watris, and deew schal dwelle in my repyng.
My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.
In those days I was strong like a tree with deep roots and with plenty of water,
My root is spread out to the waters, And the dew lieth all night upon my branch:
My root will be open to the waters, and the night mist will be on my branches,
my root will spread till it reaches water, and dew will stay all night on my branch;
My root shall be spread out to the waters, and the dew will lie all night on my branch;
I was like a healthy plant with roots that have plenty of water and branches that are wet with dew.
My root shall be spread out to the waters, and the dew shall lie all night upon my branch;
My roote was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night vpon my branch.
My roots go to the water. As the water is on the grass in the early morning, it will be all night on my branches.
my roots spread out to the waters, with the dew all night on my branches;
For my roote is spread out by the water, and the dewe shall lye vpon my branche.
My roots are planted by the waters, and the dew lies all night upon my boughs, and at the harvest season I shall be invited to the feast.
I was like a tree whose roots always have water and whose branches are wet with dew.
My root, is laid open to the waters, and, the dew, shall lodge for the night in my boughs;
My root is opened beside the waters, and dew shall continue in my harvest.
my roots spread out to the waters, with the dew all night on my branches,
For my roote was spread out by the waterside: and the deawe lay vpon my corne.
My root was spread out by the water, and the dew would lodge on my crop.
My roots will have access to water,and the dew will rest on my branches all night.
My root is spread out to the waters, The dew lies all night on my branch;
My roots were open to water, and dew spent the night on my branches;
My root was open to the waters, and the dew lay all night on my branch.
My root is open unto the waters, And dew doth lodge on my branch.
For my rote was spred out by the waters syde, & the dew laye vpo my corne.
'My root is spread out to the waters, And dew lies on my branch all night.
My root is spread out to the waters, And the dew lies all night on my branch.
'My root is spread out to the waters, And dew lies all night on my branch.
My root is spread out to the waters,And dew lies all night on my branch.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
root: Job 18:16, Psalms 1:3, Jeremiah 17:8, Hosea 14:5-7
spread out: Heb. opened
Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 33:13 - the dew Job 8:17 - roots Job 16:12 - at ease Job 38:28 - dew Isaiah 26:19 - thy dew
Cross-References
They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,
Gill's Notes on the Bible
My root [was] spread out by the waters,.... According to our version and others, Job here, and in the following verses, gives the reasons of his hope and confidence of his long life, and quiet and comfortable death amidst all his prosperity and happiness; which were founded upon his flourishing circumstances, and the great respect that was shown him among men; and this is the sense, if we read the words in the past tense, as we and many others do; or in the present tense, "my root is spread", c. as others but there are some interpreters, both Jewish and Christian b, that render them in the future tense, here and to the end of the chapter; and so they are a continuation of Job's hope and trust, in the times of his prosperity, that things would always continue as they were with him, and much more abundantly; and indeed all is true of Job, in every sense, and all may be taken into the account; and that these words, and the following, as they describe what had been, and at the then present time, when he concluded the above in his mind, was his case, so they may also declare what he believed would be always his case to the end of his days. Here he compares himself to a tree well rooted and happily situated by plenty of water, and which may be expressive both of his temporal and spiritual prosperity: his outward prosperity seemed to him to have been well settled and established, being like a tree that had taken root, and was like to continue, being watered with the favour and blessing of God, which maketh rich; and as to his spiritual estate, he was like a tree planted by a river of water, to which good men are often compared in Scripture, Psalms 1:3; they are in general called trees of righteousness, and are sometimes likened to particular trees, as to olives, cedars, and palm trees; and some think, as Pineda, that it is to the latter Job here has respect; the last clause of Job 29:18 being in the Latin Vulgate version so rendered as to countenance this sense; and it may be observed that this tree having thick long leaves, and fruit full of juice, and its wood spongy, requires much water; and, as Pliny c says, delights in watery places; nor is it content with rain, but is better satisfied with waters flowing about it; hence it is often found necessary to dig about it, and lay its roots open, that the waters may more easily come at them, and flow about them d and so the words here in the original text are, "my root" was, is, or shall be "open to the waters" e: good men, as they are rooted in the love of God, and in the person of Christ, so they have, as Job had, the root of the matter in them, the truth of grace, or a principle of grace; which is watered, and kept alive and flourishing, by the love and favour of God shed abroad in the heart; by fresh supplies of grace out of the fulness of Christ, who is the fountain of gardens, and well of living waters; and by the means of grace, the word and ordinances, the still waters to which saints are led, and by which they are made to lie down, and where they are watered, refreshed, and comforted:
and the dew lay all night upon my branch; so that the water being at his root below, and the dew on his branch above, he must be in a fruitful and flourishing condition: the dew is a great blessing to the earth, to trees, herbs, and plants, and the cause of great fertility; and this may respect Job's temporal happiness, in the health and prosperity of his children, who were to him what branches are to a tree; and in the affluence of worldly good things, with which through the blessing of God, as dew upon him, he abounded; and may also have regard to his spiritual affairs: believers in Christ are branches in him, as Job was one; and the dew of divine grace and favour lies upon them continually, even in the darkest seasons; which revives and refreshes their souls, and makes them fruitful in the exercise of grace, and performance of good works; see Proverbs 19:12; the dew falls in the night, and the sooner it fails the longer it lies, and is most useful: some render the words "upon my harvest", or "mowing" f; the dew is of great use in harvest time; mowers and reapers choose the morning to work in, when the stalks are moistened by the dew; and which is of use to keep the ears of corn from shedding by swelling the fibres, and so retaining the grains in their proper places g; see
Isaiah 18:4.
b Jarchi, Ben Gerson, Bar Tzemach, Schmidt, Schultens. c Nat. Hist. l. 13. 4. d Palladius apud Scheuchzer, ut supra (Physic. Sacr. l. vol. 4.), p. 759. e פתוח אלי מים "aperta ad aquas", Montanus, Bolducius, Mercerus, Cocceius, Schmidt, Michaelis, Schultens. f בקצירי "in messe mea", Montanus, Tigurine version; "in segete mea", Cocceius; so the Targum. g Vid. Scheuchzer, ut supra. (Physic. Sacr. l. vol. 4. p. 759.)
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
My root was spread out by the waters - Margin, as the Hebrew, “opened.” The meaning is, that it was spread abroad or extended far, so that the moisture of the earth had free access to it; or it was like a tree planted near a stream, whose root ran down to the water. This is an image designed to denote great prosperity. In the East, such an image would be more striking than with us. Here green, large, and beautiful trees are so common as to excite little or no attention. In such a country as Arabia, however, where general desolation exists, such a tree would be a most beautiful object, and a most striking image of prosperity; compare DeWette on Psalms 1:3.
And the dew lay all night upon my branch - In the absence of rain - which seldom falls in deserts - the scanty vegetation is dependent on the dews that fall at night. Those dews are often very abundant. Volney (Travels i. 51) says, “We, who are inhabitants of humid regions, cannot well understand how a country can be productive without rain, but in Egypt, the dew which falls copiously in the night, supplies the place of rain.” See, also, Shaw’s Travels, p. 379. “To the same cause also (the violent heat of the day), succeeded afterward by the coldness of the night, we may attribute the plentiful dews, and those thick, offensive mists, one or other of which we had every night too sensible a proof of. The dews, particularly, (as we had the heavens only for our covering), would frequently wet us to the skin.” The sense here is, as a tree standing on the verge of a river, and watered each night by copious dews, appears beautiful and flourishing, so was my condition. The Septuagint, however, renders this, “And the dew abode at night on my harvest” - καί δρόσος ἀυλισθήσεται ἐν τῷ θερισμῷ μου kai drosos aulisthēsetai en tō therismō mou. So the Chaldee - וטלא בחצדי יבית. A thought, similar to the one in this passage, occurs in a Chinese Ode, translated by Sir William Jones, in his works, vol. ii. p. 351:
Vide illius aquae rivum
Virides arundines jucunde luxuriant!
Sic est decorus virtutibus princeps noster!
“Seest thou yon stream, around whose banks
The green reeds crowd in joyous ranks?
In nutrient virtue and in grace,
Such is the Prince that rules our race.”
Dr. Good
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Job 29:19. My root was spread out by the waters — A metaphor taken from a healthy tree growing beside a rivulet where there is plenty of water; which in consequence flourishes in all seasons; its leaf does not wither, nor its fruit fall off. See Psalms 1:3; Jeremiah 17:8.
