Job 29:19
in Job 29My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
My root is spread out to the waters, And the dew lieth all night upon my branch:
KJV
My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch.
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This verse in Job 29
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
This site's exposition
I will die in my nest
on Job 29:18-20
Job recalls what he told himself, “I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand”. Barnes reads the nest and the sand as permanence, a home undisturbed and days beyond counting. Gill takes “my bow is renewed in my hand” as the archer's figure for strength.
This site's exposition
My roots will spread out
Barnes gives the Hebrew for spread out as opened, the roots open to the waters. Such a tree never lacks water, and the dew rests on its branches. The same tree stands in Psalm 1:3, Clarke notes.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church3 voices
The words "I shall be perfected like the reeds," that is, I will end my days [by becoming full] of riches, by germinating and growing like the palm tree and the reeds and the [vegetables] planted along the edge of water. Henana says, "As the …
Second he describes the continuity of his prosperity as to riches, and he describes their increase saying, "My root is open out near the water." For trees which have roots near the waters often produce an abundance of fruit. So by this expression he refers …
My root is opened beside the waters. And the dew shall stay on my harvest. For 'by the waters the root is opened,' when, for receiving the streams of truth, secretly the thought of the mind is spread out. For as we have already said in a former book, in Holy Writ by the term of 'the root' the hidden thought is used to be denoted. Therefore 'our root we open by the waters,' when to the Interior watering we stretch the thought of the secret heart.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
My root was spread out by the waters,....
God's favour being continued to Job, in the virtue of that his glory was still fresh in him. Those about him had still something new to say in his praise, and needed not to repeat the old stories: and it is only by constant goodness that men's glory is thus preserved fresh and kept from withering and growing stale.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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 Psa 1:3; Jer 17:8.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And I said, I will perish with my nest Because of the propriety of my traits, I would think to myself that when I die, I would have my nest and my house established with me.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שָׁרְשִׁ֣י | shareshi | root my | H8328 → | 33 times |
| פָת֣וּחַ | fatuach | [is] opened | H6605 → | 144 times |
| אֱלֵי־ | ʾelei- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מָ֑יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| וְ֝טַ֗ל | vetal | and dew | H2919 → | |
| יָלִ֥ין | yalin | it will remain overnight | H3885 → | 84 times |
| בִּקְצִירִֽי׃ | biktziri | on branch[es] my | H7105 → | 54 times |
שָׁרְשִׁ֣יroot my
shareshiH8328 →33 times
פָת֣וּחַ[is] opened
fatuachH6605 →144 times
אֱלֵי־to
ʾelei-H413 →5510 times
מָ֑יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
וְ֝טַ֗לand dew
vetalH2919 →
יָלִ֥יןit will remain overnight
yalinH3885 →84 times
בִּקְצִירִֽי׃on branch[es] my
biktziriH7105 →54 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 1:3He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:8
He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not…
- Ezekiel 47:12
Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of all kinds will grow. Their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. Each month they will bear fruit, because the water from…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 92:14
In old age they will still bear fruit; healthy and green they will remain,
- John 15:6
If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.
- Ezekiel 19:10
Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, planted by the water; it was fruitful and full of branches because of the abundant waters.
- Jeremiah 17:8
Through
Jeremiah 17:8He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not…
it leads to
- Psalms 1:3
He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.
- Isaiah 58:11
The LORD will always guide you; He will satisfy you in a sun-scorched land and strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
- Ezekiel 31:4–10
The waters made it grow; the deep springs made it tall, directing their streams all around its base and sending their channels to all the trees of the field.
- Psalms 1:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XIX; Ishodad of Merv, COMMENTARY ON JOB 29:18; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.