Job 29:21
in Job 29Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my counsel.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Unto me men gave ear, and waited, And kept silence for my counsel.
KJV
Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel.
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This verse in Job 29
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Men listened to me with expectation
on Job 29:21-23
“Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my counsel”, so Job's word carried weight in real decisions. The line “my speech settled on them like dew” borrows the figure Moses uses of his own teaching at Deuteronomy 32:2. Delitzsch takes the Hebrew verb as dew settling gently.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
As in what precedes he has described both the severity and the mercy which he showed in judgment, he shows now in the third how he also used wisdom. First, he used wisdom in judgments, and expressing this he says, "Those who heard me," because …
They that heard me awaited my sentence, and listening kept silence at any counsel. For this awe of those under him we unquestionably believe to have been towards blessed Job. But as we have already often said, Holy Church being driven to extremities by the inflictions of heretics or carnal persons, remembers the times past, in which all that is spoken by her is listened to with fear by the faithful, and lamenting the frowardness of her adversaries, she says, They that heard me awaited my sentence, and listening kept silence at my counsel.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
3 When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness; 4 As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle; 5 When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
Unto me men gave ear,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Unto me men gave ear - The same idea as in Job 29:9-11.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Unto me men gave ear - Job here returns to the time when he sat in the assembly of counsellors, and to the respectful attention which was paid to all that he said. They listened when he spoke; they waited for him to speak before they gave their opinion; and they were then silent. They neither interrupted him nor attempted a reply.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לִֽי־ | li- | to me | ||
| שָׁמְע֥וּ | shameu | people listened | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| וְיִחֵ֑לּוּ | veyichelu | and they waited | H3176 → | 41 times |
| וְ֝יִדְּמ֗וּ | veyidemu | and they may be silent | H1826 → | 30 times |
| לְמ֣וֹ | lemo | for | H3926 → | 4 times |
| עֲצָתִֽי׃ | ʾatzati | counsel my | H6098 → | 89 times |
לִֽי־to me
li-
שָׁמְע֥וּpeople listened
shameuH8085 →1159 times
וְיִחֵ֑לּוּand they waited
veyicheluH3176 →41 times
וְ֝יִדְּמ֗וּand they may be silent
veyidemuH1826 →30 times
לְמ֣וֹfor
lemoH3926 →4 times
עֲצָתִֽי׃counsel my
ʾatzatiH6098 →89 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XX; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.