Job 29:22
in Job 29After my words, they spoke no more; my speech settled on them like dew.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
After my words they spake not again; And my speech distilled upon them.
KJV
After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them.
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This verse in Job 29
Commentary
10 notes on this verseHis servants that stood continually before him to hear his wisdom would not have envied Solomon's. Those are wise, or are likely to be so, that know how to value wise discourse, that wish for it, and wait for it, and drink it in as the earth does the rain that comes often upon it, Heb. vi.
This 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.
This site's exposition
my speech settled on them
Barnes calls the silence after Job's words the highest mark of deference. His speech settled on them, and they spoke no more. Aquinas says they dared add nothing to his words, so highly did they value his counsel.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
After I had given them my counsel, they were happy with it, and so he says, "They dared to add nothing to my words," because of the great wisdom which they valued. Not only did they firmly keep my counsel, but they were also consoled …
They dared not to add any thing to my words, and my speech dropped upon them. Of whom it is rightly added, To my words they dared not to add any thing; surely because heretics, at that time when against her they are in liberty the most mischievous, free of all check, do 'dare to add something to her words,' in that they busy themselves as if to correct the rightness of her preachings. Which same still further adds touching the good hearers, And my speech dropped upon them.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 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
After my words they spake not again,....
(2.) He was the darling of his country. All about him were well pleased with every thing he said and did, as David's people were with him, 2 Sam. iii. He had the hearts and affections of all his neighbours, all his servants, tenants, subjects; never was man so much admired nor so well beloved. [1.] Those were thought happy to whom he spoke, and they thought themselves so.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
My speech dropped upon them - It descended as refreshing dew; they were encouraged, comforted, and strengthened by it.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
After my words they spake not again - The highest proof which could be given of deference. So full of respect were they that they did not dare to dispute him; so sagacious and wise was his counsel that they were satisfied with it, and did not presume to suggest any other. And my speech dropped upon them - That is, like the dew or the gentle rain.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַחֲרֵ֣י | ʾacharei | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| דְ֭בָרִי | devari | word my | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִשְׁנ֑וּ | yishnu | they repeated | H8138 → | |
| וְ֝עָלֵ֗ימוֹ | vealeimov | and on them | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| תִּטֹּ֥ף | titof | it dropped | H5197 → | |
| מִלָּתִֽי׃ | milati | speech my | H4405 → | 38 times |
אַחֲרֵ֣יafter
ʾachareiH310 →715 times
דְ֭בָרִיword my
devariH1697 →1440 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִשְׁנ֑וּthey repeated
yishnuH8138 →
וְ֝עָלֵ֗ימוֹand on them
vealeimovH5921 →5755 times
תִּטֹּ֥ףit dropped
titofH5197 →
מִלָּתִֽי׃speech my
milatiH4405 →38 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
Deuteronomy 32:2Let my teaching fall like rain and my speech settle like dew, like gentle rain on new grass, like showers on tender plants.
it leads to
- Isaiah 55:10–11
For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return without watering the earth, making it bud and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat,
- Psalms 72:6
May he be like rain that falls on freshly cut grass, like spring showers that water the earth.
- Micah 5:7
Then the remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the LORD, like showers on the grass, which do not wait for man or linger for mankind.
- Job 29:22–23
After my words, they spoke no more; my speech settled on them like dew.
- Hosea 14:5
I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
- Isaiah 55:10–11
Through
Isaiah 52:15so He will sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths because of Him. For they will see what they have not been told, and they will understand what they have not heard.
it leads to
- Romans 15:20–21
In this way I have aspired to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.
- Isaiah 49:7
Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, to Him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the Servant of rulers: “Kings will see You and rise, and princes…
- Romans 15:20–21
Through
Matthew 22:46No one was able to answer a word, and from that day on no one dared to question Him any further.
it leads to
- Mark 12:34
When Jesus saw that the man had answered wisely, He said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to question Him any further.
- Mark 12:34
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.