Job 29:23
in Job 29They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they waited for me as for the rain; And they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.
KJV
And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.
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This verse in Job 29
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And they waited for me as for the rain - That is, as the dry and thirsty earth waits for the rain. This is a continuation of the beautiful image commenced in the previous verse, and conveys the idea that his counsel was as necessary in the assemblies of people as the rain was to give growth to the seed, and beauty to the landscape.
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
They waited for me as for rain
The spring showers are the latter rain of March, which brings the harvest forward. The early rain falls in autumn at sowing. Clarke pictures men waiting for Job's words as dry ground waits for rain.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
After he had described what sort of person he was in judgments and counsels, he shows, as a consequence, what sort of person he was in ordinary associations with men. First he shows that he was gracious, because when he was absent they missed his …
And they waited for me as the rain, and opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain. Where too it is fitly added, They waited for me as the rain, and opened their mouth as for the latter rain. For the words of holy preaching we undergo as rain, when by true humility we learn the dryness of our hearts, that we may be watered by the draught of holy preaching. Whence also it is rightly said to God by the Psalmist, My soul is like earth without water to Thee.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
His 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.
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
And they waited for me as for the rain,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Oriental image (Ps 119:131). The "early rain" is in autumn and onwards, while the seed is being sown. The "latter rain" is in March, and brings forward the harvest, which ripens in May or June.
They waited for me as for the rain - The idea continued. They longed as much to hear me speak, to receive my counsel and my decisions, as the thirsty land does for refreshing waters. They opened their mouth wide - A metaphor taken from ground chapped with long drought. The latter rain - The rain that falls a little before harvest, in order to fill and perfect the grain. The former rain is that which falls about seed-time, or in spring, in order to impregnate and swell the seed, and moisten the earth to produce its nourishment.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְיִֽחֲל֣וּ | veyichalu | and they waited | H3176 → | 41 times |
| כַמָּטָ֣ר | khamatar | like the rain | H4306 → | 38 times |
| לִ֑י | li | for me | ||
| וּ֝פִיהֶ֗ם | ufihem | and mouth their | H6310 → | 498 times |
| פָּעֲר֥וּ | paaru | they opened wide | H6473 → | |
| לְמַלְקֽוֹשׁ׃ | lemalkoosh | for spring rain | H4456 → |
וְיִֽחֲל֣וּand they waited
veyichaluH3176 →41 times
כַמָּטָ֣רlike the rain
khamatarH4306 →38 times
לִ֑יfor me
li
וּ֝פִיהֶ֗םand mouth their
ufihemH6310 →498 times
פָּעֲר֥וּthey opened wide
paaruH6473 →
לְמַלְקֽוֹשׁ׃for spring rain
lemalkooshH4456 →
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
Hosea 6:3So let us know—let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 24:7
I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their…
- 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.
- Psalms 72:6
May he be like rain that falls on freshly cut grass, like spring showers that water the earth.
- Proverbs 2:1–5
My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you,
- Philippians 3:13–15
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
- Jeremiah 24:7
Through
Zechariah 10:1Ask the LORD for rain in springtime; the LORD makes the storm clouds, and He will give everyone showers of rain and crops in the field.
it leads to
- James 5:16–18
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.
- Isaiah 44:3
For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.
- Matthew 7:7–8
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
- James 5:16–18
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; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.