Job 29:24
If I smiled at them, they did not believe it; the light of my countenance was precious.
BSB
ASV
I smiled on them, when they had no confidence; And the light of my countenance they cast not down.
KJV
If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down.
I laughed on them, they believed it not - Similar to that expression in the Gospel, Luk 24:41: And while they believed not for joy, and wondered, he said - . Our version is sufficiently perspicuous, and gives the true sense of the original, only it should be read in the indicative and not in the subjunctive mood: I laughed on them - they believed it not. We have a similar phrase: The news was too good to be true. The light of my countenance - This evidence of my benevolence and regard.
When I relaxed from my wonted gravity (a virtue much esteemed in the East) and smiled, they could hardly credit it; and yet, notwithstanding my condescension, they did not cast aside reverence for my gravity. But the parallelism is better in UMBREIT'S translation, "I smiled kindly on those who trusted not," that is, in times of danger I cheered those in despondency.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Psalms 126:1When the LORD restored the captives of Zion, we were like dreamers.
leads to
Also for you, O Judah, a harvest is appointed, when I restore My people from captivity.
“Yes, in those days and at that time, when I restore Judah and Jerusalem from captivity,
Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, including the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor. They…
You showed favor to Your land, O LORD; You restored Jacob from captivity.
So Peter followed him out, but he was unaware that what the angel was doing was real. He thought he was only seeing a vision.
Through
Psalms 4:6Many ask, “Who can show us the good?” Shine the light of Your face upon us, O LORD.
leads to
Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts; cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.
may the LORD lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace.’
Through
Psalms 89:15Blessed are those who know the joyful sound, who walk, O LORD, in the light of Your presence.
leads to
For it was not by their sword that they took the land; their arm did not bring them victory. It was by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, because…