Job 29:5
in Job 29when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
When the Almighty was yet with me, And my children were about me;
KJV
When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;
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This verse in Job 29
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
when I was in my prime
on Job 29:4-6
The first loss Job names is closeness with God, when “the friendship of God rested on my tent”. Gill reads that friendship as friendly counsel shared in confidence, the intimacy of Psalm 25:14. Delitzsch takes “my steps were bathed in cream” and “streams of oil” as pastoral hyperbole for abundance.
This site's exposition
the Almighty was still with me
Barnes marks the word still. Job now counts God as withdrawn and looks back to the time when God dwelt with him. Thomas Aquinas pairs the two clauses, the Almighty working with Job and his children around him, so both halves name what the present has taken.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
As to action he continues, "when the Almighty was with me," as though cooperating with me in doing good. Then he describes his prosperity as to his posterity when he says, "and my boys were round about me." For in fact the sons of a …
When the Almighty was yet with me; and when my servants were about me. Now all that stand in awe of the divine precepts become God's 'tabernacle.' Hence as we have already said above, 'Truth' saith by Himself of the man that keeps His commandments, I and My Father will come and make Our abode with him. Contrariwise the wicked severally, whereas they do not aim at the things within, pour themselves forth without in the thoughts of their hearts. Whence it is said to them by the Prophet, Turn back to the heart within, O ye transgressors.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): The Almighty was yet with me. Now he thought God had departed from him, but in those days he was with him, and that was all in all to him. God's presence with a man in his house, though it be but a cottage, makes it both a castle and a palace.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
When the Almighty was yet with me,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
When the Almighty was yet with me - Job regarded God as withdrawn from him. He now looked back with deep interest to the time when he dwelt with him.
The words behind it
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּע֣וֹד | beod | while still | H5750 → | 490 times |
| שַׁ֭דַּי | shadai | [the] Almighty | H7706 → | 48 times |
| עִמָּדִ֑י | ʾimadi | [was] with me | H5978 → | 42 times |
| סְבִ֖יבוֹתַ֣י | sevivotai | [were] around me | H5439 → | 336 times |
| נְעָרָֽי׃ | nearai | lads my | H5288 → | 239 times |
בְּע֣וֹדwhile still
beodH5750 →490 times
שַׁ֭דַּי[the] Almighty
shadaiH7706 →48 times
עִמָּדִ֑י[was] with me
ʾimadiH5978 →42 times
סְבִ֖יבוֹתַ֣י[were] around me
sevivotaiH5439 →336 times
נְעָרָֽי׃lads my
nearaiH5288 →239 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 128:3Your wife will be like a fruitful vine flourishing within your house, your sons like olive shoots sitting around your table.
it leads to
- 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.
- Psalms 52:8
But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in the loving devotion of God forever and ever.
- Proverbs 5:15–18
Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.
- Genesis 49:22
Joseph is a fruitful vine—a fruitful vine by a spring, whose branches scale the wall.
- Romans 11:24
For if you were cut from a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into one that is cultivated, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their…
- Ezekiel 19:10
Through
Song of Solomon 2:4He has brought me to the house of wine, and his banner over me is love.
it leads to
- Song of Solomon 1:4
Take me away with you—let us hurry! May the king bring me to his chambers. We will rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. It is only right…
- Romans 5:8–10
But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
- Romans 8:28–39
And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
- Song of Solomon 1:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Job
This page draws on 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 XIX; 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.