Job 29:7
in Job 29When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
When I went forth to the gate unto the city, When I prepared my seat in the street,
KJV
When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!
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This verse in Job 29
Commentary
8 notes on this verseWhen I went out to the gate of the city, and in the street they prepared me a chair. It was the custom of the ancients, that the elders should sit together in the gates, and judge the cases of those entering in, that so the people of the city might be the more peaceful, in proportion as it was not allowed to those at variance to enter in.
This site's exposition
I went out to the city gate
on Job 29:7-10
The city gate was the seat of the elders, the setting of Ruth 4:1 and Proverbs 31:23. Delitzsch and Barnes read the scene as a court before its judge. The nobles fell silent for his word, the authority Eliphaz had charged Job with abusing in chapter 22.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Then he explains the grandeur of his past glory when he says, "When I went to the gate of the city." This tells us he had judicial authority, because among the ancients, judgments were rendered at the gates. To show that he was not one …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), not in an affectation of pomp, but in an affection to justice. Observe, Judgment was administered in the gate, in the street, in the places of concourse, to which every man might have a free access, that every one who would might be a witness to all that was said and done, and that when judgment was given against the guilty others might hear and fear.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
When I went out to the, gate through the city,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
When I went out to the gate - The “gate” of a city was a place of public concourse, and where courts were usually held. Job speaks here as a magistrate, and of the time when he went forth to sit as a judge, to try causes. When I prepared my seat in the street - That is, to sit as a judge. The seat or tribunal was placed in the street, in the open air, before the gate of the city, where great numbers might be convened, and hear and see justice done.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The market place was the place of judgment, at the gate or propylæa of the city, such as is found in the remains of Nineveh and Persepolis (Isa 59:14;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
When I went out to the gate - Courts of justice were held at the gates or entrances of the cities of the East; and Job, being an emir, was supreme magistrate: and here he speaks of his going to the gate to administer justice. I prepared my seat in the street - I administered judgment openly, in the most public manner, and none could say that I, in any case, perverted justice. Mr. Good translates: - “As I went forth the city rejoiced at me, as I took my seat abroad.”
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּצֵ֣אתִי | betzeti | when went out I | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| שַׁ֣עַר | shaar | [the] gate | H8179 → | 374 times |
| עֲלֵי־ | ʾalei- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| קָ֑רֶת | karet | [the] town | H7176 → | |
| בָּ֝רְח֗וֹב | barechov | in the public square | H7339 → | |
| אָכִ֥ין | ʾakhin | I prepared | H3559 → | 217 times |
| מוֹשָׁבִֽי׃ | moshavi | seat my | H4186 → |
בְּצֵ֣אתִיwhen went out I
betzetiH3318 →1067 times
שַׁ֣עַר[the] gate
shaarH8179 →374 times
עֲלֵי־on
ʾalei-H5921 →5755 times
קָ֑רֶת[the] town
karetH7176 →
בָּ֝רְח֗וֹבin the public square
barechovH7339 →
אָכִ֥יןI prepared
ʾakhinH3559 →217 times
מוֹשָׁבִֽי׃seat my
moshaviH4186 →
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
Zechariah 8:16These are the things you must do: Speak truth to one another, render true and sound judgments in your gates,
it leads to
- Ephesians 4:25
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another.
- Zechariah 7:9
“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Administer true justice. Show loving devotion and compassion to one another.
- Psalms 15:2
He who walks with integrity and practices righteousness, who speaks the truth from his heart,
- Luke 3:8–14
Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up…
- Ephesians 4:25
Through
Ruth 4:11“We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the people at the gate. “May the LORD make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel.…
it leads to
- Genesis 29:32
And Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Reuben, for she said, “The LORD has seen my affliction. Surely my husband will love me now.”
- Matthew 2:6
‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of My people…
- Micah 5:2
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days…
- Psalms 127:3–5
Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward.
- Genesis 29:32
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; 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; 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.