Job 29:18

29:18-25 Being thus honoured and useful, Job had hoped to die in peace and honour, in a good old age. If such an expectation arise from lively faith in the providence and promise of God, it is well; but if from conceit of our own wisdom, and dependence on changeable, earthly things, it is ill grounded, and turns to sin. Every one that has the spirit of wisdom, has not the spirit of government; but Job had both. Yet he had the tenderness of a comforter. This he thought upon with pleasure, when he was himself a mourner. Our Lord Jesus is a King who hates iniquity, and upon whom the blessing of a world ready to perish comes. To Him let us give ear.

Then I said, I shall die in my nest,.... Job, amidst all his prosperity, knew he should die, death and the grave being appointed for all men; and he often thought of it, and of the manner of it; but he concluded that death was as yet some distance from him, as appears from the following clause; and that, when the time was come, he should not die on the ground, but in the city in which he lived (m), in his house, and on his bed; that he should die with all his children about him, like a bird in its nest full of young; whereas now he was stripped of them all, and likely to die childless; that he should die amidst all his outward enjoyments, in an affluence of good things, in honour, credit, and esteem among men; whereas now he was deprived of all his substance, and had in contempt by friends and foes; and that he should die in great tranquillity of mind and peace of soul, in the enjoyment of the divine Presence, and under rich discoveries of his love and grace; whereas now God had hid himself from him, and the arrows of the Almighty stuck fast in him.

(18) I shall die in my nest. —Very touching is this spontaneous expression of his almost unconscious hope when in prosperity. Some have suggested the transposition of these three verses to the end of the chapter. Though this is obviously their natural position in one sense, yet in another it is less natural. The same thing is to be seen in the last four verses of chapter 31. They carry on the previous vindication from Job 31:34 , which had been broken by the parenthesis in Job 31:35-37 .

Job 29:18 . Then I said — That is, I persuaded my self, being thus strongly fortified with the consciousness of my own universal integrity, and with the singular favour of God and of all men; I shalt die in my nest — Not a violent or untimely, but a natural, peaceable, and seasonable death, sweetly expiring in my own bed and habitation, in the midst of my children and friends, leaving the precious perfume of a good name behind me, and a plentiful inheritance to all my posterity. And I shall multiply my days as the sand — He means, as the sand on the sea-shore: whereas, we should rather reckon our days by the sand in the hour-glass, which will be all run out in a little time. See how apt even good men are to set death at a distance from them!

18 . in my nest ] i. e. surrounded by those belonging to him; he should die before them, not they before him, and in the midst of his possessions. my days as the sand ] Sand is the usual rendering of the word occurring here—an image of countless number. Most modern writers translate as the Phœnix , in accordance with Jewish tradition. The Sept. renders as the branch of the palm (φοίνικος). The Heb. word however can hardly have been translated palm , a meaning which does not belong to it, and the present Sept. text may have arisen from a misunderstanding of its original reading, like the Phœnix . The word “nest” in the first clause favours this translation. This bird was fabled to live 500 years, and to consume himself and his nest with fire, only to arise anew to life out of the ashes. Hence the name became a proverb, expressing the highest duration of life, φοίνικος ἔτη βιοῦν, to live as long as the Phœnix. The fable being current in Egypt the author of the Book might readily become acquainted with it. 18–20 . Job’s outlook on the future, amidst this benevolent and active life. He anticipated length of days and continued prosperity.

Verse 18. - Then I said, I shall die in my nest . The metaphor of "nest" for "dwelling-place" occurs in Numbers 24:21 ; Jeremiah 49:16 : Obadiah 1:4 ; and Habakkuk 2:9 . It is also employed by Healed ('Op. et Di.,' 1:301). And I shall multiply my days as the sand. Some translate, "I shall multiply my days as the phoenix," the fabulous bird which was supposed to live for five hundred years (Herod., 2:72), to burn itself on a funeral pile of spices, and then to rise again from its ashes. But the view seems to be a mere rabbinical tradition, and is unsupported by etymology. Khal ( חול ) means "sand" in Genesis 22:17 ; Jeremiah 33:22 ; and elsewhere. It is taken in this sense by Rosenmuller, Schultens, Professor Lee, Canon Cook, and our Revisers. Job 29:18

18. I said—in my heart (Ps 30:6). in—rather, "with my nest"; as the second clause refers to long life. Instead of my family dying before me, as now, I shall live so long as to die with them: proverbial for long life. Job did realize his hope (Job 42:16). However, in the bosom of my family, gives a good sense (Nu 24:21; Ob 4). Use "nest" for a secure dwelling. sand—(Ge 22:17; Hab 1:9). But the Septuagint and Vulgate, and Jewish interpreters, favor the translation, "the phœnix bird." "Nest" in the parallel clause supports the reference to a bird. "Sand" for multitude, applies to men, rather than to years. The myth was, that the phœnix sprang from a nest of myrrh, made by his father before death, and that he then came from Arabia (Job's country) to Heliopolis (the city of the Sun) in Egypt, once in every five hundred years, and there burnt his father [Herodotus, 2:73]. Modern research has shown that this was the Egyptian mode of representing hieroglyphically a particular chronological era or cycle. The death and revival every five hundred years, and the reference to the sun, implies such a grand cycle commencing afresh from the same point in relation to the sun from which the previous one started. Job probably refers to this.

Then I said, i.e. I persuaded myself, being thus strongly fortified with the conscience of my own universal integrity, and with the singular favour of God, and of all men. But although this was sometimes Job’s opinion, yet at other times he was subject to fears, and expectation of changes, as appears from Job 3:25,26 . I shall die in my nest; not a violent or untimely, but a natural, and peaceable, and seasonable death, sweetly expiring in my own bed and habitation, in the midst of my children and friends, leaving the precious perfume of a good name behind me, and a plentiful inheritance to all my posterity. As the sand; which is innumerable. See Genesis 22:17 41:49 .

Then I said - So prosperous was I, and so permanent seemed my sources of happiness. I saw no reason why all this should not continue, and why the same respect and honor should not attend me to the grave. I shall die in my nest - I shall remain where I am, and in my present comforts, while I live. I shall then die surrounded by my family and friends, and encompassed with honors. A "nest" is an image of quietness, harmlessness, and comfort. So Spenser speaks of a nest: Fayre bosome! fraught with virtue's richest tresure, The neast of love, the lodging of delight, The bowre of bliss, the paradise of pleasure. Sonnet LXXVI The image here expresses the firm hope of a long life, and of a peaceful and tranquil death. The Septuagint renders it, "My age shall grow old like the trunk of a palm tree" - στέλεχος φοίνικος stelechos phoinikos - I shall live long; compare Bochart, Hieroz. P. ii. Lib. vi. c. v. p. 820, for the reason of this translation. And I shall multiply my days as the sand - Herder renders this, "the Phoenix;" and observes that the Phoenix is obviously intended here, only through a double sense of the word, the figure of the bird is immediately changed for that of the palm-tree. The rabbis generally understand by the word here rendered "sand" (חול chôl) the Phoenix - a fabulous bird, much celebrated in ancient times.

Osaia in the book "Bereshith Rabba," or Commentary on Genesis, says of this bird, "that all animals obeyed the woman (in eating the forbidden fruit) except one bird only by the name of חול chûl, concerning which it is said in Job, 'I will multiply my days as the כחול kechûl.'" Jannai adds to this, that "this bird lives a thousand years, and in the end of the thousand years, a fire goes forth from its nest, and burns it up, but there remains, as it were, an egg, from which again the members grow, and it rises to life:" compare Nonnus in Dionys. Lib. 40. Martial, Claudian, and others in Bochart, Hieroz. P. ii. Lib. vi. c. v. pp. 818-825. But the more correct rendering is, doubtless, the common one, and it is usual in the Scriptures to denote a great, indefinite number, by the sand; Genesis 22:17; Judges 7:12; Habakkuk 1:9. A comparison similar to this occurs in Ovid, Metam. Lib. xiv. 136ff: - Ego pulveris hausti Ostendens cumulum, quot haberet corpora pulvis, Tot mihi natales contingere vana rogavi. The meaning is, that he supposed his days would be very numerous. Such were his expectations - expectations so soon to be disappointed. Such was his condition - a condition so soon to be reversed.