God’s Word Translation
Job 29:2
2“If only my life could be like it used to be, in the days when God watched over me,
Job 29:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;
- New International Version (NIV)“How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Oh, that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me,
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Oh, that I were as in months past, As in the days when God watched over me;
Context of Job 29:2
1Job continued his poems and said, “If only my life could be like it used to be, in the days when God watched over me, 3when he made his lamp shine on my head, when I walked through the dark in his light. 4If only I were in the prime of my life ⌞again⌟, when God was an adviser in my tent.
Read all of Job 29Job 29:2 word by word
מִֽי־יִתְּנֵ֥נִי כְיַרְחֵי־קֶ֑דֶם כִּ֝ימֵ֗י אֱל֣וֹהַּ יִשְׁמְרֵֽנִי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 29:2
- Job 1:1A man named Job lived in Uz. He was a man of integrity: He was decent, he feared God, and he stayed away from evil.
- Job 7:3Likewise, I have been given months that are of no use, and I have inherited nights filled with misery.
- Job 1:10Haven’t you put a protective fence around him, his home, and everything he has? You have blessed everything he does. His cattle have spread out over the land.
- Psalms 37:28The Lord loves justice, and he will not abandon his godly ones. They will be kept safe forever, but the descendants of wicked people will be cut off.
- Jude 1:1From Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James. To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father, and who are kept safe for Jesus Christ.
Commentaries on Job 29:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2O that I were as in months past - Job seems here to make an apology for his complaints, by taking a view of his former prosperity, which was very great, but was now entirely at an end. He shows that it was not removed because of any bad use he had made of it; and describes how he behaved himself before God and man, and how much, for justice, benevolence, and mercy, he was esteemed and honored by the wise and good. Preserved me - Kept, guarded, and watched…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2Oh that I were - Hebrew “Who will give?” a common mode of expressing a wish; compare Job 6:8; Job 11:5; Job 13:5; Job 23:3. As in months past - O that I could recall my former prosperity, and be as was when I enjoyed the protection and favor of God. Probably one object of this wish was that his friends might see from what a state of honor and happiness he had been brought down. They complained of him as impatient. He may have designed to show them that…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2In other parts of the text, Job uses the Hebrew word shamar to describe what he sees as God's severe surveillance (10:14; 13:27; 14:16). However, here it refers to God's kind care, meaning watched over (Psalm 121:3–8).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. preserved me--from calamity.Read the comment
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 29
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries