broadness. i.e. (concrete) the ear (from its form in ma… · noun, common feminine singular absolute
heard
שָׁ֭מְעָהSham.'ah
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
blessed
וַֽתְּאַשְּׁרֵ֑נִיva.te.'a.she.Re.ni
H833
to be straight (used in the widest sense · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular + pronominal suffix
eye
וְעַ֥יִןve.'A.yin
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
saw
רָ֝אֲתָ֗הra.'a.Tah
H7200
to see · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
witness
וַתְּעִידֵֽנִיva.te.'i.De.ni
H5749
to duplicate or repeat · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular + pronominal suffix
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Luke 4:22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?
Job 31:20 If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
Proverbs 29:2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.
Luke 11:27 And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb th…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 29:7-17
We have here Job in a post of honour and power. Though he had comfort enough in his own house, yet he did not confine himself to that. We are not born for ourselves, but for the public. When any business was to be done in the gate, the place of judgment, Job went out to it through the city (Job 29:7), 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. Job being a prince, a judge, a magistrate,…
blessed--extolled my virtues (Pro 31:28). Omit "me" after "heard"; whoever heard of me (in general, not in the market place, Job 29:7-10) praised me.
gave witness--to my honorable character. Image from a court of justice (Luk 4:22).
the eye--that is, "face to face"; antithesis to
ear--that is, report of me.
John Gill on Job 29:11
When the ear heard me, then it blessed me,.... The ear of the common people assembled together to hear causes tried, and how they would go; when they heard Job give his opinion in court, or the definitive sentence passed by him as a judge, they all applauded his wisdom and justice; they highly praised and commended him; in which sense the word "blessed" is used, Proverbs 31:28; or they wished a blessing on him; they prayed for his welfare, as it becomes people to do for those that are in authority, especially wise and faithful magistrates; or they accounted him a blessed man, and called him so, Luke 1:48; as he was, both in a temporal sense, being blessed with a great plenty of earthly thing…
11 For an ear heard, and called me happy;
And an eye saw, and bear witness to me:
12 For I rescued the sufferer who cried for help,
And the orphan, and him that had no helper.
13 The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me,
And I made the widow's heart rejoice.
14 I put on justice, and it put me on;
As a robe and turban was my integrity.
Thus imposing was the impression of his personal appearance wherever he appeared; for (כּי explic.) the fulness of the blessing of the possession of power and of prosperity which he enjoyed was so extraordinary, that one had only to hear of it to call him happy, and that, especially if any one saw it with his own eyes, he was obliged to bear la…
The Church Fathers
"The ear that heard me proclaimed me blessed. A people I did not know, served me, listened attentively to my voice. "And the eye that saw me turned away. That of the Jews who did not wish to believe.
In order to explain why they proclaimed him to be blessed, he mentions his good works. "I have saved," he says, "the poor from the hand of the powerful," but it is after attributing to God the merit of protecting and watching him that "he is glorified in the Lord."
The ear hearing me, blessed me; and the eye seeing, gave witness to me. [HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION] Whereas blessed Job avouches himself to be 'blessed by those that heard him,' and to 'have witness given to him by those that saw him,' what he was in speech and what in practice, we have shewn us. For neither is he henceforth perfect in practice, whom wickedness of the tongue still withstands, or praiseworthy in speech who does not exhibit in practice the thing that he utters. Therefore that blessed Job being found out by the reproaches of his own friends, might declare that he had both these, he shews himself to have been an object of veneration both to the persons bearing and the persons seeing him. [ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION] Which if we refer to the voice of Holy Church, that man 'blesses her words,' who completes in practice the things he has heard. That person 'gives testimony to her,' who in patterns of life responds to her by living well. For he in a true sense sees Holy Church, whose life bears witness that he sees her. For to this end the righteousness of the good is seen within her, that all that see her may be corrected of their wickednesses. Not yet, then, does he see the good within the pale of Holy Church, who is not reformed from evil habits.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Beneficence · .Job — .Job
Ear, The · The organ of hearing — The organ of hearing
Poor · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
