to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
die
אֶגְוָ֑ע'eg.Va'
H1478
to breathe out · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
nest
קִנִּ֣יki.Ni
H7064
a nest (as fixed) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
multiply
אַרְבֶּ֥ה'ar.Beh
H7235
to increase (in whatever respect) · verb, hiphil imperfect, 1st person common singular
days
יָמִֽיםya.Mim
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
sand
וְ֝כַח֗וֹלve.kha.Chol
H2344
sand (as round or whirling particles) · conjunction + preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
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
Psalms 30:6-7 And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.
Genesis 32:12 And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
Job 5:26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.
Job 42:16-17 After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations.
Psalms 91:16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
Jeremiah 49:16 Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height o…
Obadiah 1:4 Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.
Genesis 41:49 And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 29:18–end
That which crowned Job's prosperity was the pleasing prospect he had of the continuance of it. Though he knew, in general, that he was liable to trouble, and therefore was not secure (Job 3:26, I was not in safety, neither had I rest), yet he had no particular occasion for fear, but as much reason as ever any man had to count upon the lengthening out of his tranquility.
I. See here what his thoughts were in his prosperity (Job 29:18): Then I said, I shall die in my nest. Having made himself a warm and easy nest, he hoped nothing would disturb him in it, nor remove him out of it, till death removed him. He knew he had never stolen any coal from the altar which might fire his nest; he saw no s…
I said--in my heart (Psa 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 (Num 24:21; Oba 1:4). Use "nest" for a secure dwelling.
sand-- (Gen 22:17; Hab 1:9). But the Septuagint and Vulgate, and Jewish interpreters, favor the translation, "the phÅ“nix 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 phÅ“nix sprang from a nest of myrrh, made by his father…
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, an…
The Church Fathers
"I will reach old age, and like the palm tree I will live many years. My life will be prolonged, I will always be in honor as the palm tree, justly admired for my righteousness and my elevation.
The words "I shall be perfected like the reeds," that is, I will end my days [by becoming full] of riches, by germinating and growing like the palm tree and the reeds and the [vegetables] planted along the edge of water. Henana says, "As the reeds spring up and reach a great height in a short time, so I shall be completed and perfected."
Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as a palm. What else is set forth in this place by the title of a 'nest,' but the tranquil rest of the faith whereby every infirm soul is nourished? For that multitude of the good, which shall be overtaken by the times of persecution, thought to accomplish the days of its nourishings, as in a nest, so in a place of repose. For except that Holy Church now nourished up the weak children severally in the nest of peace, the Psalmist would not say, Yea, the sparrow hath found her an house, and the turtle a nest where she may lay her young. Since henceforth 'the sparrow hath found her an house,' because our Redeemer has entered into the Eternal dwelling-place of heaven. And 'the turtle hath found a nest,' because Holy Church, influenced by love of the Creator, makes use of frequent sighings, and as it were builds up a 'nest' for herself, i.e. the most peaceful rest of the Faith, wherein her growing children, like callow young, till they fly up to the regions above, she fosters, cherished warm in the bosom of charity. And so because there shall then be those, who thought in the time of peace to take their passage to the regions on high, i.e. to soar away from the nest, their voice is anticipated by the voice of blessed Job, when he says, Then I said, I shall die in my nest. But because this same quietness of peace they promised themselves in a length of many days, he rightly subjoins, saying, And I shall multiply my days as a palm. For the palm advances slowly, but holds on long in greenness. But with many difficulties Holy Church comes to the firm standing of the Faith, and for the gathering together of very many she desires to be set the longer in the glory of that Faith. And so as 'a palm' she thought 'to multiply her days,' who on the crisis of sudden temptation emerging upon her, grieves for the boon of peace at once slowly gotten by the faithful, and quickly intercepted by the unbelievers. Nor is it unfairly that the life of the righteous is likened to a 'palm,' in this respect, that the palm below is rough to be touched, and in a manner enveloped in dry barks, but above it is fair with fruit even to be looked at; below it is compressed by the enfoldings of its barks, above it is spread out in amplitude of beautiful greenness. For so is the life of the Elect, despised below, beautified above.…
Dictionary and topics
Confidence · FALSE — FALSE
Sciences · Arithmetic — Arithmetic
Security · .From the evils of sin; promises peace and a long life — .From the evils of sin; promises peace and a long life
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).
18 Then I thought: With my nest I shall expire,
And like the phoenix, have a long life.
19 My root will be open for water,
And the dew will lodge in my branches.
20 Mine honour will remain ever fresh to me,
And my bow will become young in my hand.
In itself, Job 29:18 might be translated: "and like to the sand I shall live many days" (Targ., Syr., Arab., Saad., Gecat., Luther, and, among moderns, Umbr., Stick., Vaih., Hahn, and others), so that the abundance of days is compared to the multitude of the grains of sand. The calculation of the immense total of grains of sand (atoms) in the world was, as is known, a favourite problem of antiquity; and in the Old Testament Scriptures, the comprehe…
after a long, good life (literally after I have counted my days like sand): Job thought the length of his years would signify God’s blessing, like the great number of Abraham’s offspring (Gen 15:5; 32:12) or the abundance of Joseph’s supplies in Egypt (Gen 41:49).
Rashi on Job 29:18
And I said, I will perish with my nest Because of the propriety of my traits, I would think to myself that when I die, I would have my nest and my house established with me.
and I will multiply days as the phoenix Heb. וכחול. This is a bird named חול, phoenix, upon which the punishment of death was not decreed because it did not taste of the Tree of Knowledge, and at the end of one thousand years, it renews itself and returns to its youth.
