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 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and…
Jeremiah 17:8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her…
Job 18:16 His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off.
Hosea 14:5-7 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
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…
Literally, "opened to the waters." Opposed to Job 18:16. Vigorous health.
John Gill on Job 29:19
My root was spread out by the waters,.... According to our version and others, Job here, and in the following verses, gives the reasons of his hope and confidence of his long life, and quiet and comfortable death amidst all his prosperity and happiness; which were founded upon his flourishing circumstances, and the great respect that was shown him among men; and this is the sense, if we read the words in the past tense, as we and many others do; or in the present tense, "my root is spread", &c. as others; but there are some interpreters, both Jewish and Christian (b), that render them in the future tense, here and to the end of the chapter; and so they are a continuation of Job's hope and tr…
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…
The Church Fathers
"And the dew will rest on my harvests. We call harvest what believes in one. field since it is sown.
My root is opened beside the waters. And the dew shall stay on my harvest. For 'by the waters the root is opened,' when, for receiving the streams of truth, secretly the thought of the mind is spread out. For as we have already said in a former book, in Holy Writ by the term of 'the root' the hidden thought is used to be denoted. Therefore 'our root we open by the waters,' when to the Interior watering we stretch the thought of the secret heart. Which same words if we carry on to the voice of Holy Church, her 'root' must be taken for the very Incarnation of our Redeemer itself. Which 'root is opened by the waters,' in that God Invisible by the assumption of His Manhood was laid open to the regardings of our sight. Since the Creator, Who was not able to be seen in the Godhead, took to Him from us that whereby He might by us be seen. So 'the root is opened by the waters,' because the Author of the human race by means of His human nature is manifested to human beings. Whence also it is rightly said by the Psalmist, And he shall be like a tree that is planted beside the runnings of waters. For 'the runnings of waters' are the daily passings by of peoples dying off. And Truth saith concerning Itself, If they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? And so there 'is a tree beside the runnings of waters,' because, whilst putting forth fruit and the covering of His shade for us, the Creator appeared in the flesh, that by a rising again He might stay the human race, which by a falling off was day by day going on into death. And the dew shall stay on my harvest. Understand, I said. For the harvest of Holy Church is not inappropriately taken to be, when perfect souls withdrawn from their bodies, like ripe crops cut away from the ground, are transported into the heavenly granaries; which same because it takes place not by our own power, but by heavenly grace vouchsafing it, he saith well, And the dew shall stay on my harvest. For the dew falls from above, but the harvest is gathered in from below. And so 'the dew stays on the harvest,' because grace coming from above causes it, that we should be meet persons to be gathered in from the world below. For by that same grace watering us from above, we bear the fruit of good practice. Whence also it is rightly said by Paul, But by the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace, which was bestowed…
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
Agriculture — Tilling the ground (Gen. 2:15; 4:2, 3, 12) and rearing cattle were the chief employments in ancient times. The Egyptians excelled in agriculture. And after the Israelites entered into the possession…
Dew — “There is no dew properly so called in Palestine, for there is no moisture in the hot summer air to be chilled into dew-drops by the coldness of the night. From May till October rain is unknown, the…
Dew · In the night — In the night
Night · Frequently: Accompanied by heavy dew — Frequently: Accompanied by heavy dew
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).
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 29:19
My root will be open etc. All this I was saying to myself, that my root would not dry up, and my branches would not die, like (above 14:9), “and it will produce a branch (קציר).” They are יונקות, tender branches of a tree.
