a lamp (i.e. the burner) or light (literally or figurat… · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
shined
בְּהִלּ֣וֹbe.hi.Lo
H1984
to be clear (orig. of sound · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
head
רֹאשִׁ֑יro.Shi
H7218
the head (as most easily shaken) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
light
לְ֝אוֹרוֹle.'o.ro
H216
illumination or (concrete) luminary (in every sense · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
walked
יָלַךְyâlak
H3212
to walk (literally or figuratively)
darkness
חֹֽשֶׁךְCho.shekh
H2822
the dark · 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 18:28 For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the l…
Job 18:6 The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him.
John 12:46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
Ephesians 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
Job 11:17 And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.
Job 22:28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.
Psalms 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 29:1-6
Losers may have leave to speak, and there is nothing they speak of more feelingly than of the comforts they are stripped of. Their former prosperity is one of the most pleasing subjects of their thoughts and talk. It was so to Job, who begins here with a wish (Job 29:2): O that I were as in months past! so he brings in this account of his prosperity. His wish is, 1. "O that I were in as good a state as I was in then, that I had as much wealth, honour, and pleasure, as I had then!" This he wishes, from a concern he had, not so much for his ease, as for his reputation and the glory of his God, which he thought were eclipsed by his present sufferings. "O that I might be restored to my prosperit…
candle--when His favor shone on me (see on Job 18:6 and Psa 18:28).
darkness--By His safeguard I passed secure through dangers. Perhaps alluding to the lights carried before caravans in nightly travels through deserts [NOYES].
John Gill on Job 29:3
When his candle shined upon my head,.... Which may be understood either of outward prosperity, sometimes signified by a candle, Job 18:5; and may be called the candle of the Lord, because it is from him, it is of his lighting and setting up; and its shining on his head may denote the large measure and degree of it possessed by him, in allusion to torches carried on high to light with; or lamps, or candles, set up in the higher part of the house to give the more light; or to the sun in the firmament, and especially when in its meridian, and shines clearest right over our heads, and casts no shadow: or else it may be understood of light in a figurative sense, not of the light of nature in men,…
1 Then Job continued to take up his proverb, and said:
2 O that I had months like the times of yore,
Like the days when Eloah protected me,
3 When He, when His lamp, shone above my head,
By His light I went about in the darkness;
4 As I was in the days of my vintage,
When the secret of Eloah was over my tent,
5 When the Almighty was still with me,
My children round about me;
6 When my steps were bathed in cream,
And the rock beside me poured forth streams of oil.
Since the optative מי־יתּן (comp. on Job 23:3) is connected with the acc. of the object desired, Job 14:4; Job 31:31, or of that respecting which anything is desired, Job 11:5, it is in itself possible to explain: who gives (makes)…
The Church Fathers
"When his light shone above my head. It is the Lord visible in his flesh, or his word made sensible by this bodily presence.
As in the days when God preserved me; when His lamp shined upon my head, and when by His light I walked through darkness. For then, persecution forcing thereto, she sees multitudes of the frail fall from her, whom now as a mother she cherishes as her little ones within the bosom of peace, and keeps close within the quiet cradles of faith, seeing that being mixed with the strong they are nurtured by the very tranquillity of the faith. But then many such are destined to fall, and through the bowels of charity, whatever it sustains in the damage of the little ones, the mind of the perfect laments that itself undergoes. For every damage of the weak is by compassion made to pass to the hearts of the strong, Whence it is said by Paul, Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? For a man is perfect in such proportion as he perfectly feels the sorrows of others. Whence Holy Church, being brought to a pass by the weak ones falling at that time, shall say with right, As in the days when God preserved me; because herself she then accounts to fall in those, who now sees herself in these to be kept safe. And it is well said, When His lamp shined upon my head, and when by His light I walked through darkness. For by the term of a 'lamp' the light of Holy Scripture is represented, whereof the Shepherd of the Church himself saith, We have also the word of prophecy more sure; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a lamp that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day-star arise in your hearts. And the Psalmist saith, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Now because our topmost part is the mind, the mind is rightly styled by the designation of 'head.' Whence it is said by the Psalmist, Thou hast anointed my head with oil. As if he said in plain terms, 'Thou hast filled my soul with the fatness of charity.' And so now 'the lamp shines upon the head' of the Church, because the sacred Oracles enlighten the darkness of our minds, that in this darksome place of the present life, whilst we receive the light of the word of God, we should see what things are to be done. Now she 'walks by His light in darkness,' because the Holy Church Universal, though it penetrate not the secrets of another's thought, because as it were it does not know the face in the night, yet it sets the steps of good practice, being governed by…
Dictionary and topics
Candle — Heb. ner, Job 18:6; 29:3; Ps. 18:28; Prov. 24:20, in all which places the Revised Version and margin of Authorized Version have “lamp,” by which the word is elsewhere frequently rendered. The Hebrew…
Lamps · Illumination of the tents of Arab chiefs by, alluded to — Illumination of the tents of Arab chiefs by, alluded 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).
Although elsewhere Job uses the Hebrew shamar to describe what he perceived as God’s oppressive surveillance (10:14; 13:27; 14:16), here it refers to God’s kindly care (“watch(es) over,” Ps 121:3-8).
Rashi on Job 29:3
when He lit His candle [This is] an expression of light and joy.
by His light I would go. In every occasion of darkness and trouble that came to the world, I had light.
