My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.
Parallel translations
- WEB My root is spread out to the waters. The dew lies all night on my branch.
- KJV My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch.
- NKJV My root is spread out to the waters, And the dew lies all night on my branch.
- NASB ‘My root is spread out to the waters, And dew lies on my branch all night.
- NLT For I am like a tree whose roots reach the water, whose branches are refreshed with the dew.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Job had pictured himself like a well-watered tree, roots reaching water and dew on his branches.
Overview
Using imagery of a flourishing tree, Job expresses his former confidence in continued vitality and blessing. The well-rooted, dew-fresh tree symbolizes lasting prosperity and life. This echoes the blessed man of Psalm 1, planted by streams of water, a flourishing that is ultimately secure only for those rooted in God (Jeremiah 17:7-8).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Jer 17:8He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor does it cease to produce fruit.
- Ps 1:3He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.
- Job 18:16The roots beneath him dry up, and the branches above him wither away.
- Hos 14:5–7I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 29:19 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.