They waited for me as for the rain. Their mouths drank as with the spring rain.
Parallel translations
- KJV And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.
- BSB They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers.
- NKJV They waited for me as for the rain, And they opened their mouth wide as for the spring rain.
- NASB “They waited for me as for the rain, And opened their mouths as for the late rain.
- NLT They longed for me to speak as people long for rain. They drank my words like a refreshing spring rain.
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
People waited for Job's words as for life-giving rain and drank them in eagerly.
Overview
Using the imagery of the longed-for spring rains, Job conveys how thirstily his hearers received his counsel. His words brought refreshment and life to the community. The picture recalls how God's own word is like rain that waters the earth (Isaiah 55:10-11), a blessing Job once mediated to those around him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Hos 6:3Let us acknowledge Yahweh. Let us press on to know Yahweh. As surely as the sun rises, Yahweh will appear. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain that waters the earth.”
- Zech 10:1Ask of Yahweh rain in the spring time, Yahweh who makes storm clouds, and he gives rain showers to everyone for the plants in the field.
- Ps 72:6He will come down like rain on the mown grass, as showers that water the earth.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 29:23 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.