Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;
Parallel translations
- WEB “Oh that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me;
- BSB “How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,
- NKJV “Oh, that I were as in months past, As in the days when God watched over me;
- NASB “Oh that I were as in months gone by, As in the days when God watched over me;
- NLT “I long for the years gone by when God took care of me,
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 yearns for the past months when God watched over and preserved him.
Overview
Job opens his reminiscence with a heartfelt wish to return to the time when he enjoyed God's protective care. His deepest loss is not wealth or health but the sense of God's nearness. This longing for restored fellowship with God expresses a hunger the gospel ultimately satisfies, reconciling sinners to God through Christ (Romans 5:1-2).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Job 1:1–5There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
- Jer 31:28And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD.
- Job 1:10Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
- Jude 1:1Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:
- Job 7:3So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.
- Ps 37:28For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
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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 29:2 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
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