When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square,
Parallel translations
- WEB when I went out to the city gate, when I prepared my seat in the street.
- KJV When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!
- NKJV “When I went out to the gate by the city, When I took my seat in the open square,
- NASB “When I went out to the gate of the city, When I took my seat in the public square,
- NLT “Those were the days when I went to the city gate and took my place among the honored leaders.
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 recalls his honored place at the city gate, where civic affairs were conducted.
Overview
The city gate was the center of public life, where elders judged disputes and made decisions. Job's taking his seat there shows he was a respected leader and judge among his people. This memory of public honor contrasts sharply with his present rejection, underscoring how thoroughly suffering had stripped away his former standing.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Deut 16:18You are to appoint judges and officials for your tribes in every town that the LORD your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.
- Ruth 4:1–2Meanwhile, Boaz went to the gate and sat down there. Soon the kinsman-redeemer of whom he had spoken came along, and Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.
- Zech 8:16These are the things you must do: Speak truth to one another, render true and sound judgments in your gates,
- Ruth 4:11“We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the people at the gate. “May the LORD make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you be prosperous in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem.
- Job 31:21if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless because I saw that I had support in the gate,
- Deut 21:19his father and mother are to lay hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown,
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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 29:7 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.