Job 29 · Verse 18

Job 29:18

Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.

Job 29:18, King James Version

Job 29:18 in other translations

BSB	So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand.
WEB	Then I said, ‘I will die in my own house, I will count my days as the sand.
ASV	Then I said, I shall die in my nest, And I shall multiply my days as the sand:
YLT	And I say, ‘With my nest I expire, And as the sand I multiply days.'
DARBY	And I said, I shall die in my nest, and multiply my days as the sand;
BBE	Then I said, I will come to my end with my children round me, my days will be as the sand in number;
Webster	Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.

What does Job 29:18 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

18. I said--in my heart (Psa 30:6). in--rather, "with my nest"; as the second clause refers to long life. Instead of my family dying before me, as now, I shall live so long as to die with them: proverbial for long life. Job did realize his hope (Job 42:16). However, in the bosom of my family, gives a good sense (Nu 24:21; Ob 4). Use "nest" for a secure dwelling. sand--(Ge 22:17; Ha 1:9). But the Septuagint and Vulgate, and Jewish interpreters, favor the translation, "the phoenix bird." "Nest" in the parallel clause supports the reference to a bird. "Sand" for multitude, applies to men, rather than to years. The myth was, that the phoenix sprang from a nest of myrrh, made by his father before death, and that he then came from Arabia (Job's country) to Heliopolis (the city of the Sun) in Egypt, once in every five hundred years, and there burnt his father [Herodotus, 2:73]. Modern research has shown that this was the Egyptian mode of representing hieroglyphically a particular chronological era or cycle. The death and revival every five hundred years, and the reference to the sun, implies such a grand cycle commencing afresh from the same point in relation to the sun from which the previous one started. Job probably refers to this.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 18 I shall die in my nest - As I endeavored to live soberly and temperately, fearing God, and departing from evil, endeavoring to promote the welfare of all around me, it was natural for me to conclude that I should live long, be very prosperous, and see my posterity multiply as the sands on the seashore.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 29:18-25

Being thus honoured and useful, Job had hoped to die in peace and honour, in a good old age. If such an expectation arise from lively faith in the providence and promise of God, it is well; but if from conceit of our own wisdom, and dependence on changeable, earthly things, it is ill grounded, and turns to sin. Every one that has the spirit of wisdom, has not the spirit of government; but Job had both. Yet he had the tenderness of a comforter. This he thought upon with pleasure, when he was himself a mourner. Our Lord Jesus is a King who hates iniquity, and upon whom the blessing of a world ready to perish comes. To Him let us give ear.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Job 29:18 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וָ֭אֹמַרVa.'o.marand I saidH559

עִם\־'im-withH5973

קִנִּ֣יki.Ninest myH7064

אֶגְוָ֑ע'eg.Va'I will expireH1478

וְ֝כַח֗וֹלve.kha.Choland like <the> sandH2344

אַרְבֶּ֥ה'ar.BehI will increaseH7235

יָמִֽים\׃ya.MimdaysH3117

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Job 29:18

Psalms 30:6-7
And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.
Obadiah 1:4
Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord.
Job 5:26
Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.
Jeremiah 49:16
Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord.
Genesis 32:12
And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
Psalms 91:16
With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
Job 42:16-17
After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations. So Job died, being old and full of days.
Jeremiah 22:23
O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!
Habakkuk 2:9
Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!
Genesis 41:49
And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

I shall die.
Ps 30:6,7; Jer 22:23; 49:16; Ob 1:4; Hab 2:9
multiply.
5:26; 42:16,17; Ps 91:16
as the sand.
Ge 32:12; 41:49

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Job 29:17
And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.
Job 29:18
Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.
Job 29:19
My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch.

Read all of Job 29

Job 29:18 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y decía yo: En mi nido moriré, y como arena multiplicaré días.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et je disais: J’expirerai dans mon nid, et mes jours seront nombreux comme le sable;
German Elberfelder 1871	Und ich sprach: In meinem Neste werde ich verscheiden, und meine Tage vermehren wie der Sand;
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Dicebamque: In nidulo meo moriar, et sicut palma multiplicabo dies.