Job 29:23

They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Job speaks to his former community during a retrospective monologue, recalling a time when his counsel commanded their undivided attention.

The words — פָּעֲר֥וּ (pa.'a.Ru) = they opened wide; לְ/מַלְקֽוֹשׁ (le./mal.Ko.osh) = for spring rain.

The thread — The rain metaphor appears in Psalms 72:6, Zechariah 10:1, and Hosea 6:3 to describe divine provision and the expectation of God’s presence.

Why it lands — The text states that listeners received his speech with intense anticipation, demanding that readers recognize how authority and truth require a receptive posture to take root.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְיִֽחֲל֣וּve./yi.cha.Luand/ they waited כַמָּטָ֣רkha./ma.Tarlike the/ rainלִ֑יL/ifor/ meוּ֝פִיהֶ֗םu./fi./Hemand/ mouth/ their פָּעֲר֥וּpa.'a.Ruthey opened wide לְמַלְקֽוֹשׁ׃le./mal.Ko.oshfor/ spring rain

King James Version

And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.

Cross-references

Hosea 6:3 So let us know—let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the earth.
Psalms 72:6 May he be like rain that falls on freshly cut grass, like spring showers that water the earth.
Zechariah 10:1 Ask the LORD for rain in springtime; the LORD makes the storm clouds, and He will give everyone showers of rain and crops in the field.