when my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
English Standard Version (ESV)
Job isn't literally washing his feet in dairy products; he's using vivid hyperbole to express astonishing abundance, suggesting his prosperity was so immense that even the ground he walked on seemed to overflow with richness, a stark contrast to his current desolation. The mention of the "rock" pouring out oil points to how even seemingly barren places yielded incredible wealth for him, implying that his success wasn't just from fertile land, but from a divinely-favored overflow.
when my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
English Standard Version (ESV)
Job is reminiscing about his former prosperity and honor, contrasting it with his current suffering. He paints a vivid picture of overflowing abundance, where every aspect of his life was blessed with extreme wealth and comfort. This was a time before his troubles, when he felt God's favor and walked in a state of immense material and spiritual well-being.
Job describes his past life with images of things flowing so freely they 'washed his steps.' What does this incredible imagery tell us about his former prosperity?
In Job 29:6, Job uses hyperbole—exaggerated language—to paint a picture of extreme abundance.
Overflowing Resources
The phrases 'washed my steps with butter' and 'the rock poured out rivers of oil' aren't meant literally. Imagine milk so plentiful that it pooled around your feet, or olive trees on rocky hillsides producing oil in such torrents that it seemed to gush from the very stones!
This wasn't just about having enough; it was about having more than enough in every aspect of life. His wealth, his land, his herds—everything produced a surplus.
A Symbol of Favor
This overflowing abundance was a sign of God's favor and blessing in Job's life at that time. It spoke of a life where resources were not a struggle, but a constant, abundant gift.
Job doesn't just mention abundance; he specifies 'butter' and 'oil.' Why these particular symbols, and what depth do they add to his memory?
The specific items Job mentions—butter (or cream/curdled milk) and oil—were highly prized commodities in the ancient Near East.
Dairy Abundance
'Butter' here likely refers to fresh milk, cream, or curdled milk. The sheer quantity of milk produced by Job's vast herds meant that dairy products were incredibly plentiful. The idea of his 'steps' being washed in it emphasizes how commonplace and abundant these riches were.
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Olive Oil's Value
Oil, especially olive oil, was essential. It was used for cooking, for lighting lamps, for medicine, and for anointing the body in rituals and daily life. 'Rivers of oil' from the 'rock' (likely referring to olive groves on stony hillsides, which yielded the best fruit) signifies immense wealth and comfort.
Symbols of Comfort and Life
Together, these images represent a life of deep comfort, sustenance, and even luxury. Job is recalling a time when the very elements of the land seemed to conspire to provide him with everything he needed and more.
Understand the original words
chemah · Hebrew Noun
A general symbol of prosperity, abundance, and the rich blessing of God upon one's life and land. It reflects a state of fertility and divine favor.
shemen · Hebrew Noun
Refers to olive oil, which in biblical imagery symbolizes joy, favor, anointing, and divine blessing. Its presence signifies extreme abundance and God's provision in typically barren places.
Job's vivid description of his past wealth uses hyperbole rooted in the realities of a prosperous agrarian and pastoral society in the Ancient Near East, where abundant milk and olive oil were markers of extreme affluence.
c. 2100 BC
Rise of Mesopotamian City-States
Early civilizations in Mesopotamia developed complex economies and social structures, laying the groundwork for the kinds of agricultural wealth and land ownership that likely characterized Job's life.
c. 2000-1800 BC
Abrahamic Period in Canaan
The patriarchal period, when figures like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived in Canaan, saw nomadic and settled pastoralists with significant herds and agricultural potential, similar to the abundance described by Job.
c. 1500 BC— this verse
Bronze Age Prosperity
This era saw flourishing trade and agricultural output in the Ancient Near East, where regions like Canaan and surrounding areas could support a high level of wealth, with abundant dairy and olive oil production.
c. 1300-1100 BC
Late Bronze Age Collapse
Widespread societal disruption across the Mediterranean and Near East, potentially impacting trade routes and local economies, a backdrop against which Job's later reversals would be understood.
This passage similarly uses hyperbole to describe God's abundant provision, stating He made Israel 'suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock,' echoing Job's imagery of nature yielding rich blessings.
Psalm 81:16This verse speaks of God providing 'honey from the rock' and 'oil from the flinty crag,' reinforcing the idea that divine blessing could cause even the most unyielding elements of the earth to produce abundantly, mirroring Job's experience.
Job 20:17This verse contrasts Job's former abundance with the wicked's poverty, mentioning that they 'shall not see the rivers, the streams of the river of oil and yogurt,' providing a thematic contrast to Job's description of his own overflowing blessings.
Song of Solomon 4:11While not about literal abundance, this verse describes the lover's lips dripping 'honey and milk,' using rich, dairy-like imagery to convey delight and preciousness, which can be seen as a less hyperbolic, yet conceptually similar, expression of desirable richness.
clarkeJob 29:6: "When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;"
Job 29:6Washed my steps with butter - See the note on Job 20:17.
gillJob 29:6: "When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;"
When I washed my steps with butter,.... Not the steps of his house or palace; for to have done this, or his servants by his orders, as it would have been a very great impropriety, so a piece of great prodigality, which Job could never have been guilty of; but either his footsteps, the prints of his feet; and the sense be, that his cattle produced such a vast quantity of milk, that when his servants brought…
Job isn't literally washing his feet in dairy products; he's using vivid hyperbole to express astonishing abundance, suggesting his prosperity was so immense that even the ground he walked on seemed to overflow with richness, a stark contrast to his current desolation. The mention of the "rock" pouring out oil points to how even seemingly barren places yielded incredible wealth for him, implying that his success wasn't just from fertile land, but from a divinely-favored overflow.
Job is reminiscing about his former prosperity and honor, contrasting it with his current suffering. He paints a vivid picture of overflowing abundance, where every aspect of his life was blessed with extreme wealth and comfort. This was a time before his troubles, when he felt God's favor and walked in a state of immense material and spiritual well-being.
Job is reminiscing about his former prosperity and honor, contrasting it with his current suffering. He paints a vivid picture of overflowing abundance, where every aspect of his life was blessed with extreme wealth and comfort. This was a time before his troubles, when he felt God's favor and walked in a state of immense material and spiritual well-being.
"when my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!" — Job isn't literally washing his feet in dairy products; he's using vivid hyperbole to express astonishing abundance, suggesting his prosperity was so immense that even the ground he walked on seemed…
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Last reviewed October 2026