When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness;

When his lamp shined upon my head, And by his light I walked through darkness;

In His causing His lamp to shine on my head, By His light I walk through darkness.

When his light was shining over my head, and when I went through the dark by his light.

When His lamp shined above my head, And by His light I walked through darkness;

At that time, his lamp shined over my head, and by his light, I walked through the darkness.

When his candle shined upon my head - Margin, or, "lamp;" compare notes Job 18:6. It was remarked in the note on that place, that it was common to have lamps or lights always burning in a house or tent. When Job speaks of the lamps shining "on his head," the allusion is probably to the custom of suspending a lamp from the ceiling - a custom which prevails among the wealthy Arabs. "Scott." Virgil speaks of a similar thing in the palace of Dido:
- Dependent lychni laquearibus aureis Incensi.
Aeneid i. 726.
"From gilded roofs depending lamps display
Nocturnal beams that imitate the day."
Dryden
See, also Lucretius, ii. 24. Indeed the custom is common everywhere and the image is a beautiful illustration of the divine favor - of light and happiness imparted by God, the great source of blessedness from above. The Hebrew word rendered "shined" בהלו behilô) has been the occasion of some perplexity in regard to its form. According to Ewald, Hebrew Gram. p. 471, and Gesenius, Lex, it is the Hiphil form of הלל hâlal - to shine, the He preformative being dropped. The sense is, "In his causing the light to shine." Others suppose that it is the infinitive of the Qal, with a pleonastic suffix; meaning "when it shined;" that is, the light. The sense is essentially the same; compare Schultens and Rosenmuller in loc.
And when by his light - Under his guidance and direction.
I walked through darkness - "Here is reference probably to the fires or other lights which were carried before the caravans in their nightly travels through the deserts." "Noyes." The meaning is, that God afforded him protection, instruction, and guidance. In places, and on subjects that would have been otherwise dark, he counselled and led him. He enjoyed the manifestations' of the divine favor; his understanding was enlightened, and he was enabled to comprehend subjects that would have been otherwise perplexing and difficult. He refers, probably, to the inquiries about the divine government and administration, and to the questions that came before him as a magistrate or an umpire - questions that he was enabled to determine with wisdom.

When his candle shined upon my head - Alluding most probably to the custom of illuminating festival or assembly rooms by lamps pendant from the ceiling. These shone literally on the heads of the guests.
By his light I walked through darkness - His light - prosperity and peace - continued to illuminate my way. If adversity came, I had always the light of God to direct me. Almost all the nations of the world have represented their great men as having a nimbus or Divine glory about their heads, which not only signified the honor they had, but was also an emblem of the inspiration of the Almighty.

When his (a) candle shined upon my head, [and when] by his light I walked [through] (b) darkness;
(a) When I felt his favour.
(b) I was free from affliction.

When his candle shined upon my head,.... Which may be understood either of outward prosperity, sometimes signified by a candle, Job 18:5; and may be called the candle of the Lord, because it is from him, it is of his lighting and setting up; and its shining on his head may denote the large measure and degree of it possessed by him, in allusion to torches carried on high to light with; or lamps, or candles, set up in the higher part of the house to give the more light; or to the sun in the firmament, and especially when in its meridian, and shines clearest right over our heads, and casts no shadow: or else it may be understood of light in a figurative sense, not of the light of nature in men, which, though called the candle of the Lord, Proverbs 20:27; yet, in man's fallen state, shines not clearly; and with respect to this there was no difference in Job than heretofore; but rather it is the light of grace, the true light, which had shone upon him and in him, but now not so clearly as formerly, and as he could wish for; or else the word of God, which is a light unto the feet, and a lamp to the path; or it may be, best of all, the favour of God, the light of his countenance he had before enjoyed, having had a comfortable display of his love, a clear view of interest in it, and had the blessings of it bestowed upon him, and enjoyed by him; and nothing was more desirable by him, as is by every good man, than the return of the light of God's countenance; and that he might be remembered with his special favour, as his people are, and as he had been in times past:
and when by his light I walked through darkness; that is, either by the light of outward prosperity he had escaped those calamities, distresses, and dangers, and got over those difficulties which attended others, though now surrounded with them; or by the light of divine grace, or of the word of God, and especially by and in the light of God's countenance, he walked cheerfully and comfortably, without any fear of the darkness of affliction and calamities, or of the dark valley of the shadow of death, or of the prince of darkness, or of the darkness of hell and damnation; but now clouds of darkness being about him, and he without the light of God's countenance, could not see the way in which he walked and therefore wished that that again might be lifted up upon him.

candle--when His favor shone on me (see on Job 18:6 and Psalm 18:28).
darkness--By His safeguard I passed secure through dangers. Perhaps alluding to the lights carried before caravans in nightly travels through deserts [NOYES].

Darkness - I passed safely through many difficulties, and dangers, and common calamities.