Job 29:18

in my nest i. e. surrounded by those belonging to him; he should die before them, not they before him, and in the midst of his possessions.

my days as the sand Sandis the usual rendering of the word occurring here an image of countless number. Most modern writers translate as the Phœnix, in accordance with Jewish tradition. The Sept. renders as the branch of the palm(φοίνικος). The Heb. word however can hardly have been translated palm, a meaning which does not belong to it, and the present Sept. text may have arisen from a misunderstanding of its original reading, like the Phœnix. The word "nest" in the first clause favours this translation. This bird was fabled to live 500 years, and to consume himself and his nest with fire, only to arise anew to life out of the ashes. Hence the name became a proverb, expressing the highest duration of life, φοίνικος ἔ τη βιο ῦ ν, to live as long as the Phœnix. The fable being current in Egypt the author of the Book might readily become acquainted with it.