Job 1:2

2, 3 And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and servants in great number; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east. It is a large, princely household. The numbers are large, but must not on that account be considered an invention. The four animals named include both kinds. With the doubled אלפי corresponds the also constructive מאות, the Tsere of which is never shortened, though in the singular one says מאת, from מאה. The aorists, especially of the verb היה (הוה), which, according to its root, signifies not so much esse as fieri, existere, are intended to place us at once in the midst of his prosperity. Ex iis, says Leo Africanus in reference to flocks, Arabes suas divitias ac possessiones aestimant. In fine, Job was without his equal among the קרם בני. So the tribes are called which extend from Arabia Deserta, lying to the east of Palestine, northwards to the countries on the Euphrates, and south over Arabia Petraea and Felix. The wisdom of these tribes, treasured up in proverbs, songs, and traditions, is mentioned in Kg1 5:10, side by side with the wisdom of the Egyptians. The writer now takes a very characteristic feature from the life of Job, to show that, even in the height of prosperity, he preserved and manifested the piety affirmed of him.

The history of Job begins here with an account, I. Of his great piety in general (Job 1:1), and in a particular instance (Job 1:5). II. Of his great prosperity (Job 1:2-4). III. Of the malice of Satan against him, and the permission he obtained to try his constancy (Job 1:6-12). IV. Of the surprising troubles that befel him, the ruin of his estate (Job 1:13-17), and the death of his children (Job 1:18, Job 1:19). V. Of his exemplary patience and piety under these troubles (Job 1:20-22). In all this he is set forth for an example of suffering affliction, from which no prosperity can secure us, but through which integrity and uprightness will preserve us.

1:2-3 Job was prosperous in sons, daughters, livestock, and servants (cp. Gen 30:43; Deut 7:13; Ps 107:38). • Numbers such as seven and three (and 7,000 and 3,000) indicate the completeness of the blessing Job experienced (see Job 42:13; see also Pss 127:3-5; 128:3). • the richest person in that entire area: The figures that catalogue Job’s wealth might not be exact, but they are realistic for a wealthy man of that time (cp. Nabal’s wealth, 1 Sam 25:2).