Job 1:3

His substance also was seven thousand sheep,.... For which he must have a large pasturage to feed them on, as well as these would produce much wool for clothing, and flesh for food; this part of his

His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

Camels in these parts were very numerous, as is manifest from , and from the plain testimonies of Aristotle and Pliny, and very useful, and proper both for carrying of burdens in these hot and dry countries, as being able to endure thirst much better than other creatures, and for service in war. She-asses were preferred before he-asses, as serving for the same uses as they did, and for breeding and milk also; but he-asses also may be included in this expression, which is of the feminine gender, because the greatest part of them (from which the denomination is usually taken) were she-asses. The greatest, i.e. one of the richest. Of all the men of the east, to wit, that lived in those parts; such general expressions being commonly understood with such limitations.

Job 1:3 His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.Ver. 3. His substance also] Heb. His possession or acquisition, that stock and store which he had gotten, and was rightly possessed of, consisting very much in cattle, great and small ( Possessio maxime pecuaria. Nomen dictum est ab acquirendo, Merc.), his possessions were mostly in sheep. His name was said from acquiring. for money in was not then in so great request as now, when it is become the monarch, and bears the mastery, Regina pecunia, Queen of money, as he saith; In precio precium nunc est, saith another. We read not of Job’ s gold, silver, tapestry, rich furniture (saith Origen), and other accoutrements, now much used and valued, but not so of old. Heretofore in this island of ours (saith Hollingshed) in a good farmer’ s house it was rare to find four pieces of pewter; and it was accounted a great matter that a farmer could show five shillings or a noble together in silver; and if the goodman of the house had a mattress or flock bed, and a sack of chaff to rest his head on, he thought himself as well lodged as the lord of the town, &c. Hollingshed further saith, that some old men he knew who told of such times in England, no longer ago. Was seven thousand sheep] He had most of that most profitable creature, good both ad esum and ad usum; for eating and using; therefore also in sacrifices was no creature so frequently offered. And three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen] sc. To carry his servants and his baggage, to export and import commodities; for Nec vero terrae ferre omnes omnia possunt. And truly, the lands are not able to bear all his possessions. And five hundred she asses] To plough his ground with, for great men were anciently much addicted to husbandry (as Uzziah, 2 Chronicles 26:10), which Socrates called Amaltheae cornu, the horn of plenty; and the Romans reckoned, that grain was with them never so cheap as when men were fetched from the plough tail to govern the Commonwealth, quasi gauderet terra laureato vomere, et aratro triumphali (Plin.). But now the case is otherwise, as Beza upon this text complaineth; that husbandry and shepherdy are left for the basest and simplest men, and for such as all others might prey upon. And this bringeth into my mind, saith he, that which once I saw painted in a table, where the nobleman had this posy, By my sword I defend you all; the clergyman, By my prayers I preserve you all; the countryman, I feed you all, lastly, the lawyer, I devour you all.

(3) The men of the east.—This term is indefinite with regard to the three districts above mentioned, and might include them all. The Arabs still call the Hauran, or the district east of Jordan, the land of Job. It is said to be a lovely and fertile region, fulfilling the conditions of the poem.

Verse 3. His substance also was seven thousand sheep] A thousand, says the Chaldee, for each of his sons. Three thousand camels: a thousand for each of his daughters. Five hundred yoke of oxen for himself. And five hundred she-asses for his wife. Thus the Targum divides the substance of this eminent man. A very great household] עבדה רבה מאד abuddah rabbah meod, "a very great estate.' The word עבדה abuddah refers chiefly to husbandry, including all manner of labour in the field, with cattle, and every description of servants. The greatest of all the men of the East.] He was more eminent than any other person in that region in wisdom, wealth, and piety. He was the chief emir of that district.

2, 3. Job’s family and wealth. A first principle in the Oriental Wisdom, which corresponds in part to our Ethics, was, that it is well with the righteous and ill with the wicked, Isaiah 3:10-11. This principle is set at the head of the Psalter in Psalms 1, and is reiterated in many shapes as an unalterable law in the Book of Proverbs. According to this principle Job and all acquainted with him would see his piety reflected in his worldly prosperity, and regard this as God’s blessing upon him on account of it. It is not the intention of the writer of the Book to break with this principle absolutely. On the contrary when he lets Job at the end of his trials be restored to a prosperity double that which he enjoyed before, he gives in his adhesion to the principle in general. If he had not done so his position would have been more false than that of Job’s friends, who asserted that the principle prevailed in the world without exceptions. The Author’s design goes no further than to teach that the principle is subject to great modifications, and that sufferings may arise from causes more general than any connected with the sufferer’s own life. His object, however, in teaching this doctrine cannot have been the limited one of correcting a false theory of Providence, he must have had before him the wider purpose of sustaining individuals or most probably his nation under severe and inexplicable trials and encouraging them with brilliant hopes of the future. The round Numbers 7, 3, 5, by which Job’s children and his flocks are described, express, according to the ideas connected with such numbers in the East, their perfection and complete sufficiency. They teach at the same time that what we have before us here is not actual history, but history idealized by the Poet and Teacher, that he may convey by it more vividly the moral lessons which he desires to inculcate. Job’s sons were seven and his daughters three, for sons were more esteemed in the East than daughters, partly for reasons connected with the state of society, one of which is alluded to in the Psalm: “They shall not be ashamed, they shall speak with the enemies in the gate,” Psalms 127:5. Mohammed expresses the feelings of the Arabs when he says: For when any one of them is informed of the birth of a daughter a black shadow falls upon his face and he is wroth, and with-draweth himself from men because of the evil tidings, uncertain whether he shall keep it with disgrace or bury it (alive) in the dust, Kor. 16:60; and even the modern Jew in his prayers gives thanks in this way: Blessed art thou, O king of the universe, who hast not made me a woman. As a great Eastern Emeer, Job was rich in camels. These were used for riding when the journey was long, and for transporting produce and merchandise to the distant cities.

His substance - Margin, or “cattle.” The word used here מקנה mı̂qneh is derived from קנה qânâh, to gain or acquire, to buy or purchase, and properly means anything acquired or purchased - property, possessions, riches.

3. The close and tender relationship of God, as Jehovah, to Israel, will help us to a proper conception of the word.