Outline of Chapter 1:

Introduction

         vv.     1–5           The Blessed Life of Job

         vv.     6–12         The Great Angelic Convocation and the Challenge of Satan

         vv.    13–19         Satan’s Destruction of Job’s Wealth and Family

         vv.    20–22         Job’s Reaction to the Decimation of His Life

Addendum

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines:

         Introduction         The Principals of Job 1

         Introduction         The Prequel of Job 1

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Job 1

         Introduction         Problems with and Questions about the Book of Job

         v.       1              Israel and Surrounding Area (map)

         v.       1              Opinions as to the Location of Uz

         v.       1              People Named “Uz” in the Bible

         v.       1              The Doctrine of Tâm

         v.       1              The Doctrine of Yâshar

         v.       1              The Doctrine of Evil

         v.       1              Todd Kennedy’s Doctrine of Evil

         v.       2              Timeline: From Noah to Isaac (chart)

         v.       3              The Doctrine of Mîq^eneh (מִקְנֶה) [pronounced mik-NEH]

         v.       3              An Estimation of Job’s Net Worth (2013)

         v.       3              McEwan’s Doctrine of Wealth

         v.       3              Wealthy Men in the Bible

         v.       5              Possible reasons why most translators render bârak^e to mean curse

         v.       6              The Use of Sâţân in Scripture

         v.       6              The American English Bible on the Names and Designations Satan

         v.       6              The Angelic Conflict

         v.       6              Links to the Doctrine of the Angelic Conflict

         v.       8              Guzik: “What Does Satan Consider Regarding the Saints of God?”

         v.       8              Links to the Doctrine of Evil

         v.       9              Fear of the Lord (in the Old Testament)

         v.       9              Reasons the New Testament Believer Needs to Know the Old Testament

         v.       9              Scientific Principles Found in the Bible

         v.      10              God’s Provision for the Believer

         v.      10              The Protection and Blessing Psalm—Psalm 34

         v.      10              Verses on the Protection of God

         v.      12              Why God Responds to Satan’s Objection

         v.      15              Who is Sh^ebâʾ?

         v.      15              T. G. Pinches on the Sabaeans

         v.      15              Will we as believers be tested like Job was?

         v.      15              The Devil’s World

         v.      17              The Dubious Origins of the Chaldeans

         v.      19              Is Such Suffering Reasonable in Order to Prove a Point?

         v.      21              The Bible does not teach reincarnation

         v.      21              Do not depend upon wealth during times of tragedy

         Addendum          What We Learn from Job 1

         Addendum          Edersheim Summarizes the Book of Job

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of Job 1

         Addendum          Job 1 as a Chiasmos

         Addendum          Job 1 as a Chiasmos by L. J. Hooge

——————————

An Introduction to Job 1

I ntroduction: Job chapters 1 and 2 are the prelude to the book of Job. Most of Job is a conversation between Job and three of his acquaintances. However, quite interesting and often overlooked theologically, is the throne room scene where Satan speaks to God. One of the most valuable points taught in the book of Job is that access to the third heaven by Satan and this interaction between God and Satan. R. B. Thieme, Jr. has taught for a long time that Satan means attorney and that the reason Satan is not in the Lake of Fire is that the charges which were brought against him are on appeal. What is occurring on earth is a result of that trial. This may all seem fanciful to you at first, but the scene portrayed in Job 1 indicates that this is the case.

One of the interesting things about the style of Job is that it begins in prose, but with poetic overtones (there is a great deal of phrase repetition in this first chapter). Then, when Job begins to speak with his old acquaintances, the text changes to poetry. One of the things which I noticed almost immediately from this first chapter is that difference in the vocabulary of this book as opposed to the vocabulary found in, say, Deuteronomy. Moses occasionally uses words found nowhere else in the Bible, and often uses words found in one or two other places in the Bible. The author of Job has a more limited vocabulary, using the same verbs and nouns several times throughout even just the first chapter. Furthermore, we will find that there are words used more times in the book of Job than will be used in the remainder of the Old Testament.

Job 1 begins with the sort of life that Job has—actually, it centers more on his children, and Job apparently has great children who enjoy getting together and enjoy one another’s company. Then suddenly, the scene changes, and we go to the 3^rd heaven with God, and the sons of God (angels) are congregating and the adversary (= Satan) comes before God, as if arguing a case.

God asks Satan if he has observed Job, and Satan has, and Satan asks God, “Do you think Job serves you for nothing? You protect all that he has. Let me take it from him and he will curse You to Your face.” And God allows Satan to remove from Job his children and his wealth, yet Job does not curse God.

A few last comments: first, it is quite surprising as to how many books and commentaries about Job are available. I am finding more lengthy commentaries from traditional exegetes for Job than I did for Genesis. However, so far, none of them seem to be concerned with some of the most fundamental questions or fully understand the proper interpretation of Job.

There are some who suggest that the book of Job is allegorical. There is nothing in the presentation of this narrative to suggest that is true. And, if allegorical, then what was the point? That no one is really as faithful as Job is, so the author had to make someone up? What sense does that make?

As an aside, I also believe that the book of Job was used as a primer for young children. They learned and memorized this book, chapter by chapter, and, by the age of 13, let’s say, they knew they entire book by heart.

——————————

The Blessed Life of Job

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:                       Note: I compare the Hebrew text to English translations of the Latin, Syriac and Greek texts, using the Douay-Rheims translation ; George Lamsa’s translation, and Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton’s translation as revised and edited by Paul W. Esposito, respectively. I often update these texts with non-substantive changes (e.g., you for thou, etc.). I often use the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible instead of Brenton’s translation, because it updates the English text.

The Septuagint was the earliest known translation of a book (circa 200 b.c.). Since this translation was made before the textual criticism had been developed into a science and because different books appear to be translated by different men, the Greek translation can sometimes be very uneven.

When there are serious disparities between my translation and Brenton’s (or the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible), I look at the Greek text of the Septuagint (the LXX) to see if a substantive difference actually exists (and I reflect these changes in the English rendering of the Greek text). I use the Greek LXX with Strong’s numbers and morphology available for e-sword. The only problem with this resource (which is a problem for similar resources) is, there is no way to further explore Greek verbs which are not found in the New Testament. Although I usually quote the Complete Apostles’ Bible here, I have begun to make changes in the translation when their translation conflicts with the Greek and note what those changes are.

The Masoretic text is the Hebrew text with all of the vowels (vowel points) inserted (the original Hebrew text lacked vowels). We take the Masoretic text to be the text closest to the original. However, differences between the Masoretic text and the Greek, Latin and Syriac are worth noting and, once in a great while, represent a more accurate text possessed by those other ancient translators.

In general, the Latin text is an outstanding translation from the Hebrew text into Latin and very trustworthy (I say this as a non-Catholic). Unfortunately, I do not read Latin—apart from some very obvious words—so I am dependent upon the English translation of the Latin (principally, the Douay-Rheims translation).

Underlined words indicate differences in the text.

Bracketed portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls are words, letters and phrases lost in the scroll due to various types of damage. Underlined words or phrases are those in the Dead Sea Scrolls but not in the Masoretic text.

Ancient texts:

Latin Vulgate                          There was a man in the land of Hus, whose name was Job, and that man was simple and upright, and fearing God, and avoiding evil.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        A man was in a land of Uz—Job his name—and was the man the that blameless and upright, and a fearing of Elohim and a departing from evil.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    THERE was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was innocent and upright, and one who revered God and turned away from evil.

Charles Thomson (Greek)     There was man in the country of Ausitis whose name was Job. He was a man of truth and integrity, just, pious, and who abstained from every thing that was evil.

Septuagint (Greek)                There was a certain man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was true, blameless, righteous, and godly, abstaining from everything evil.

Brenton’s Septuagint             There was a certain man in the land of Ausis, whose name was Job; and than man was true, blameless, righteous, and godly, abstaining from everything evil.

Significant differences:           There are differences in the name of the city in which Job lives in the Greek. I don’t understand where the Complete Apostles’ Bible got their translation, but Thomson has Ausitis instead.

The Greek adds in an extra word, truth. The words pious or godly found in the English translations from the Greek mean reverence toward God.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           Job's piety and life of bliss

A man in the land of Uz was named Job. That man was honest, a person of absolute integrity; he feared God and avoided evil.

Contemporary English V.       Many years ago, a man named Job lived in the land of Uz. He was a truly good person, who respected God and refused to do evil.

Easy English                          A good man called Job

A man called Job lived in a country called Uz. This man was good and honest. Job respected God. And Job refused to do evil deeds.

Good News Bible (TEV)         There was a man named Job, living in the land of Uz, who worshiped God and was faithful to him. He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil.

The Message                         Job was a man who lived in Uz. He was honest inside and out, a man of his word, who was totally devoted to God and hated evil with a passion.

New Berkeley Version           There was a man in the land of Uz [Uz was located probably between the Euphrates and Damascus, exposed to the distant Sabeans and the Chaldeans.], whose name was Job, a man of integrity, and upright [Ezekiel mentions Job as a man of unusual piety, Ezek. 14:14, 20. The book is anonymous.], one who revered God and turned away from evil.

New Century Version             Job, the Good Man

A man named Job lived in the land of Uz. He was an honest and innocent man; he honored God and stayed away from evil.

New Life Bible                        There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was without blame. He was right and good, he feared God, and turned away from sin.

New Living Translation           Prologue

There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless-a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil.

The Voice                               Once there was a man from Uz by the name of Job. He was a very good man-his character spotless, his integrity unquestioned. In fact, he so believed in God that he sought to honor Him in all things.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          There was a certain man named Job who lived in the land of the AuSitidi. He was true, blameless, righteous, God fearing, and he distanced himself from all that was wicked. [Job is] A song or poem, likely recorded by Moses sometime after 1550-B.C.E. Although the identity of Job is unsure (see the link to Job below), history suggests that he lived sometime between 2140-B.C.E. and 1980-B.C.E.

Beck’s American Translation There was in the land of Uz, a man by the name of Job and that man was blameless. He lived right, faered God, and kept away from evil.

Christian Community Bible     THE TRADITIONAL FIGURE OF JOB

Job, a blameless and upright man who feared God and shunned evil, once lived in the land of Uz. Job lives in a foreign pagan land (Uz would be in the southern part of Palestine) in ancient times. His position is enviable: he is a leader of nomads, somewhat like Abraham, and lacks nothing. Yet he is only a pawn in world politics, or better, in heavenly politics. God holds a council with the heavenly beings, namely, the angels, and looks at things which escape Job. In this case, God is challenged by Satan, the enemy, the spirit who promotes evil, and, in spite of himself, God has to test Job in order to defend his own honor.

And so, from the very start, humans are put in their place. They are not the center of the world, nor can they demand that God stop the course of history for their sake.

This intervention of Satan is one of the means to which believers spontaneously resort to justify God. Because, in the final analysis, that is where the problem lies. As long as we live without God, no one is responsible for evil except ourselves. If we have good and evil gods, we know whom to blame. If there is only one God, he is responsible for both good and evil and Job’s words in 2:10 also apply to him.

Curse God and die! (2:9) Job’s wife speaks foolishly, with reproaches to God which are always hopeless.

God’s Word™                         A man named Job lived in Uz. He was a man of integrity: He was decent, he feared God, and he stayed away from evil.

New American Bible (R.E.)    Job's Piety.

In the land of Uz [Uz: somewhere in Edom or Arabia; see Lam 4:21. Job: the name probably means "Where is the (divine) father?" In Hebrew it is almost a homonym with the word for "enemy" (see note on 13:24; cf. 33:10).] there was a blameless and upright man named Job,a who feared God and avoided evil. Jb 2:3.

NIRV                                      The Story Begins

There was a man who lived in the land of Uz. His name was Job. He was honest. He did what was right. He had respect for God and avoided evil.

New Jerusalem Bible             There was once a man in the land of Uz called Job: a sound and honest man who feared God and shunned evil.

New Simplified Bible              A man named Job lived in Uz. He was a man of integrity! He was decent, he respected God, and he stayed away from evil.

Revised English Bible            There live in the land of Uz a man of blameless and upright life named Job, who feared God and set his face against wrongdoing.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Ancient Roots Translinear      A man named Job was in the land of Uz. That man was faultless and upright. He feared God and turned from evil.

Bible in Basic English             There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. He was without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil.

The Expanded Bible              Job, the Good Man

A man named Job lived in the land of Uz [^Ceast of Israel in Edom (present-day Jordan); Lam. 4:21]. He was an ·honest [innocent; blameless; Prov. 2:7, 21] and ·innocent [virtuous; Prov. 1:3] man; he ·honored [feared; respected] God [28:28; Prov. 1:7] and stayed away from evil [^Cthese terms are used to describe the wise in Proverbs].

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 Job’s History

There was a man in the land of Luz named Job. He was true and upright, and feared God, and avoided wrong.

HCSB                                     There was a man in the country of Uz named Job. He was a man of perfect integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       There was a man dwelling in the land of Hus once, Job was the name of him, that was true and honest; ever he feared God, and kept far from wrong-doing.

NET Bible®                             I. The Prologue (1:1-2:13) Most of the notes below are reproduced throughout the introduction of this verse, where they are informative and applicable.

Job's Good Life [See N. C. Habel, "The Narrative Art of Job," JSOT 27 (1983): 101-11; J. J. Owens, "Prologue and Epilogue," RevExp 68 (1971): 457-67; and R. Polzin, "The Framework of the Book of Job," Int 31 (1974): 182-200.]

There was a man [The Hebrew construction is literally “a man was,” using אִיש הָיָה (’ish hayah) rather than a preterite first. This simply begins the narrative.] in the land of Uz [The term Uz occurs several times in the Bible: a son of Aram (Gen 10:23), a son of Nahor (Gen 22:21), and a descendant of Seir (Gen 36:28). If these are the clues to follow, the location would be north of Syria or south near Edom. The book tells how Job's flocks were exposed to Chaldeans, the tribes between Syria and the Euphrates (1:17), and in another direction to attacks from the Sabeans (1:15). The most prominent man among his friends was from Teman, which was in Edom (2:11). Uz is also connected with Edom in Lamentations 4:21. The most plausible location, then, would be east of Israel and northeast of Edom, in what is now North Arabia. The LXX has "on the borders of Edom and Arabia." An early Christian tradition placed his home in an area about 40 miles south of Damascus, in Baashan at the southeast foot of Hermon.] whose [In Hebrew the defining relative clause ("whose name was Job") is actually an asyndetic verbless noun-clause placed in apposition to the substantive ("a man"); see GKC 486 §155.e.] name was Job [The name "Job" is mentioned by Ezekiel as one of the greats in the past - Noah, Job, and Daniel (14:14). The suffering of Job was probably well known in the ancient world, and this name was clearly part of that tradition. There is little reason to try to determine the etymology and meaning of the name, since it may not be Hebrew. If it were Hebrew, it might mean something like "persecuted," although some suggest "aggressor." If Arabic it might have the significance of "the one who always returns to God."]. And that man was pure [The word תָּם (tam) has been translated “perfect” (so KJV, ASV). The verbal root תָּמַם (tamam) means “to be blameless, complete.” The word is found in Gen 25:27 where it describes Jacob as “even-tempered.” It also occurs in Ps 64:5 (64:4 ET) and Prov 29:10. The meaning is that a person or a thing is complete, perfect, flawless. It does not mean that he was sinless, but that he was wholeheartedly trying to please God, that he had integrity and was blameless before God.] and upright [The word יָשָר (yashar, “upright”) is complementary to “blameless.” The idea is “upright, just,” and applies to his relationships with others (Ps 37:37 and 25:21).], one who feared God and turned away from evil [These two expressions indicate the outcome of Job's character. "Fearing God" and "turning from evil" also express two correlative ideas in scripture; they signify his true piety - he had reverential fear of the Lord, meaning he was a truly devoted worshiper who shunned evil. ]. The Book of Job is one of the major books of wisdom literature in the Bible. But it is a different kind of wisdom. Whereas the Book of Proverbs is a collection of the short wisdom sayings, Job is a thorough analysis of the relationship between suffering and divine justice put in a dramatic poetic form. There are a number of treatises on this subject in the ancient Near East, but none of them are as thorough and masterful as Job. See J. Gray, "The Book of Job in the Context of Near Eastern Literature," ZAW 82 (1970): 251-69; S. N. Kramer, "Man and His God, A Sumerian Variation on the `Job' Motif," VTSup 3 (1953): 170-82. While the book has fascinated readers for ages, it is a difficult book, difficult to translate and difficult to study. Most of it is written in poetic parallelism. But it is often very cryptic, it is written with unusual grammatical constructions, and it makes use of a large number of very rare words. All this has led some scholars to question if it was originally written in Hebrew or some other related Semitic dialect or language first. There is no indication of who the author was. It is even possible that the work may have been refined over the years; but there is no evidence for this either. The book uses a variety of genres (laments, hymns, proverbs, and oracles) in the various speeches of the participants. This all adds to the richness of the material. And while it is a poetic drama using cycles of speeches, there is no reason to doubt that the events represented here do not go back to a real situation and preserve the various arguments. Several indications in the book would place Job's dates in the time of the patriarchs. But the composition of the book, or at least its final form, may very well come from the first millennium, maybe in the time of the flowering of wisdom literature with Solomon. We have no way of knowing when the book was written, or when its revision was completed. But dating it late in the intertestamental period is ruled out by the appearance of translations and copies of it, notably bits of a Targum of Job in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Among the general works and commentaries, see A. Hurvitz, "The Date of the Prose Tale of Job Linguistically Reconsidered," HTR 67 (1974): 17-34; R. H. Pfeiffer, "The Priority of Job over Isaiah 40-55," JBL 46 (1927): 202ff. The book presents many valuable ideas on the subject of the suffering of the righteous. Ultimately it teaches that one must submit to the wisdom of the Creator. But it also indicates that the shallow answers of Job's friends do not do justice to the issue. Their arguments that suffering is due to sin are true to a point, but they did not apply to Job. His protests sound angry and belligerent, but he held tenaciously to his integrity. His experience shows that it is possible to live a pure life and yet still suffer. He finally turns his plea to God, demanding a hearing. This he receives, of course, only to hear that God is sovereignly ruling the universe. Job can only submit to him. In the end God does not abandon his sufferer. For additional material, see G. L. Archer, The Book of Job; H. H. Rowley, "The Book of Job and Its Meaning," BJRL 41 (1958/59): 167-207; J. A. Baker, The Book of Job; C. L. Feinberg, "The Book of Job," BSac 91 (1934): 78-86; R. Polzin and D. Robertson, "Studies in the Book of Job," Semeia 7 (Missoula: Scholars Press, 1977). When it comes to making an actual material change to the text, the NET Bible® is pretty good about indicating this. Since most of these corrections will be clear in the more literal translations below and within the Hebrew exegesis itself, I will not continue to list every NET Bible® footnote.

NIV, ©2011                             Prologue

In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

exeGeses companion Bible   There was a man in the land of Us,

his name, Iyob;

and that man being integrious and straight;

and one awing Elohim and turning aside from evil.

Judaica Press Complete T.    There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was sincere and upright, God-fearing and shunning evil.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           There was an ish in Eretz Uz, shmo Iyov; and that ish was blameless and yashar, and yire Elohim, and shunned evil.

The Scriptures 1998              There was a man in the land of Uts, whose name was Iyob?. And that man was perfect and straight, and one who feared Elohim and turned aside from evil.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who [reverently] feared God and abstained from and shunned evil [because it was wrong].

Concordant Literal Version    There was a man in the country of Uz. Job was his name. And this man was flawless and upright, fearing Elohim and withdrawing from evil.

Context Group Version          There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was whole { or fully-developed } and upright, and one that feared God, and turned away from evil.

Darby Translation                  There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and this man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God and abstained from evil.

English Standard Version      There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

The Geneva Bible                  There was a man in the land of Uz [That is, of the country of Idumea, ( Lamentations 4:21 ), or bordering on it: for the land was called by the name of Uz, the son of Dishan, the son of Seir ( Genesis 36:28 ).], whose name [was] Job; and that man was perfect [Since he was a Gentile and not a Jew and yet is pronounced upright and without hypocrisy, it declares that among the heathen God revealed himself. ] and upright [By this it is declared what is meant by an upright and just man.], and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. The Argument - In this history the example of patience is set before our eyes. This holy man Job was not only extremely afflicted in outward things and in his body, but also in his mind and conscience, by the sharp temptation of his wife and friends: who by their vehement words and subtle disputations brought him almost to despair. They set forth God as a sincere judge, and mortal enemy to him who had cast him off, therefore in vain he should seek him for help. These friends came to him under pretence of consolation, and yet they tormented him more than all his afflictions did. Even so, he constantly resisted them, and eventually succeeded. In this story we must note that Job maintains a good cause, but handles it badly. His adversaries have an evil matter, but they defend it craftily. Job held that God did not always punish men according to their sins, but that he had secret judgments, of which man knew not the cause, and therefore man could not reason against God in it, but he should be convicted. Moreover, he was assured that God had not rejected him, yet through his great torments and afflictions he speaks many inconveniences and shows himself as a desperate man in many things, and as one that would resist God, and this is his good cause which he handles well. Again the adversaries maintain with many good arguments that God punishes continually according to the trespass, grounding on Gods providence, his justice and mans sins, yet their intention is evil; for they labour to bring Job into despair, and so they maintain an evil cause. Ezekiel commends Job as a just man, ( Ezekiel 14:14 ) and James sets out his patience for an example, ( James 5:11 ).

NASB                                     Job's Character and Wealth

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.

New King James Version       Job and His Family in Uz

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.

Syndein/Thieme                     {Chapters 1-2: Administration of Evidence Testing}

{Part I - Chapter 1 - Loss of Prosperity}

{Verse 1: Job's Spiritual Prosperity}

In the land of Uz {Northern Arabia bordering on Edom}, there lived a man whose name was Job. This man 'was blameless'/'had integrity' {tam} {spiritually mature believer} and righteous/upright {Jashar} {gone through the three stages of spiritual adulthood to maturity}, and was in awe/'respected the authority of'/ feared {yare'} 'Elohim/Godhead {means is a spiritually mature person occupied with God - personal love for God}, and shunned evil {he was not sinless, but he avoided 'evil' - both moral and immoral degeneration}. {Note: This does not mean Job was 'perfect'. He had an old sin nature just like the rest of us. It means that he loved God and tried to 'Walk in the Righteous Way' of God the best he could.}.

Webster’s Bible Translation  There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name [was] Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and shunned evil.

Young’s Updated LT             A man there has been in the land of Uz—Job his name—and that man has been perfect and upright—both fearing God, and turning aside from evil.

The gist of this verse:          The character for whom this book is named, is named, along with his location and his spiritual maturity is testified to.

Translation: [There] was a man in the land of Uz... This book does not begin with a conjunction but with the word a man. Let me submit to you that the first two phrases make up the title of the book, to some degree.

Most of the historical books are a continuation of what has come before. That is, Joshua continues where Deuteronomy left off, which hands off to Judges, which moves into Ruth, which segues into Samuel and then into Kings. Each of these books, to indicate that this is a continuation of what has gone before, begins with a wâw consecutive or a wâw conjunction. The significant exceptions to this are the books of Genesis, which begins the Bible; Chronicles, which begins with Adam; and the book of Job, which is a book that stands on its own. As has been covered, we do not even have a clue as to how this ancient book became a part of God’s Word and when it was entered into the canon. It was written and somehow, during some time, adopted and recognized by the Hebrew people, who had the responsibility of preserving the canon of Scripture.

Calling Job a man is not a particular assertion of his gender, but of his reality as a person.

Uz, like most names, is a transliteration—that is, the Hebrew letters are changed into English letters and an English pronunciation is given to it. The word is ʿÛwts (עוּץ) [pronounced ģoots]. We find the name of Job's country used only by Jeremiah in Jer. 25:20 and in Lam. 4:21. I do not believe that these are vague references, but a place that Jeremiah was actually aware of. However, I am not certain of this because (1) no one else in the Bible mentions the land of Uz; and, (2) there could certainly be two areas with that same name.

Israel map where the darker names refer to modern-day countries and cities; the lighter refer to ancient locations. Some place Uz somewhere in Edom; others have it east of Damascus. Lam. 4:21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, living in the land of Uz. The cup also shall pass through to you; you shall be drunken and stripped naked. Although this clearly associates Edom and Uz, there is always the possibility that there is more than one Uz.

Translation: ...[whose] name [was] Job. Because the name Job means persecuted, it is likely that Job was not given this name, but that this is how he became to be known, after the troubles in this book overcome him. Although the word shêm (שֵם) [pronounced shame] means name; it can also refer to a man’s reputation, character or fame.

Job’s name, in the Hebrew, is ʾÎyyôwb (אִיּוֹב) [pronounced ee-YOBE] and it is very closely related to the verb to be hostile towards or to the feminine noun which means enmity. Gesenius says that it means persecuted. It is not unusual to give names in the Hebrew which are descriptive rather than meaningless. Although Barnes uses the term anticipatory several times, I don’t think that is the case. I believe that this name was given by the author of the book or that Job became known by that name at the conclusion of the events described in the book of Job. Strong’s #347 BDB #33.

There are objections to this, stating that no one else has a fanciful name in the book of Job, but tell me, who do you recall from the book of Job, other than God and Satan? It would make little sense to give a descriptive name to anyone else in this book, apart from his wife, who could be called insensitive bitch or something like that.

There are some who believe that Job is really Jobab from Gen. 10:29, a descendant of Shem. This seems to fit well—that Job is part of the line of Shem and that his name was probably shortened in order to reflect the theme of the book of Job, but there is one big problem: Job’s age. By age, Job is more in line with Abraham or Isaac. Jobab is the 3^rd generation from Shem. That many generations out from Shem, men were living into their 400's (Gen. 11:15–17). In the introduction, I suggest that Job lives around 200 years (assuming that he is around 60 years old from the outset of this book). So, does it make sense for God to richly bless Job, but then to cut off his life at the relatively early age of 200? So, in my heart, I would love to be able to associate Job with Jobab. However, this would mean that Job died prematurely, and that does not appear to be the gist of this book.

I have no problem with Job have the original name Jobab, which name is shortened; however, it is unlikely that he is the Jobab named in Gen. 10:29.

In any case, the name Job appears in two non-biblical fragments attached to princes, one from the region of Damascus in the nineteenth century b.c., and the other refers to a prince of Pella in approximately 1400 b.c. Therefore, the name Job was used in the region traditionally assigned to Job.

It is possible that the association of Job’s name with hatred and enmity come out of this book, rather than the other way around.

Some have said that the book of Job is a long parable. If you will think back to the parables of our Lord, they generally began with and a certain man. The people in parables are not given names. This book is filled with specific names and places. Furthermore we do not have parables of this length. And, there are just too many details which are given, such as his country.

The NET Bible on Job’s name: The name "Job" is mentioned by Ezekiel as one of the greats in the past — Noah, Job, and Daniel (Dan. 14:14). The suffering of Job was probably well known in the ancient world, and this name was clearly part of that tradition. There is little reason to try to determine the etymology and meaning of the name, since it may not be Hebrew. If it were Hebrew, it might mean something like "persecuted," although some suggest "aggressor." If Arabic it might have the significance of "the one who always returns to God." 

Translation: This man was [spiritually] perfected and accurate [in his knowledge of doctrine];... There are several things that this man is known for. He is called perfect, complete; but this word is tâm (תָּם) [pronounced tawm], and it can refer to a person who is spiritually mature or has personal integrity, honor or is complete. The completed means that he has reached a stage of spiritual maturity, just as we reach a stage of adult maturity.

Job is therefore correctly called right, correct, accurate, lacking in contradictions, upright, straight, uniform, having internal integrity, even. Let me suggest that he understood Bible doctrine—he knew the standards of God and endeavored to live by them—even though the Word of God was limited in his time. He knew enough that was passed down through Adam, through Seth, through Enoch; and eventually through Noah, Shem and Uz. Truth in his soul was accurate and lacking in contradictions; he could lay down a true straightedge within his soul, and that was Bible doctrine.

Translation: ...and he feared [and respected] Elohim... Fearing God means one understands Who God is, believes that God can do what He intends to do, and bears this in mind at all times.

These two words describe various aspects of Job’s spiritual life. There are a lot of people who are saved that you would never know it. They are an embarrassment to Jesus Christ (I look back at a great deal of my life and feel the same way). Job was dependable, moral, stable, correct in his behavior. Finally, he is described by the Qal active participle of yârê (יָרִא) [pronounced yaw-RAY], which means to fear, fear-respect, reverence, to have a reverential respect. The use of this word to describe someone in the Old Testament is similar to our calling someone a Christian today. Strong's #3372 BDB #431. In this description of Job, it cannot be overemphasized that, although Job was a mature and consistent believer, one on whom you could depend, this in no way implies that he was sinless. He clearly admits to transgressing against God: “Why then do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity?” (Job 7:21a).

Let’s say you are in a room filled with stuff and you are afraid of snakes; and you know that there is a snake in that room with you. Your mind is going to be on the snake almost at all times. You will focus on the snake, whether you can see it or not. You will constantly be thinking about that snake and where it might be. This is analogous to the fear of God.

Whom Job had reverence for was God—in the Hebrew, the word is ʾĚlôhîym (אלֹהִים) [pronounced el-o-HEEM], which is translated gods or God. This word can refer to the Godhead or to foreign gods, and here it obviously refers to the Godhead. Strong's #430 BDB #43. It is unusual to find this particular word in the book of Job and it is remarkable as to where we find it. Job 1–2 is the prologue to the book of Job, and Elohim is found in these chapters 11 times. You certainly should be thinking, Okay, so what’s the big deal? The big deal is that once Job and his friends begin talking, the designation Elohim will not be found except in Job 5:8 (Eliphaz), 20:29 (Zophar), and 28:23 (Job). It is found in three other places, the quotes belonging first to Elihu (God’s representative) and to God (Job 32:2 34:9 38:7). For most of the book, we find the name ʾělôhah (אֱלֹהַה) [pronounced el-OH-hah], a masculine singular name for God found primarily in Job (e.g., Job 3:4, 23 4:9, 17 5:17 6:4, 8, 9) and found scattered throughout the Bible in fewer than a dozen other places. Strong’s #433 BDB #43. This second title for God is found over 40 times in the book of Job, primarily used in the conversations between Job and his three friends. This is what is known as progressive revelation. Job and his friends were not completely clear on God’s plan nor were they aware of the Trinity. And what is most fundamental to the book of Job is, Job and his friends do not understand the Angelic Conflict. This is not a part of their discussion. So they will state things which are generally true (unless one attempts to impute a sin to Job which Job has not committed), but their truth leaves out the Angelic Conflict.

As a believer matures, he needs to be aware, more and more, of the great conflict that he finds himself in. There is much more going on around us than the things which we perceive with our 5 senses.

God has not revealed everything to every generation. He has revealed whatever it is that we need at any given time. There will be at least once where at least two members of the Trinity are mentioned (Job 19:25–26 in the Hebrew)—however, it appears to more attributable to God the Holy Spirit rather than to Job directly and his knowledge of the Trinity.

Application: As an aside, many of us, who are aware of the news and the politics, are concerned for our country. There seem to be so many attacks on divine establishment, such as identity politics, the massive government debt, the gay marriage movement, the government-as-God movement, etc. We see this stuff go on, and it causes us great concern. But, the big picture is, we are right in the middle of the Angelic Conflict. Because there is so much Bible doctrine to be found in the United States and because there is still evangelism and missionary work being done, the United States is going to be where Satan and his minions will concentrate, and throw every sort of evil doctrine of demons out there. We should expect there to be huge movements which, in essence, are against the Bible, against the gospel of Jesus Christ, against Bible doctrine, and against divine establishment.

Application: Although we might think, “Well, we will, as a nation, see how evil it all is and reject it.” But that is not how cosmic thinking works. Look at California, with an incredibly massive debt; or Massachusetts, which recently paid the family of terrorists over $100,000 in government benefits. Or Chicago, which extremely corrupt politics and massive killings in its streets (despite the tough gun laws). Or our nation as a whole, now drowning in debt, and facing possibly massive inflation in the near future. In the places mentioned, you would think that they would elect the other party which did not put them in these positions, but you would be wrong. As we slide further away from God, it is normal for people to reelect the exact same party which got them in the mess that they are in, in the first place (after electing nearly all the same people in the primary who are career politicians). My point in all of this is, there is no political solution. You can march all you want to and support candidate A, B or C; but that is not going to change things. What changes a nation is believing in Jesus Christ, and then learning Bible doctrine.

Application: Many people look back romantically at the 1950's in the United States, and this was an idyllic time. What was the key? The men who returned from the war were establishment oriented—they understood the importance of family and hard work, as well as the importance of discipline—both self-discipline and that imposed on their children. They did not spend money frivolously; and they worked hard for what they earned. But, what was behind all of this? Many people in war believe in Jesus Christ. Billy Graham was having great success all over the United States with proclaiming the Person of Jesus Christ. Therefore, one should expect that a nation be blessed.

Application: But, what we lacked, as a whole, was the teaching of the Word of God. This is the area where we failed. There was some good teaching, but it was very limited to small pockets around the United States. Having attended a variety of churches in the 1970's, I can testify that, finding a church that taught orthodox Bible doctrine accurately was nearly impossible. It is Bible doctrine in the soul of the believer which turns a nation around. So, in the United States, there was tremendous evangelism, but very little provided by way of follow-up (the teaching of Bible doctrine in the local churches). Therefore, what resulted was the turbulent 60's and the selfish-70's, because there was almost no truth being taught in the nation. Hosea 4:6 (God is speaking) “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge [= Bible doctrine]; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest-nation to Me. And since you have forgotten the law [= instruction] of your God, I also will forget your children.”

Guzik: The Book of Job is not primarily about one man's suffering and pain; Job's problem is not so much financial or social or medical; his central problem is theological. Job must deal with the fact that in his life, God does not act the way he always thought God would and should act. In this drama, the Book of Job is not so much a record of solutions and explanations to this problem; it is more a revelation of Job's experience and the answers carried within his experience. Again, that key to God not always acting as we might expect is the Angelic Conflict, the great unseen conflict of which we are a part.

We will study the Fear of the Lord in more depth when we get to v. 9.

Translation: ...and he avoided evil. Evil is more than simply wrongdoing; this includes thinking which is contrary to and even antagonistic towards God’s plan. Evil is the plan and thinking of Satan.

The last verb in this verse is the Qal active participle of çûwr (סוּר) [pronounced soor] generally means to turn aside, however, in the Hiphil, it means to cause to depart, to remove, to take away. When followed by the preposition mîn, it means to turn away from, to shun. Strong's #5493 BDB #693. Paul admonished the Thessalonians: Abstain from every evil (1Thess. 5:22).

The word for evil, which we have seen many times in the past, is raʿ (רַע) [pronounced rahģ] and it means evil, bad. This is the masculine adjective, which is considerable stronger than the feminine adjective. Strong’s #7451 BDB #948. Satan’s plan—one of many—is to fill our lives with temptation and evil and evil thinking. There is a whole way of thinking in Satan’s world which he desires for us to have. The concept here is not necessarily moral depravity, but he sponsors moral relativity as well. We find it advertised in every way imaginable today—on television, in the movies, on the radio, through advertising, in school textbooks, in most churches. Whatever stands in opposition to God’s Word is Satan’s way of thinking, which is inherent evil. One of the most common attacks today is the concept of sex outside of marriage. Only a tiny fraction of movies and television programs present a man and a woman as not engaging in sex until after marriage. A smaller fraction of those present both parties as virgins prior to marriage. Satan intends to infiltrate our entire thinking process and he can only do this with a constant barrage of evil. Job avoided all evil in his life.

This is not sinless perfection—no man enjoys that, and Job certainly admits that he is not sinless in Job 9:20 42:5–6.

V. 1 gives us a short biography of Job, something that would almost fit on a tombstone: There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. This man was a mature believer with a clear understanding of Bible doctrine. He feared and respected God and he avoided evil.

These four things describe the mature believer: a person with personal integrity; a person who is stable in their moral and spiritual life; a man who has a reverential trust in and concentration on God; and a man who avoids evil [Satan’s thinking] in his life.

The Word of God testifies as to the great spiritual maturity of Job. Later on, God will say the same thing about Job. So, when it comes to be a great believer, there are few men like Job. God cites Job, in open court, before all the angels, as an example of godliness. This we need to keep in mind so that (1) we do not ever take the side of Job’s friends and think there must be something wrong with Job and (2) we do not ever say, “I am suffering the woes of Job.” That’s just plain stupid.

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Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Latin Vulgate                          And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so are born to him seven sons and three daughters.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters.

Septuagint (Greek)                And he had seven sons and three daughters.

Significant differences:           None.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Easy English                          Job had:

7 sons and 3 daughters;...

The Voice                               He had 7 sons and 3 daughters;...

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          Now, he had seven sons and three daughters.

NIRV                                      Job had seven sons and three daughters.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Ancient Roots Translinear      He begat seven sons and three daughters.

The Expanded Bible              Job had seven sons and three daughters [^Cindicating a large and complete family].

New Advent (Knox) Bible       Seven sons he had, and three daughters;...

NET Bible®                             Seven [The numbers used in the chapter, seven, three, and five, carry the symbolism in the Bible of perfection and completeness (see J. J. Davis, Biblical Numerology). Job's "seven sons" are listed first because in the East sons were considered more valuable than daughters (recall Ruth, who is "better than seven sons" [Ruth 4:15]).] sons and three daughters were born to him [The verb begins the sentence: “and there were born.” This use of the preterite with vav (ו) consecutive, especially after the verb הָיָה (hayah, “to be”), is explanatory: there was a man…and there was born to him…”].

NIV – UK                                He had seven sons and three daughters,...

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           Seven sons and three daughters were born to him.

exeGeses companion Bible   And seven sons and three daughters

are birthed to him;...

Judaica Press Complete T.    Now seven sons and three daughters were born to him.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And there were born unto him seven banim and shalosh banot.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

English Standard Version      There were born to him seven sons and three daughters.

Syndein/Thieme                     {Part of Job's Escrow Blessings as a Mature Believer - Family Prosperity}

And he {Job} had seven sons and three daughters. {Note: In this day, the more children you had, the greater was your wealth and prosperity.} {Part of Job's Escrow Blessings as a Mature Believer - Material Prosperity}.

Young's Literal Translation     And there are borne to him seven sons and three daughters,...

The gist of this verse:          Job had fathered 7 sons and 3 daughters.

Translation: [There] were seven sons and three daughters born to him. We will begin by stating what God has blessed Job with, and at the very top of his lists of blessings are his 10 children. In the ancient world, as should be true for today’s world, the birth of a child is a great gift from God. Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed When they speak with their enemies in the gate (Psalm 127:3–5; NASB). Your wife a fruitful vine in the inner places of your house. Your children round your table like shoots of an olive tree. Such are the blessings that fall on those who fear Yahweh (Psalm 128:3–4; NJB).

Generally speaking, a wâw consecutive with an imperfect verb gives us a list of consecutive actions, but, in this case, these are things which occur over a period of time (also a use of the imperfect), and these are coterminous events. So what happens in this verse will be coterminous with what follows.

Interestingly enough, the numbers 7 and 3 in the Bible often suggest fulfillment or completion, and this, therefore, suggests that Job has a very full and complete life.

In this verse we have the wâw consecutive and the Niphal imperfect of yâlad (יָלַד) [pronounced yaw-LAHD] and it means to bear, to bring forth, to beget. This is the word translated beget, begot. The Niphal is the passive stem; Job did not bear these children, he sired them—he fathered them. The imperfect tense means that this did not occur all at once but over a period of several years. Strong’s #3205 BDB #408. The wâw consecutive also suggests that this is what happened next. After becoming a believer in Jesus Christ and after having become mature and having morally integrity, then he began a family.

Application: Many people begin a family as an accident or out of lust or without a single thought to the future from a position of moral bankruptcy. However, no matter how little thought went into making children, if you and they are still alive, God still has a plan for your life which includes them. Now you may have driven them away with your reprehensible behavior; however, if allowed any contact with them, you must begin there to be the father and as much of the husband and provider which is lawfully possible. You may have a previous history of five years of abusive and self-obsessed behavior, but if you are alive and they are alive, you can begin from that point and, through God’s grace and the guidance of God’s Word, demonstrate moral integrity and unambiguous and unimpeachable moral character.

Application: One of man’s primal desires is to be the head of something, to rule over something, to have authority and power. One of the greatest places where we have that opportunity is in the area of family. A man has the opportunity to rule over a woman whom he has chosen (and who has acquiesced to his choice) and over children whom he has desired to have. A politician who has gotten into some high political office can certainly blame the corrupt nature of the system, of his predecessor, of his opposition. However, with a family, a man gets to begin from scratch. He has children with his genes and the genes of the woman whom he has chosen to spend the rest of his life with. God gives him rulership over that household, which is one of the most important responsibilities that any man can have. We all know about the ripple effect and how simply throwing a stone into the pool of water causes ripples that extend for sometimes hundreds of yards. Each action of our life has this ripple effect. Nowhere is this greater than in the raising of one child. This child of yours can be a blessing to hundreds and thousands of people. He can be a person to whom people look for advice, counsel, guidance, prayer and knowledge. And you can also raise a child who is destructive, who causes pain to tens or hundreds or to thousands of people. He can be a child who, when he is grown, hundreds will wish that he were dead. He can be a person who causes hundreds of people heartache and suffering. The child that God entrusts to you can cause a rippling affect beyond any legislative act, beyond the election of any politician to office, beyond any hundred acts of Congress.

Application: Fathers are given complete rulership over this family unit whose ripple effects can last for generations upon generations. Long after you are dead, the way you raised your child will affect the many generations which follow you. I mentioned a wife in all of this. We have all worked for men in authority or mid-management who were incompetent, had no clue as to their purpose in their chosen vocation and who were an embarrassment to their company. They couldn’t demonstrate competent leadership over a litter of kittens, let alone a group of three or more people. They are insensitive, self-involved, self-promoting and their position they see as one which sees to their every need and desire. They see their position of authority as a place to get their own way, to make everyone do their bidding, to run the show. They have no concept that a position of authority involves above all else a dedication and sensitivity to those under your authority.

Application: Your job, if you have some position of authority, is to look out for those under your authority and to see after them. Now you may think that your job is to see to the best interests of the company and you are correct—however, looking out for those under your authority and looking out for the best interests of your company are not mutually exclusive concepts. They go hand-in-hand. For those who have no concept of their position of authority, their workers resent them, make fun of them and impatiently await the day that they can transfer to another office, take a vacation or take on another vocation or move to another state.

Application: Perhaps this is the way that you run your household and your marriage. Perhaps this is how your wife and children feel about you. Now certainly there are difficult decisions to make and that the one in charge will not always be popular and well-liked. However, when all is said and done, when those under him look back in retrospect, they will have a longing to be under that command again and their overriding feeling will be one of trust and respect. So, this is how your family feels about you? Your wife, who is a responder, should be thinking it doesn’t get any better than this; she should not have her eye on the door, looking for any lame excuse to bolt. Your children should not have an over-riding desire to leave home by age 16 or younger. At age 18 or 20, sure.

Application: In any case, God gives a man great power and authority in the realm of a family. Your family members can tell you whether you have properly used your authority or whether you are a worthless tyrant whose only hold over the members of his family is petty tyranny. Is that which binds you to your family simply convenience? You, if you are honest, can answer this yourself.

Job was a man who was delivered from eternal separation from God—he believed in the Revealed Lord. He was a man who was mature and had personal integrity. He was a person on whom others could depend. And because of this, God gave him ten children.

Again, these details concerning Job’s life indicate that he is a real historical person. He had a real family with a specific number of children. There is no poetical reason for Job to have seven boys and three girls, other than he will face seven trials or seven tests and he will primarily speak to three friends (although there are actually four in the book of Job). That was simply the actual number of children which he had.

Now, surprisingly enough, none of these children’s names are given; and more surprisingly, the name of his wife is never given. The Chaldean rendering of this book gives his wife’s name as Dinah in Job 2:9; on what authority, we have no clue. And, interestingly enough, the names of the daughters of Job’s second family will be given.

Timeline: From Noah to Isaac. From tben on Wordpress.

The number of children and their meeting together for meals, apart from Job, suggests that Job is somewhere between 70 and 100 years old (assuming that he began to have children around age 30, which would match up with most of those named in the Bible of that general era). There is still a close relationship between Job and his children, but they all have their own homes, so let’s say, Job began having children at age 30 and stopped at age 45, then we need an additional 25 years to get the youngest one grown up enough to have his own home. This puts Job at the age of 70 (he could be older); and after all this is over, he will live another 140 years (Job 42:16). So, this puts him in the age range of about 200. This puts him in the age range of Peleg, Reu and Serug, Abraham’s great-great-great grandfather, his great-great grandfather and his great grandfather (Gen. 11:18–23). In Peleg’s day, the earth was divided (man has his language messed with by God (Gen. 10:25). Then we have to give mankind some time to spread out and to make their own way in the world, so, for this reason, Job is probably a contemporary of Serug.

We do not have a patriarch named as Job’s father, grandfather or whatever. Usually, the oldest was the head of that family. Interestingly enough, Serug outlived his father and grandfather, but not the 4 generations before them. However, we do not have a mention of those generations in Job’s life, even though it is clear that he has to live for about 210 years. Therefore, he may have separated himself from his elders or they may have been killed (given the two raids that occur in this chapter, that is not out of the question).

All of this suggests the time period between Serug and Abraham.

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Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Chaldean (targum?)               And his possessions were seven thousand sheep - a thousand for each of his sons; and three thousand camels - a thousand for each of his daughters; and five hundred yoke of oxen - for himself; and five hundred she-asses - for his wife..

Latin Vulgate                          And his possession was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a family exceedingly great: and this man was great among all the people of the east.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so is his cattle: seven of thousands of sheep and three of thousands of camels and five of hundreds of a yoke of oxen and five of hundreds of she-asses; and a household great exceedingly. And so is the man the this great more than all sons of antiquity [or, (the) east].

Peshitta (Syriac)                    His substance 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.

Charles Thomson (Greek)     He had seven sons and three daughters; and his cattle were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred breeding asses. His attendants were numerous, and his works great in the country. He was also a man of illustrious birth, among the people of the east. Vv. 2–3 given for context.

Septuagint (Greek)                And his substance consisted of seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys in the pastures, and a very great household, and he had a great husbandry on the earth; and that man was most noble of the men of the east.

Significant differences:           The words substance, possession are legitimate translations for the Hebrew word found in the first phrase.

The final phrase in the Greek has noble-born, well-born; but this is not what is in the Hebrew.

The Chaldean above (take from Barnes) suggests a relationship between Job’s children and his possessions.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           ...and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred pairs of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a vast number of servants, so that he was greater than all the people of the east.

Contemporary English V.       He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred pair of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and a large number of servants. He was the richest person in the East..

Easy English                                   ...7000 sheep;

3000 camels;

500 pairs of oxen; (Oxen look like cows. But oxen pull the plough.)

500 donkeys (small horses);

and many servants.

Job was the greatest man in the east.

New Living Translation           He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, and 500 female donkeys. He also had many servants. He was, in fact, the richest person in that entire area.

The Voice                               ...he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a large number of servants. Among Easterners, he was the most powerful and influential man.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          ² Now, he had seven sons and three daughters. He also had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred teams of oxen, and five hundred grazing female burros. In addition, he had a huge work force to serve him and many more to care for his land; ³ for, the man had been born into a prosperous family from the sunrise in the east. Vv. 2–3 are included for context and because they do not jive exactly with the typical divisions.

Christian Community Bible     Owner of seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys and a large number of servants, he was considered the greatest man among the people of the East.

God’s Word™                         He owned 7,000 sheep and goats, 3,000 camels, 1,000 oxen, 500 donkeys, and a large number of servants. He was the most influential person in the Middle East.

New American Bible              ...and he had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-asses, and a great number of work animals, so that he was greater than any of the men of the East.

New American Bible (R.E.)    ...and he had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-donkeys, and a very large household, so that he was greater than anyone in the East [that is, east of Palestine.].

NIRV                                      He owned 7,000 sheep and 3,000 camels. He owned 500 pairs of oxen and 500 donkeys. He also had a large number of servants. He was the most important man among all of the people in the east.

New Jerusalem Bible             And he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred she-donkeys, and many servants besides. This man was the most prosperous of all the Sons of the East.

New Simplified Bible              He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and five hundred donkeys. He also had a large number of servants. In fact he was the greatest (richest) of all the Orientals in the East!

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Ancient Roots Translinear      His had livestock of 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 oxen teams, 500 donkeys, and legions of servants. The man was the greatest of all the sons of the east.

The Expanded Bible              He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred teams of oxen, and five hundred female donkeys. He also had a large number of servants. He was the ·greatest [or richest] man among all the people of the East [^Cthe expected reward of wisdom].

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 ...and his possessions were seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, a very large estate, so that the man was greater than all the Beni-Kedem.

HCSB                                     His estate included 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man among all the people of the east.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       ...and for wealth, he had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-asses, and servants a many; in all the East none was Job's rival.

NET Bible®                             His possessions [The word means "cattle, livestock, possessions" (see also Gen. 26:14). Here it includes the livestock, but also the entire substance of his household.] included [Or "amounted to," "totaled." The preterite of הָיָה (hayah, "to be") is sometimes employed to introduce a total amount or an inventory (see Ex. 1:5; Num. 3:43).] 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys; in addition he had a very great household [The word עֲבֻדָּה ('avuddah, "service of household servants") indicates that he had a very large body of servants, meaning a very large household.]. Thus he [Heb "and that man."] was the greatest of all the people in the east [The expression is literally "sons of the east." The use of the genitive after "sons" in this construction may emphasize their nature (like "sons of belial"); it would refer to them as easterners (like "sons of the south" in contemporary American English). BDB 869 s.v. קֶדֶם says "dwellers in the east."].

New Heart English Bible        His possessions also were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the children of the east.

NIV, ©2011                             ...and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 pairs of oxen and 500 female donkeys, as well as a great number of servants; so that he was the wealthiest man in the east.

exeGeses companion Bible   ...and his chattel:

seven thousand flocks

and three thousand camels

and five hundred yoke of oxen

and five hundred she burros

and a mighty great servantry;

so that this man is the greatest

of all the men of the east.

Judaica Press Complete T.    His livestock consisted of seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of cattle, five hundred she- donkeys, and very much production; and the man was greater than all the children of the East.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           His possessions also were seven thousand tzon and three thousand gemalim, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-donkeys, and very many avadim; so that this ish was the greatest of kol bnei kedem.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very great body of servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the East.

Concordant Literal Version    ...and his acquisitions came to be a flock of seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred pair of oxen and five hundred jennies, besides very many servants. And this man came to be the greatest of all the sons of the East.

Darby Translation                  His wealth also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-donkeys, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the sons of the east.

English Standard Version      He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east.

The Geneva Bible                  His substance [His children and riches are declared, to commend his virtue in his prosperity and his patience and constancy when God took them from him. ] 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 [Meaning, the Arabians, Chaldeans, Idumeans etc.].

Syndein/Thieme                     {Part of Job's Escrow Blessings as a Mature Believer - Material Prosperity}

His substance/wealth included seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses {'athown}, and a very great household/'household employees'; so that this man {Job} was the greatest {man} of all the men of the east {located in that large area of land we call Arabia today}. {Note: This predated money. Money is in terms of sheep etc.}.

Webster’s Bible Translation  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.

World English Bible                His possessions also were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-donkeys, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the children of the east.

Young's Literal Translation     ...and his substance is seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred pairs of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a service very abundant; and that man is greater than any of the sons of the east.

The gist of this verse:          Job’s wealth is enumerated, with the statement that he is wealthier than anyone of the east (or, possibly, of anyone ever, up to that point in time).

Translation: His acquisitions are [as follows]: [he had] 7000 sheep, 3000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 she-asses... This job fellow is quite wealthy, with his cattle as is listed above. In the ancient world, a man’s wealth was measured by the number of cattle which he had. This was a larger collection of animals than previously known.

So far, this is what we have: His acquisitions are [as follows] [he has] 7000 sheep, 3000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 she-asses... Camels were primarily beasts of burden in the desert, used in war, in caravans and for food. One camel can carry between 300–500 pounds, depending upon the distance it must be carried. It can survive upon the driest of thistles and barest of thorn. It is claimed that he can store water for up to 30 days at a stretch. God has given the camel large reservoirs or stomach where the water is kept pure from which he can draw for his necessary moisture. Furthermore, there is no other animal like the camel in this regard.

Barnes: [In order for camels to go 30 days without water], nature has provided large reservoirs or stomachs within him, where the water is kept pure, and from which he draws at pleasure as from a fountain. No other animal is endowed with this power, and were it not for this, it would be wholly impracticable to cross those immense plains of sand.

500 yoke of oxen would be considered great wealth even today. The oxen which Job had indicates that he was also a tiller of the soil, as that is their primary function. There is some disagreement here as to whether this refers to oxen or to cows, as cows were also used in the ancient world for tilling the soil (the word used here means to divide, to cleave as in the dividing of the soil in tilling). This could include oxen and cows together, as cows were also used for plowing (Judges 14:18).

She-asses were preferred over horses for travel as their food requirements are minimal by comparison. Barnes: One reason why the ass was chosen in preference to the horse, was that it subsisted on so much less than that animal, there being no animal except the camel that could be so easily kept as the ass. She-asses were also regarded as the most valuable, because, in traversing the deserts of the country they would furnish travelers with milk.

Application: Along the lines of accumulation of wealth, this is something that we will all experience in our lives. People nearly always go from being poor to being wealthy. Your assets at age 21 will be just about nil. Your assets at age 60 ought to be significant (if you have lived a normal life). If you have spend your life dependent on the government, this will not be the case. This is not a difficult concept. When you are 21, most people are just getting by, sometimes with parental help. When you are 50, ideally, you have worked for 25 or more years, and you have slowly accumulated things—and if you were smart, some of these things are negotiable assets (stocks, bonds, land, precious metals, etc.). Most people, after working for 25 years, have more than mere subsistence. Obviously, this will vary by country. A person in the United States will generally accumulate more than a person in the Philippines, simply because of the availability of more opportunities here.

Application: This is why is it stupid of you, at age 20 or so, to get so worked up about the inequity of wealth that you see all around you, while you are working at a minimum wage job or while you are accumulating a debt for school (which is not necessarily a smart thing to do). That is not unfairness; that is simply a function of age.

The Pulpit Commentary: Note that Job"s wealth in cattle is not beyond credibility. An Egyptian lord of the time of the fourth dynasty relates that he possessed above 1000 oxen and cows, 974 sheep, 2, 235 goals, and 760 asses (Rawlinson"s "Egypt," vol. 2. p. 88).

For the few of you who do not have cattle ranches, Chardin says, “as the king of Persia in the year 1676 was in Mesandera, the Tartars fell upon the camels of the king and took away three thousand of them which was to him a great loss, for he had only seven thousand.”  So, 4000 years later, the king of Persia has 7000 camels to Job’s 3000.

Translation: ...and a very great household [of servants]. He also had a very great household, which meant that Job had both a very large home and a large number of servants which ran this home.

Then we have the feminine noun ʿăbûddâh (עֲבֻדָּה) [pronounced ģu^bvood-DAW], which means household, household servants. By application, this could be rendered slave population, staff or servant and slave staff. Strong’s #5657 BDB #715. This is modified by the adjective rabbâh (רָבָּה) [pronounced rahb-BAW], which means, many, much, great (in the sense of large, not acclaimed). Strong's #7227 BDB #912. This adjective is further modified by the adverb m^eʾôd (מְאֹד) [pronounced m^e-ODE], which means muchness, abundance, exceedingly, greatly, very. Strong’s #3966 BDB #547. Altogether, this means Job had a very large staff [or slaves]. With such a huge amount of livestock and no mention of grandsons, it is necessary for Job to have a large staff of cowhands, who were probably both slaves and hirelings. There was a great ancient custom where people who were far in debt sold themselves into slavery in order to repay this debt. The time was specified and their master satisfied the debt.

We, in the United States, because of our peculiar history, have incorrectly concluded that all slavery is wrong. The Bible states that the kind of slavery that we practiced in the United States was wrong; but not that all slavery is wrong. It is wrong to go out and kidnap men (women or children) and then to turn them into slaves. However, a form of slavery is reasonable to pay off debt (and far more honorable than going bankrupt); enslaving peoples of another nation with whom you have gone to war is legitimate; and a person may agree to some form of slavery in order to start a life with some financial backing (he or she may come from a poor country or from a poor family in a poor country; or they may be a widow or an orphan). See the Doctrine of Slavery (HTML) (PDF). Also see Maranatha Church’s Doctrine of Slavery. (much of which was probably originated by R. B. Thieme, Jr.).

One of the poetic devices used in this verse, which is lost in the translation is the trade off between singular and plural. It is possible that these were the common ways to refer to these animals. It reads:

seven of thousand of sheep (singular)

and three of thousand of camels (plural)

and five of hundred of yoke of oxen (singular)

and five of hundred of she-asses (plural)

and a slave staff (singular)—very large.

The Pulpit Commentary: Note, first of all, the absence of horses or mules from this list an indication of high antiquity. Horses were not known in Egypt till the time of the shepherd–kings (about B.C. 1900–1650), who introduced them from Asia. None are given to Abraham by the Pharaoh contemporary with him. (Gen. 12:16) We hear of none as possessed by the patriarchs in Palestine; and, on the whole, it is not probable that they had been known in Western Asia very long before their introduction into Egypt. They are natives of Central Asia, where they are still found wild, and passed gradually by exportation to the more southern regions, Armenia, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Arabia. Note, secondly, that the items of Job’s wealth accord with those of Abraham’s. (Gen. 12:16). You will also note that this fits well into the time period that I have assigned to it. This was not written by some fanciful mind in 800 b.c., who accidently places horses in a place where they do not belong. Furthermore, the number of cattle given is appropriate for that day and age for the richest man in the world to have.

Because Job was as wealthy as is described here, this indicates that he was several generations removed from Uz in order to acquire all of this wealth. In our own modern economy, he would be said to have acquired a diversified and wealthy portfolio of stocks and bonds, well-performing mutual funds, perhaps owned some real estate and precious metals. However, in that economy, wealth was measured by the size of your family and the number of livestock which you possessed; and, on occasion, the land that you occupied (although that apparently was much rarer in the ancient world). In Job’s time and area, the land was less important because most people with livestock moved from place to place for new grazing area. However, Job clearly did some farming as well (Job 1:14).

Barnes: Land is not mentioned as a part of this wealth; for among nomadic tribes living by pasturage, the right to the soil in fee simple is not claimed by individuals, the right of pasturage or a temporary possession being all that is needed.

Furthermore, if the people had just began to separate a couple of generations back, then various families and tribes are still spreading out and not particularly laying claim to this or that plot of land. This may seem odd to you or I, who own a house and the dirt under it—but look at this from the standpoint of some hobo who meanders about (there are a couple I have seen regularly in my general area). They do not have a well-defined space which belongs to them (in most cases) if they move about. Job may plow a field for crops, but most of his animals graze, and Job needs to move them about so that they do not completely destroy a land area. So Job, no doubt, has a particular area in which he lives, but the exact boundaries are not clearly laid out (as will be done, for instance, with Israel in the second half of the book of Joshua).

Barnes: To understand this book, as well as most of the books of the Old Testament, it is necessary for us to lay aside our notions of living, and transfer ourselves in imagination to the very dissimilar customs of the East.

Dunagan: From the rest of the book we will also learn that Job was highly respected (29:7-11); a fair and honest judge (29:7, 12-17); a wise counselor (29:21-24); a honest employer (31:13-15, 38-39); hospitable and generous (31:16-21,32), and a farmer of crops (31:38-40).

Translation: Therefore, this man is wealthier [lit., greater] than all sons of antiquity. The final word found here is qedem (קֶדֶם) [pronounced KAY-dem], which means from the front; from the east, eastward, toward the east; front; that which is before; antiquity; beginning; eternity past; aforetime. The connection between these words is that the beginning of things is thought to be in the east, as that is where the sun rises and that is where civilization began (although east is obviously a relative term). That which is the beginning is also old, antiquious and ancient. We are not speaking of a particular geographical area, but we are speaking of a particular time. Of the sons of antiquity, Job was the wealthiest man. Strong’s #6924 BDB #870.

Now, although this noun could mean east, one might expect a definite article affixed to qedem, but there is not. So I would have here, instead, from antiquity. So this is a man so rich, that he is richer than any man who has preceded him in time. Furthermore, what would be the point of comparing him to the men of the east (unless, of course, the author was familiar with those in the east, but not elsewhere). I think that I stand alone in this interpretation. Job lives toward the west somewhat (although this is uncertain); but I think it is best to understand that, he was the richest man up to that point in time.

This helps to place him in time. Jacob, in order to placate the anger of Esau, which he expected, preceded his return to Esau with hundreds of animals as gifts to Esau (Gen. 32). We would expect that Jacob offered Esau a considerable portion of his personal wealth. I do not know what was polite, whether it was 10% or 51%, or just exactly the numbers here, but Jacob is never really spoken of as being an incredibly wealthy man, although God did prosper him greatly. For this reason, I would say that Job pre-dates most or all of the patriarchs. Given Job’s supposed age (more than 140; probably more than 200), I would place him as being somewhere between a fifth to tenth generation person from the flood. This also fits in quite well with the notion of the land of Uz which was discussed in v. 1.

Given this information, I would place him at the time of Abraham or before, going back a few hundred years. Although it is even possible that Job lived during the antediluvian period of time, that just seems unlikely, because of the age thing..

As was mentioned, Job’s wealth was not measured in land, as he was a part of a nomadic culture, probably the head of a nomadic tribe. Their wealth was not attributed to structures or to land, but to their livestock. In fact, they lived in tents, primarily, although we do not know if this was the case with Job and his family. It is said that Job’s 7000 sheep corresponded to his seven sons and that his 3000 camels corresponded to his three daughters. Barnes gives the example of a Persian king from 1676 ad who suffered the loss of 3000 camels to marauding tartars, as he only had 7000. Job, who lived several millenniums prior to this Persian king, was equally wealthy, indicating almost untold wealth for his own day.

It is worth noting that many men dedicated to God have been rich, including Job, Abraham, Isaac, David and Solomon. The Bible never records a single instance of God telling these men to give all of their money to the poor. That being said, Job certainly was liberal in his giving to the less fortunate: If I have refused the wishes of the poor or let the widow's eyes go blind, if I have eaten my few crumbs alone without letting the fatherless eat any of it—for from my youth, I raised him as his father, and since the day I was born I guided the widow—if I have seen anyone dying for lack of clothing or a needy person without a cloak, if he did not bless me while warming himself with the fleece from my sheep, if I ever cast my vote against a fatherless child when I saw that I had support in the city gate, then let my shoulder blade fall from my back, and my arm be pulled from its socket (Job 31:16–22).

Application: There are many believers who pray the prayer, “Please God, test me with the prosperity test!” However, with money comes additional responsibility toward those who are poorer than you; and there are additional pressures from those who want to take your wealth from you. At $20,000 salary a year, you probably will not be sued; at a $100,000 salary, you may be surprised as to how often you are sued.

Application: There is also a responsibility that goes along with wealth. You have to determine what you are going to do with much of that wealth apart from spending it on yourself.

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