Job 1:3 NIV

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 1:3

Wealth and piety. I. THEIR COMMON CHARACTERISTICS . 1 . God ' s gifts ; and therefore to be received with thankfulness. 2 . Man ' s ornaments ; and therefore to be borne humbly. 3 . A Christian ' s talents ; and therefore to be used with fidelity. II. THEIR RECIPROCAL RELATIONS . 1 . Wealth and piety are not necessarily incompatible. 2 . Wealth and piety are often mutually destructive. 3 . Wealth and piety may prove reciprocally... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 1:3

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. The wealth of nomadic tribes, however, consisted mostly in flocks and herds, and hence the word in the Scripture signifies, almost exclusively, property in cattle. The word, says Gesenius, is used “strictly” to denote sheep, goats, and neat cattle, excluding beasts of burden... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 1:3

Job 1:3. His substance also was seven thousand sheep Namely, seven thousand small cattle, whether sheep or goats, in opposition to the larger cattle next mentioned. And three thousand camels Camels in these parts were very numerous, as is manifest from Judges 7:12; 1 Chronicles 5:21, and the testimonies of Aristotle and Pliny; and very useful, both for carrying burdens in those hot and dry countries, being able to endure thirst much better than other creatures, and for service in war. ... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Job 1:1-22

1:1-2:13 SATAN TESTS JOBFrom prosperity to ruin (1:1-22)A popular belief in ancient times was that prosperity and well-being were proofs of godliness, but poverty and suffering were proofs of ungodliness. They were signs that God was either rewarding or punishing a person, according to whether that person’s life was good or bad. The book of Job contradicts this belief. Yet the prosperous and contented Job was indeed a godly person who was blameless in all that he did. He was concerned also for... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Job 1:3

and. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton. App-6 . men = sons. read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Job 1:3

Job 1:3. The greatest of all the men of the east— Grotius and others observe, that Job's being here called the greatest of all the men of the east, is an argument that the book must have been written by some Israelite, or inhabitant of the land of Canaan; Job's country lying eastward from thence, and it being usual with the Hebrews to call Arabia the east. But if it was usual with any other people beside the Hebrews to call Arabia the east, then this can be no argument that the writer of the... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Job 1:3

3. she-asses—prized on account of their milk, and for riding ( :-). Houses and lands are not mentioned among the emir's wealth, as nomadic tribes dwell in movable tents and live chiefly by pasture, the right to the soil not being appropriated by individuals. The "five hundred yoke of oxen" imply, however, that Job tilled the soil. He seems also to have had a dwelling in a town, in which respect he differed from the patriarchs. Camels are well called "ships of the desert," especially valuable... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Job 1:1-5

A. Job’s Character 1:1-5Uz (Job 1:1) was probably southeast of the Dead Sea (cf. Job 1:3; Job 1:14; Job 1:19; Job 42:12). [Note: See Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, s.v. "Uz," by G. Frederick Owen.] Some scholars place it in Bashan south of Damascus, but the writer of Lamentations (probably Jeremiah) associated the land of Uz with Edom (Lamentations 4:21). References to customs, geography, and natural history elsewhere in the book support this general location (cf. Jeremiah... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Job 1:1-22

The PrologueJob 1, 2, which form the Prologue to the book, describe (a) the prosperity and piety of Job; (b) a scene in heaven in which the Satan questions the motives of his piety; and (c) his subsequent trials, which are permitted by God in order to test and confirm His servant’s righteousness, and to show to angels and men that a man may serve God for His own sake and not from self-interest. So far from being dependent on outside conditions the true servant of God will endure the severest... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Job 1:3

(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. read more