Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/3_100_t.lzh/3_190.TXT

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Ver. 2. And there were born unto him, &c.] By
his wife, in lawful wedlock, who was now living,-and
after mentioned: seven sons and three daughters; next
to his religious character, his graces, and spiritual
blessings, and as the chief of his outward mercies and
enjoyments, his children are mention.ed; and which
are indeed blessings from the Lord, and suck as good
men, and those that fear the Lord, are sometimes
blessed with, see Psal. cxxvii. 3, 4, 5. and cxxviii.
3, 4. and to have a numerous offspring was always
esteemed a very great fayour and blessing, and as such
was reckoned by Job; who, having so many sons,
might hope to have his name perpetuated by them, as
well as his substance shared among them; and having
so many daughters, he might please himself with the
thought of marrying them into families, which would
strengthen his friendship and alliance with them;
just the same number of sons and daughters had Bac-
chaeus, the third king of Corinth }y}.
Ver. 3.' His substance also was 7,000 sheep, &c.]
For which hemust have a large pasturage to feed them
on, as well as these would produce much wool for
clothing, and flesh for food; this part of his substance
or possessions is mentioned first, as being the largest,
and most useful and profitable: and 3,000 camels;
creatures fit to carry burdens, and travel with, and were
greatly valued on that account, especially in the deserts
of Arabia, near to which Job lived; and that not only
because they were strong for this purpose, but because
they could endure much thirst and want of water for a
long time; see the note on Lev. xi. 4. it seems by this
that Job carried on a commerce, and traded in distant
parts, whither he sent the p'roduce of his lands and
cattle, and trafficked with the.m: these camels might
not only be he, but she camels also, according to
the Septuagint version, which might be kept for
breeding, and for their milk: Aristotle observes {z},
some of the inhabitants of the upper Asia used
to have camels, to the number of 3,000, the exact
number here mentioned; and by the number of
these creatures the Arabians estimated their riches
and possessions {a}; and so sheep are by the Greeks
called \~mhla\~, as it is thought, from the Arabic
word ***, to be rich {b}; the riches of other peo-
ple, and of particular persons, as of Geryon, Atlas, and
Polyphemus, are represented as chiefly consisting of
their flocks, and also of their herds {c}, as follows: and
500 yoke of oxen; to plough his land with, of which he
must have a large quantity to employ such a number
in, see 1 Kings xix. 19. and 500 she-asses; which
must be chiefly for their milk; and no doubt but he
had a considerable number of he-asses also, though
not mentioned, which, as well as the others, were
usedto ride on, and also to plough with, in those coun-
tries.; it may be rendered only asses as by some, and
so may include both: Aristaeus, Philo, and Polyhistor d
give the same account of Job's substance in the several
articles as here: and a very great household: this
must be understood of his servants only, since his chil-
dren are before taken notice of; and the same phrase
is rendered great store of servants, Gen. xxvi. 14. and
in the margin, husbandry or tillage, large fields and
farms; and the sense comes to much the same,
whether it is taken the one way or the other; if great
store of servantS, he must have large farms and many
fields to employ them in; and if a large husbandry,
and much ground for tillage, he must have many ser-
vants to manure and cultivate them: now these several
articles are mentioned, because, in those timers and
countries, as has been observed, the substance of men
chiefly lay in them, and according to them they were
reckoned more or less rich; not but that they had
gold and silver also, as Abraham had, Gen. xiii. 1. and
so had Job, ch. xxxi. 24. but these were the prin-
cipal things: so that this man was the greatest of all the
men of the east; that lived in Arabia, Chaldea, and
other eastern countries; that is, he was a man of the
greatest wealth and riches, and of the greatest power
and authority, and was had in the greatest bonour and
esteem: now these temporal blessings are observed,
to shew that grace and earthly riches are compatible,
that they may, and sometimes do, meet in the same
person; as also to point at the goodness of God, in
bestowing such blessings on this good man., thereby
fulfilling the promise made to godliness and godly
men, which respects this life, and that which is to
come; and they are mentioned chiefly for the sake of
the loss of these things after related, whereby the
greatness of his loss and of Iris afflictions would be the
more easily perceived, and his patience in bearing
th. em appear the more illustrious; for by how much
the greater was his substance, by so much the greater
were his losses and trials, and the more remarkable his
patience under them.
Ver. 4. And his sons went and feasted in their houses,
every one his day, &c.] It appears by this that Job's
sons were grown up to men's estate, that they were
from him, and were for themselves, and carried on a
separate business on their own accounts, and had
houses of their own, and, perhaps, were married; and
being at some distance from each other, they met by
appointment at certain times in their.own houses, and
had friendly and family entertainments in turn; for
such were their feasts, net designed for intemperance,
luxury, and wantonness, for then they would not have
been encouraged, nor even connived at, by Job; but to
cherish love and affection, and maintain harmony and
unity among themselves, which must be very pleasing
to their parent; for a pleasant thing it is for any, and
especially for parents, to behold brethren dwelling to-
gether in unity, Psal. cxxxiii. '1. besides, these feasts
were kept, not in public houses, much less in houses
of ill fame, but in their own houses, among them-
selves, at certain seasons, which they took in turn;
and these were either at their time of sheep-shearing,
which was a time of feasting, 1 Sam. xxv. 2, 36. or at
the weaning of a child, Gen. xxi. 8. or rather on each of
their birth-days, which in those early times were ob-


{y} Heraclides de Politiis ad calcem AElian. Var. Hist. p. 439.
{z} Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 50.
{a} Leo African. Descript. Africae, l. 9. p. 745.
{b} Hinckelman. Praefat. ad Alkorau.
{c} Vid. Homer. Odyss. 14. ver. 100, &c. Virgil. AEneid. l. 7. ver.
537. Justin e Trogo, l. 44. c. 4. Theocrit. Idyll. 11. ver. 34. Ovid.                     Ovid.
Metamorph. l. 4. Fab. 17. & l. 13. Fab. 8.
{d} Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 9. c. 25. p. 430.