Job 1:2
in Job 1He had seven sons and three daughters,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.
KJV
And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.
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This verse in Job 1
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters - The same number was given to him again after these were lost, and his severe trials had been endured; see Job 42:13. Of his second family the names of the daughters are mentioned, Job 42:14. Of his first, it is remarkable that neither the names of his wife, his sons nor his daughters are recorded. The Chaldee, however, on what authority is unknown, says that the name of his wife was דינה dı̂ynâh, Job 2:9.
This site's exposition
a man in the land of Uz
on Job 1:1-3
Uz sits in the Edomite orbit, the land Lamentations links with the daughter of Edom. Job is a patriarch outside Israel from the first line. The words "blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil" describe moral completeness and integrity, the sense Gill and Henry both give them.
This site's exposition
He had seven sons and three daughters
Seven sons and three daughters is the family Job loses in verse 19 and receives again at Job 42:13. Barnes notes that the daughters of the second family are named at Job 42:14, while these first children go unnamed. Matthew Henry counts children among the blessings of a godly house.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Notice how the author first of all speaks about Job's virtue and then of the goods Job has received from God. Observe the opportunity Job received to have children, and the proportion of children who are boys, desired as a source of greater benefit. Scripture says immediately why the man must receive our praise. It is because of the greatness of Job's virtue and the fruitfulness of his soul. And indeed we derive all such goods from virtue. That is why I speak about beautiful and plentiful progeny. "There shall not be," Scripture says, "male or female barren among you." But Abraham was childless, so that you might learn that Abraham's goods were not the reward of virtue but of other goods. Therefore God has promised those goods in order to be generous to you.
The Medieval Church4 voices
HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION. And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. The heart of the parent is often enticed into avarice by a numerous offspring, for he is the more inflamed with ambition for laying up an inheritance, in proportion as he abounds in the number to inherit it. In order then that it might be shewn what holiness of mind blessed Job possessed, he is both called righteous, and is said to have been the father of a numerous offspring. And the same man in the beginning of his book is declared devout in offering sacrifices, and besides he afterwards with his own mouth records himself as ready in giving alms. Let us then consider with what resolution he shewed himself to be endowed, whom no feelings of affection for so many heirs could ever dispose to be greedy of an inheritance for them.
MORAL INTERPRETATION. And forasmuch as each particular vice is stifled by fear, whilst the several virtues spring from charity, it is rightly added, And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. For there are seven sons born to us, when by the conception of good intent the seven virtues of the holy Spirit spring up in us. Thus the Prophet particularizes this inward offspring, when the Spirit renders the mind fruitful, in these words; And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and piety, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill him. So when by the coming of the Holy Spirit there is engendered in each of us, 'wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, piety, and the fear of the Lord,' something like a lasting posterity is begotten in the mind, which preserves the stock of our nobility that is above unto life, for so much the longer as it allies it with the love of eternity. Yet surely the seven sons have in us three sisters, forasmuch as all that manly work which these virtuous affections do, they unite with faith, hope, and charity. For the seven sons never attain the perfection of the number ten, unless all that they do be done in faith, hope, and charity.
When both the person and the virtue of this man have been described then his prosperity is shown so that the adversity which follows may be judged to be more grave because of the prosperity which precedes it. At the same time, this also demonstrates …
ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION. And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters.
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And there were born unto him,....
Some of each sex, and more of the more noble sex, in which the family is built up. Children must be looked upon as blessings, for so they are, especially to good people, that will give them good instructions, and set them good examples, and put up good prayers for them.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
There was a man in the land of Uz This means in the land of Aram, as it is written (Gen.: 21): “Uz, his firstborn,” of the sons of Nahor.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּוָּ֥לְדוּ | vaiyivaldu | and they were born | H3205 → | 496 times |
| ל֛וֹ | lo | to him | ||
| שִׁבְעָ֥ה | shivah | seven | H7651 → | 394 times |
| בָנִ֖ים | vanim | sons | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וְשָׁל֥וֹשׁ | veshaloosh | and three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| בָּנֽוֹת׃ | banot | daughters | H1323 → | 588 times |
וַיִּוָּ֥לְדוּand they were born
vaiyivalduH3205 →496 times
ל֛וֹto him
lo
שִׁבְעָ֥הseven
shivahH7651 →394 times
בָנִ֖יםsons
vanimH1121 →4930 times
וְשָׁל֥וֹשׁand three
veshalooshH7969 →432 times
בָּנֽוֹת׃daughters
banotH1323 →588 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 128:3Your wife will be like a fruitful vine flourishing within your house, your sons like olive shoots sitting around your table.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 19:10
Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, planted by the water; it was fruitful and full of branches because of the abundant waters.
- Psalms 52:8
But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in the loving devotion of God forever and ever.
- Romans 11:24
For if you were cut from a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into one that is cultivated, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their…
- Genesis 49:22
Joseph is a fruitful vine—a fruitful vine by a spring, whose branches scale the wall.
- Proverbs 5:15–18
Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.
- Ezekiel 19:10
Through
Psalms 107:38He blesses them, and they multiply greatly; He does not let their herds diminish.
it leads to
- Exodus 1:7
but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.
- Genesis 17:20
As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make…
- Genesis 12:2
I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
- Exodus 1:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies13
On this chapter
About Job
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book I; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 1:2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.