Job 42:12
in Job 42So the LORD blessed Job’s latter days more than his first. He owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So Jehovah blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: and he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses.
KJV
So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.
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This verse in Job 42
Commentary
9 notes on this verseSo the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning,.... Which verified the words of Bildad, Job 8:6; though they were spoken by him only by way of supposition.
This site's exposition
So the LORD blessed
on Job 42:12-13
Each figure, “14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys”, doubles chapter 1. The “seven sons and three daughters” match the first family's number. Henry and Wesley read the children as doubled too, the first ten alive to God though dead to Job.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XXXV · Written before 604.
proposed
But the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. 35. We believe that these things have taken place historically, we hope that they are to take place mystically. For the latter end of Job is blessed more than his beginning, because as far as concerns the admission of the people of Israel, when the end of the present world is pressing on, the Lord consoles the pain of Holy Church by a manifold ingathering of souls.
These were insufficient to restore him, but the Lord assisted him with his own hand that from these small things he might progress to greater ones, and so the text says, "But the Lord blessed the last days of Job," by lengthening them, "more than …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Just double to what they were, chap. i, 3. This is a remarkable instance of the extent of the Divine providence, to things that seem minute as this, the exact number of a man's cattle; as also of the harmony of providence, and the reference of one event to another: for known unto God are all his works, from the beginning to the end.
Of a wicked man it is said, His last state is worse than his first ( Luke xi. 26 ), but of the upright man, His end is peace; and sometimes the nearer it is the clearer are the views of it.
Here he goes on with words to the same purport. Though his patience had not its perfect work, his repentance for his impatience had. He is here thoroughly humbled for his folly and unadvised speaking, and it was forgiven him.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The Lord blessed the latter end of Job - Was it not in consequence of his friends bringing him a lamb, sheep, or other kind of cattle, and the quantity of gold mentioned, that his stock of sheep was increased so speedily to 14,000, his camels to 6000, his oxen to 2000, and his she-asses to 1000? Mr. Heath takes the story of the conduct of Job’s friends by the worst handle; see Job 42:
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job - To wit, by giving him double what he had possessed before his calamities came upon him; see Job 42:10. For he had fourteen thousand sheep ... - The possessions which are here enumerated are in each instance just twice as much as he possessed in the early part of his life. In regard to their value, and the rank in society which they indicated, see the notes at Job 1:3. The only thing which is omitted here, and which it is not said was doubled, was his “household,” or “husbandry” (Job 1:3, “margin”), but it is evident that this must have been increased in a corresponding manner to have enabled him to keep and maintain such flocks and herds. We are not to suppose that these were granted to him at once, but as he lived an hundred and forty years after his afflictions, he had ample time to accumulate this property.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
previous All who were his friends and acquaintances before the sufferings befell him.
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. 6 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
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַֽיהוָ֗ה | vayahweh | and Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בֵּרַ֛ךְ | berakh | he blessed | H1288 → | 330 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אַחֲרִ֥ית | ʾacharit | [the] latter part of | H319 → | |
| אִיּ֖וֹב | ʾiyov | Job | H347 → | 58 times |
| מֵרֵאשִׁת֑וֹ | mereshito | more than beginning his | H7225 → | 51 times |
| וַֽיְהִי־ | vayhi- | and it belonged | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| ל֡וֹ | lo | to him | ||
| אַרְבָּעָה֩ | ʾarbaah | four- | H702 → | 318 times |
| עָשָׂ֨ר | ʾasar | teen | H6240 → | |
| אֶ֜לֶף | ʾelef | thousand | H505 → | 505 times |
| צֹ֗אן | tzon | sheep | H6629 → | 274 times |
| וְשֵׁ֤שֶׁת | vesheshet | and six | H8337 → | |
| אֲלָפִים֙ | ʾalafim | thousand<s> | H505 → | 505 times |
| גְּמַלִּ֔ים | gemalim | camels | H1581 → | 54 times |
| וְאֶֽלֶף־ | veelef- | and one thousand | H505 → | 505 times |
| צֶ֥מֶד | tzemed | pair[s] of | H6776 → | |
| בָּקָ֖ר | bakar | ox[en] | H1241 → | 183 times |
| וְאֶ֥לֶף | veelef | and a thousand | H505 → | 505 times |
| אֲתוֹנֽוֹת׃ | ʾatonot | female donkeys | H860 → | 34 times |
וַֽיהוָ֗הand Yahweh
vayahwehH3068 →6520 times
בֵּרַ֛ךְhe blessed
berakhH1288 →330 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אַחֲרִ֥ית[the] latter part of
ʾacharitH319 →
אִיּ֖וֹבJob
ʾiyovH347 →58 times
מֵרֵאשִׁת֑וֹmore than beginning his
mereshitoH7225 →51 times
וַֽיְהִי־and it belonged
vayhi-H1961 →3559 times
ל֡וֹto him
lo
אַרְבָּעָה֩four-
ʾarbaahH702 →318 times
עָשָׂ֨רteen
ʾasarH6240 →
אֶ֜לֶףthousand
ʾelefH505 →505 times
צֹ֗אןsheep
tzonH6629 →274 times
וְשֵׁ֤שֶׁתand six
vesheshetH8337 →
אֲלָפִים֙thousand<s>
ʾalafimH505 →505 times
גְּמַלִּ֔יםcamels
gemalimH1581 →54 times
וְאֶֽלֶף־and one thousand
veelef-H505 →505 times
צֶ֥מֶדpair[s] of
tzemedH6776 →
בָּקָ֖רox[en]
bakarH1241 →183 times
וְאֶ֥לֶףand a thousand
veelefH505 →505 times
אֲתוֹנֽוֹת׃female donkeys
ʾatonotH860 →34 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
Proverbs 10:22The blessing of the LORD enriches, and He adds no sorrow to it.
it leads to
- Psalms 107:38
He blesses them, and they multiply greatly; He does not let their herds diminish.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 26:12
Now Isaac sowed seed in the land, and that very year he reaped a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him,
- 1 Samuel 2:7–8
The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.
- Genesis 24:35
“The LORD has greatly blessed my master, and he has become rich. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, camels and donkeys.
- 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.
- Psalms 107:38
Through
Job 8:7Though your beginnings were modest, your latter days will flourish.
it leads to
- Job 42:12–13
So the LORD blessed Job’s latter days more than his first. He owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.
- Matthew 13:31–32
He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man planted in his field.
- Job 42:12–13
Through
Ecclesiastes 7:8The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one.
it leads to
- Hebrews 10:36
You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.
- Hebrews 10:36
Where this verse is studied
About Job
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXXV; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.