Job 42:10

42:10 So the Lord restored what Job had lost after he prayed for his friends, and the Lord doubled all that had belonged to Job.

Isaiah 40:2

40:2 “Speak kindly to Jerusalem, and tell her

that her time of warfare is over,

that her punishment is completed.

For the Lord has made her pay double for all her sins.”

Isaiah 61:7

61:7 Instead of shame, you will get a double portion; 10 

instead of humiliation, they will rejoice over the land they receive. 11 

Yes, 12  they will possess a double portion in their land

and experience lasting joy.


tn The paragraph begins with the disjunctive vav, “Now as for the Lord, he….”

sn The expression here is interesting: “he returned the captivity of Job,” a clause used elsewhere in the Bible of Israel (see e.g., Ps 126). Here it must mean “the fortunes of Job,” i.e., what he had lost. There is a good deal of literature on this; for example, see R. Borger, “Zu sub sb(i)t,” ZAW 25 (1954): 315-16; and E. Baumann, ZAW 6 (1929): 17ff.

tn This is a temporal clause, using the infinitive construct with the subject genitive suffix. By this it seems that this act of Job was also something of a prerequisite for restoration – to pray for them.

tn The construction uses the verb “and he added” with the word “repeat” (or “twice”).

tn Heb “speak to the heart of Jerusalem.” Jerusalem is personified as a woman.

map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

tn Heb “that she is filled [with] her warfare.” Some understand צָבָא (tsavah, “warfare”) as meaning “hard service” or “compulsory labor” in this context.

tn Heb “that her punishment is accepted [as satisfactory].”

tn Heb “for she has received from the hand of the Lord double.” The principle of the double portion in punishment is also seen in Jer 16:18; 17:18 and Rev 18:6. For examples of the double portion in Israelite law, see Exod 22:4, 7, 9 (double restitution by a thief) and Deut 21:17 (double inheritance portion for the firstborn).

10 tn Heb “instead of your shame, a double portion.”

11 tn Heb “and [instead of] humiliation they will rejoice [over] their portion.” The term תָחָת (takhat, “instead of”) is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

12 tn Heb “therefore” (so KJV, NASB); NIV “and so.”