Job 1:2

1:2 Seven ¹  sons and three daughters were born to him. ² 

Job 42:13

42:13 And he also had seven sons ³  and three daughters.

Job 1:13

Job’s Integrity in Adversity ⁴ 

1:13 Now the day ⁵  came when Job’s ⁶  sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,

Job 1:18

1:18 While this one was still speaking another messenger arrived and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,

Job 42:15

42:15 Nowhere in all the land could women be found who were as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance alongside their brothers.

Job 42:14

42:14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, ⁷  the second Keziah, ⁸  and the third Keren-Happuch. ⁹ 

[1:2]  ¹ sn The numbers used in the chapter, seven, three, and five, carry the symbolism in the Bible of perfection and completeness (see J. J. Davis, Biblical Numerology). Job’s “seven sons” are listed first because in the East sons were considered more valuable than daughters (recall Ruth, who is “better than seven sons” [Ruth 4:15]).

[1:2]  ² tn The verb begins the sentence: “and there were born.” This use of the preterite with vav (ו) consecutive, especially after the verb הָיָה (hayah, “to be”), is explanatory: there was a man…and there was born to him…” (IBHS 551-52 §33.2.2b).

[42:13]  ³ tn The word for “seven” is spelled in an unusual way. From this some have thought it means “twice seven,” or fourteen sons. Several commentators take this view; but it is probably not warranted.

[1:13]  ⁵ sn The series of catastrophes and the piety of Job is displayed now in comprehensive terms. Everything that can go wrong goes wrong, and yet Job, the pious servant of Yahweh, continues to worship him in the midst of the rubble. This section, and the next, will lay the foundation for the great dialogues in the book.

[1:13]  ⁶ tn The Targum to Job clarifies that it was the first day of the week. The fact that it was in the house of the firstborn is the reason.

[1:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[42:14]  ⁷ sn The Hebrew name Jemimah means “dove.”

[42:14]  ⁸ sn The Hebrew name Keziah means “cassia.”

[42:14]  ⁹ sn The Hebrew name Keren-Happuch means “horn of eye-paint.”