Job 1:3

1:3 His possessions ¹  included ²  7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys; in addition he had a very great household. ³  Thus he ⁴  was the greatest of all the people in the east. ⁵ 

Job 1:12

1:12 So the Lord said to Satan, “All right then, ⁶  everything he has is ⁷  in your power. ⁸  Only do not extend your hand against the man himself!” ⁹  So Satan went out ¹⁰  from the presence of the Lord. ¹¹ 

Job 2:10-11

2:10 But he replied, ¹²  “You’re talking like one of the godless ¹³  women would do! Should we receive ¹⁴  what is good from God, and not also ¹⁵  receive ¹⁶  what is evil?” ¹⁷  In all this Job did not sin by what he said. ¹⁸ 

The Visit of Job’s Friends ¹⁹ 

2:11 When Job’s three friends heard about all this calamity that had happened to him, each of them came from his own country ²⁰  – Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. ²¹  They met together ²²  to come to show sympathy ²³  for him and to console ²⁴  him.

[1:3]  ¹ tn The word means “cattle, livestock, possessions” (see also Gen 26:14). Here it includes the livestock, but also the entire substance of his household.

[1:3]  ² tn Or “amounted to,” “totaled.” The preterite of הָיָה (hayah, “to be”) is sometimes employed to introduce a total amount or an inventory (see Exod 1:5; Num 3:43).

[1:3]  ³ tn The word עֲבֻדָּה (’avuddah, “service of household servants”) indicates that he had a very large body of servants, meaning a very large household.

[1:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “and that man.”

[1:3]  ⁵ tn The expression is literally “sons of the east.” The use of the genitive after “sons” in this construction may emphasize their nature (like “sons of belial”); it would refer to them as easterners (like “sons of the south” in contemporary American English). BDB 869 s.v. קֶדֶם says “dwellers in the east.”

[1:12]  ⁶ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold”) introduces a foundational clause upon which the following volitional clause is based.

[1:12]  ⁷ tn The versions add a verb here: “delivered to” or “abandoned to” the hand of Satan.

[1:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “in your hand.” The idiom means that it is now Satan’s to do with as he pleases.

[1:12]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew word order emphatically holds out Job’s person as the exception: “only upon him do not stretch forth your hand.”

[1:12]  ¹⁰ tn The Targum to Job adds “with permission” to show that he was granted leave from God’s presence.

[1:12]  ¹¹ sn So Satan, having received his permission to test Job’s sincerity, goes out from the Lord’s presence. But Satan is bound by the will of the Most High not to touch Job himself. The sentence gives the impression that Satan’s departure is with a certain eagerness and confidence.

[2:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he said to her.”

[2:10]  ¹² tn The word “foolish” (נָבָל, naval) has to do with godlessness more than silliness (Ps 14:1). To be foolish in this sense is to deny the nature and the work of God in life its proper place. See A. Phillips, “NEBALA – A Term for Serious Disorderly Unruly Conduct,” VT 25 (1975): 237-41; and W. M. W. Roth, “NBL,” VT 10 (1960): 394-409.

[2:10]  ¹³ tn The verb קִבֵּל (qibbel) means “to accept, receive.” It is attested in the Amarna letters with the meaning “receive meekly, patiently.”

[2:10]  ¹⁴ tn The adverb גָּם (gam, “also, even”) is placed here before the first clause, but belongs with the second. It intensifies the idea (see GKC 483 §153). See also C. J. Labuschagne, “The Emphasizing Particle GAM and Its Connotations,” Studia Biblica et Semitica, 193-203.

[2:10]  ¹⁵ tn The two verbs in this sentence, Piel imperfects, are deliberative imperfects; they express the reasoning or deliberating in the interrogative sentences.

[2:10]  ¹⁶ tn A question need not be introduced by an interrogative particle or adverb. The natural emphasis on the words is enough to indicate it is a question (GKC 473 §150.a).

[2:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “sin with his lips,” an idiom meaning he did not sin by what he said.

[2:11]  ¹⁶ sn See N. C. Habel, “‘Only the Jackal is My Friend,’ On Friends and Redeemers in Job,” Int 31 (1977): 227-36.

[2:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a man from his place”; this is the distributive use, meaning “each man came from his place.”

[2:11]  ¹⁸ sn Commentators have tried to analyze the meanings of the names of the friends and their locations. Not only has this proven to be difficult (Teman is the only place that is known), it is not necessary for the study of the book. The names are probably not symbolic of the things they say.

[2:11]  ¹⁹ tn The verb can mean that they “agreed together”; but it also (and more likely) means that they came together at a meeting point to go visit Job together.

[2:11]  ²⁰ tn The verb “to show grief” is נוּד (nud), and literally signifies “to shake the head.” It may be that his friends came to show the proper sympathy and express the appropriate feelings. They were not ready for what they found.

[2:11]  ²¹ tn The second infinitive is from נָחָם (nakham, “to comfort, console” in the Piel). This word may be derived from a word with a meaning of sighing deeply.