Albert Barnes Commentary Job 1:3

"His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the children of the east." — Job 1:3 (ASV)

His substance - Margin, or “cattle.” The word used here מקנה mı̂qneh is derived from קנה qânâh—to gain or acquire, to buy or purchase, and properly means anything acquired or purchased: property, possessions, riches. The wealth of nomadic tribes, however, consisted mostly in flocks and herds, and therefore the word in Scripture signifies, almost exclusively, property in cattle. The word, says Gesenius, is used “strictly” to denote sheep, goats, and cattle, excluding beasts of burden (compare Greek κτῆνος ktēnos—herd, used here by the Septuagint), though sometimes the word includes donkeys and camels, as in this place.

Seven thousand sheep - In this verse we have a description of the wealth of an Arab ruler or chief, similar to that of those who are today called “Emirs.” Indeed, the whole description in the book is that which is applicable to the chief of a tribe. The possessions referred to in this verse would constitute considerable wealth anywhere, and particularly in the nomadic tribes of the East. Land is not mentioned as a part of this wealth; for among nomadic tribes living by pasturage, the right to the soil in fee simple is not claimed by individuals, the right of pasturage or a temporary possession being all that is needed. For the same reason, and from the fact that their circumstances require them to live in movable tents, houses are not mentioned as a part of the wealth of this Emir.

To understand this book, as well as most of the books of the Old Testament, it is necessary for us to lay aside our notions of living and transfer ourselves in imagination to the very dissimilar customs of the East. The Chaldee has made a very singular explanation of this verse, which must be regarded as the work of fancy, but which shows the character of that version: “And his possessions were seven thousand sheep - a thousand for each of his sons; and three thousand camels - a thousand for each of his daughters; and five hundred yoke of oxen - for himself; and five hundred she-asses - for his wife.”

And three thousand camels - Camels are well-known beasts of burden, still extensively used in Arabia. The Arabs employed these animals in ancient times in war, in their caravans, and for food. They are frequently called “ships of the desert,” particularly valuable in arid plains because they can go many days without water. They carry from three to five hundred pounds, in proportion to the distance they have to travel. Providence has adapted the camel with wonderful wisdom to sandy deserts, and in all ages, the camel must be an invaluable possession there.

All the food he requires is the driest thistle and the barest thorn, and this he eats while advancing on his journey without stopping or causing a moment’s delay. As it is his lot to cross immense deserts where no water is found and where no dews fall, he is endowed with the ability to store water that will last him for days—Bruce says for thirty days.

To achieve this, nature has provided him with large reservoirs or stomachs, where the water is kept pure, and from which he draws at will as from a fountain. No other animal is endowed with this power, and if it were not for this, it would be wholly impracticable to cross those immense plains of sand. The Arabians, the Persians, and others eat the flesh of camels, and it is served up at the best tables in the country. One of the ancient Arab poets, whose hospitality grew into a proverb, is reported to have killed yearly, in a certain month, ten camels every day for the entertainment of his friends.

In regard to the hardiness of camels and their ability to live on the coarsest fare, Burckhardt has stated a fact that may provide an illustration. In a journey he made from the country south of the Dead Sea to Egypt, he says, “During the whole of this journey, the camels had no other fodder than the withered shrubs of the desert, my dromedary excepted, to which I gave a few handfuls of barley each evening.” (Travels in Syria, p. 451; compare Bruce’s Travels, volume iv, p. 596; Niebuhr, Reisebeschreibung nach Arabien, Volume 1, p. 215; Sandys, p. 138; Harmer’s Observations, 4:415, London edition, 1808, octavo; and Rob. Cal.)

And five hundred yoke of oxen - The fact that Job had so many oxen implies that he devoted himself to the cultivation of the soil as well as to keeping flocks and herds; compare Job 1:14. So large a number of oxen would constitute wealth anywhere.

And five hundred she-asses - Bryant remarks (Observations, p. 61) that a great part of the wealth of the inhabitants of the East often consisted of she-asses, the males being few and not valued as highly. She-asses are mentioned early on as having been in common use for riding (Numbers 22:25; Judges 5:10; 2 Kings 4:24 (Hebrew)). One reason the donkey was chosen in preference to the horse was that it subsisted on so much less than that animal, as no animal except the camel could be kept as easily as the donkey. She-asses were also regarded as the most valuable because, in traversing the deserts of the country, they would furnish travelers with milk. It is remarkable that “cows” are not explicitly mentioned in this enumeration of the articles of Job’s wealth, though “butter” is referred to by him subsequently as having been abundant in his family (Job 29:6).

It is possible, however, that “cows” were included as a part of the “five hundred yoke of בקר bâqâr,” here rendered “oxen,” but which would be quite as appropriately rendered “cattle.” The word is in the common gender and is derived from בקר bâqar—in Arabic to cleave, to divide, to lay open, and therefore to plow, to cleave the soil. It properly denotes the animals used in plowing; and it is well known that cows are employed as well as oxen for this purpose in the East (Hosea 4:10). Compare Deuteronomy 32:14, where the word בקר bâqâr is used to denote a cow—for example, in the expression “milk of kine” (see also Genesis 33:13, Hebrew).

And a very great household - Margin, “husbandry.” The Hebrew word here (עבדה ‛ăbûddâh) is ambiguous. It may denote service rendered, that is, work, or the servants who performed it (compare Genesis 26:14, margin). The Septuagint renders it ὑπηρεσία hupēresia; Aquila, δουλεία douleia; and Symmachus, οἰκετία oiketia—all denoting “service,” or “servitude,” or that which related to the domestic service of a family. The word undoubtedly refers to those who had charge of his camels, his cattle, and his husbandry . It is not implied by the word used here, nor by that in Job 1:15, that they were “slaves.” They may have been, but there is nothing to indicate this in the narrative. The Septuagint adds to this, as if explanatory of it, “and his works were great in the land.”

So that this man was the greatest - He possessed the most wealth and was held in the highest honor.

Of all the men of the East - Margin as in Hebrew “sons.” The “sons of the East” denote those who lived in the East. The word “East,” קדם qedem, is commonly employed in the Scriptures to denote the country that lies east of Palestine. For the places intended here, see the Introduction, Section 2, (3).

It is, of course, impossible to estimate with accuracy the exact value of Job’s property. Compared with many people in modern times, indeed, his possessions would not be regarded as very great wealth. The editor of the Pictorial Bible supposes that, on a fair estimate, his property might be considered as worth from thirty to forty thousand pounds sterling—equivalent to some $200,000 (circa 1880s). In this estimate, the camel is reckoned as worth about $45.00, the oxen as worth about $5, and the sheep at a little more than $1, which, it is said, are about the average prices then in Western Asia. Prices, however, fluctuate greatly from one age to another; but in the author’s day, such possessions would be regarded as great wealth in Arabia. The value of Job’s property may be estimated from the fact that he had almost half as many camels as constituted the wealth of a Persian king in more modern times.

Chardin says, “As the king of Persia in the year 1676 was in Mazandaran, the Tartars fell upon the king’s camels and took away three thousand of them, which was a great loss to him, for he had only seven thousand” (Rosenmuller, Morgenland, “in loc.”). We are to regard Job’s condition as that of a rich Arab Emir, and his mode of life as between the nomadic pastoral life and the settled manner of living in communities like ours.

He was a princely shepherd, and yet he was devoted to the cultivation of the soil. It does not appear, however, that he claimed the right of the soil in “fee simple,” nor is his condition inconsistent with the supposition that his residence in any place was regarded as temporary and that all his property might be easily removed. “He belonged to that condition of life which fluctuated between that of the wandering shepherd and that of a people settled in towns. That he resided, or had a residence, in a town is obvious; but his flocks and herds evidently pastured in the deserts, between which and the town his own time was probably divided. He differed from the Hebrew patriarchs chiefly in this, that he did not so much wander about ‘without any certain dwelling place.’”

This mixed condition of life, which is still frequently exhibited in Western Asia, will, we believe, sufficiently account for the diversified character of the allusions and pictures the book contains: to the pastoral life and the scenes and products of the wilderness; to the scenes and circumstances of agriculture; and to the arts and sciences of settled life and of advancing civilization” (Pictorial Bible). It may serve somewhat to illustrate the different ideas regarding what constituted wealth in different countries to compare this statement respecting Job with a remark of Virgil respecting an inhabitant of ancient Italy, whom he calls the most wealthy among the Ausonian farmers:

Seniorque Galaesus.
Dum paci medium se offert; justissimus unus
Qui fuit, Ausoniisque olim ditissimus arvis:
Quinque greges illi balantum, quina redibant
Armenta, et terram centum vertebat aratris.
Aeneid 7:535-539.

Among the rest, the rich Galaesus lies;
A good old man, while peace he preached in vain,
Amid the madness of the unruly train:
Five herds, five bleating flocks his pasture filled,
His lands a hundred yoke of oxen tilled.
Dryden