Job 1:5

_AND IT WAS SO, WHEN THE DAYS OF THEIR FEASTING WERE GONE ABOUT, THAT JOB SENT AND SANCTIFIED THEM, AND ROSE UP EARLY IN THE MORNING, AND OFFERED BURNT OFFERINGS ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF THEM ALL: FOR JOB SAID, IT MAY BE THAT MY SONS HAVE SINNED, AND CURSED GOD IN THEIR HEARTS. THUS DID JOB CONTINUALLY._ WHEN THE DAYS OF FEASTING WERE GONE ABOUT - i:e., at the end of all the birthdays collectively, when the banquets had gone round through all the families. SENT - i:e., sent and summoned them to him: for Job was not present himself at their feasts (Job 1:13; Job 1:18). JOB SANCTIFIED THEM - by purificatory washings (Genesis 35:2;...

1-5 Job was prosperous, and yet pious. Though it is hard and rare, it is not impossible for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. By God's grace the temptations of worldly wealth may be overcome. The account of Job's piety and prosperity comes before the history of his great afflictions, showing that neither will secure from troubles. While Job beheld the harmony and comforts of his sons with satisfaction, his knowledge of the human heart made him fearful for them. He sent and sanctified them, reminding them to examine themselves, to confess their sins, to seek forgiveness; and as one who hoped for acceptance with God through the promised Saviour, he offered a burnt-offering for each. We perceive his care for their souls, his knowledge of the sinful state of man, his entire dependence on God's mercy in the way he had appointed....

Verse Job 1:5. _WHEN THE DAYS OF_ THEIR _FEASTING WERE GONE ABOUT_] At the conclusion of the year, when the birthday of each had been celebrated, the pious father appears to have gathered them all together, that the whole family might hold a _feast to the Lord_, offering burnt-offerings in order to make an atonement for sins of all kinds, whether presumptuous or committed through ignorance. This we may consider as a general custom among the godly in those ancient times. _AND CURSED GOD IN THEIR HEARTS._] וברכו אלהים _uberechu Elohim_. In this book, according to most interpreters, the verb _barach_ signifies both to _bless_ and to _curse_; and the noun אלהים _Elohim_ signifies the _true God, false gods_, and _great_ or _mighty_. The reason why Job offered the burnt-offerings appears to have been this: in a

AND IT WAS SO, WHEN THE DAYS OF THEIR FEASTING WERE GONE ABOUT - Dr. Good renders this, “as the days of such banquets returned.” But this is not the idea intended. It is, when the banquets had gone round as in a circle through all the families, “then” Job sent and sanctified them. It was not from an anticipation that they “would” do wrong, but it was from the apprehension that they “might” have sinned. The word rendered “were gone about” (נקף _nâqaph_) means properly to join together, and then to move round in a circle, to revolve, as festivals do; see the notes at Isaiah 29:1 : “Let the festivals go round.” Here it means that the days of their banqueting had gone round the circle, or had gone round the several families. Septuagint “When the days of the entertainment (or drinking, πότου

EXPOSITION The "Historical Introduction" to Job extends to two chapters. In the first we are given an account, firstly, of his outward circumstances—his abode, wealth, family, etc; and of his character (Job 1:1); secondly, of the circumstances under which God allowed him to be tried by afflictions (Job 1:6); thirdly, of the earlier afflictions themselves (Job 1:13); and, fourthly, of his behaviour under them (Job 1:20-18). The second chapter gives, firstly, the ground of his further trial (Job 2:1); secondly, the nature of it, and his behaviour under it ...

AND IT WAS SO, WHEN THE DAYS OF THEIR FEASTING WERE GONE ABOUT,.... When they had been at each other's houses in turn; when the rotation was ended: something like this is practised by the Chinese, who have their co-fraternities, which they call "the brotherhood of the month"; this consists of thirty, according to the number of days therein, and in a circle they go every day to eat at one another's house by turns; if one man has not convenience to receive the fraternity in his own house, he may provide it at another man's, and there are many public houses very well furnished for this purpose e: Job's sons probably began at the elder brother's house, and so went on according to their age, and ended with the younger brother; so when they had gone through the circuit, as the word f signifies, and the revolution was over, and they had done feasting for that season, or that year: THAT JOB SEN...

Job 1:1. _There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil._ That was Job's character before the trial which made him famous; perhaps, if it had not been for that trial, we should never have heard of him; now, as the apostle James wrote, «Ye have heard of the patience of Job.» God, by great; afflictions, gave to his servant that usefulness for which he had possibly prayed, without knowing how it would come to him. A long-continued life, of prosperity may not so truly glorify God as a life that is chequered by adversity; and God, who intended to put honour upon his servant, did as kings do when they confer the honour of knighthood, they strike with the, back or flat of the sword, so God smote the patriarch Job that he might raise him above his fellow men. The Lord intended to make him Job the patient,...

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. THE INTRODUCTION Job 1:1. We are at once introduced to the leading person of this book. “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God and eschewed evil.” As already stated in the introduction, the land of Uz was east of Palestine and probably a part of Idumea, or in close proximity to the land of Edom. This seems to be confirmed by Lamentations 4:21: “Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz.” Uz is also mentioned in Jeremiah 25:20. It must have been on the borderland of Edom, if it was not a part of it. In...

JOB 1:5. The above exposition follows RVm against RV text, accepting the translation blaspheme in preference to renounce. AV, in virtual agreement with RVm, translates curse. The Hebrew literally means bless. It is suggested by Davidson and others that since partings were attended by blessing, to bless came to mean to say good-bye, to renounce. If we translate curse, blaspheme (Duhm, Peake) then we have to do with a euphemism which seems very natural in the writer of the Volksbuch....

WERE GONE ABOUT. came round. OFFERED. offered up. App-43. Showing that, from Genesis 4 onward, the institution was observed. SINNED. Hebrew. _chata'._ App-44. CURSED. One of the eighteen emendations of the _Sopherim_ (App-33), by which the primitive Hebrew text, _kalal =_ to curse, was changed to _barak. to_ bless, as in Job 1:11 with Job 2:5; Job 2:9. Translated "cursed" in Authorized Version, and "renounced" in Revised Version, in spite of _barak_ (blessed) standing in the printed text. See notes on 2 Samuel 12:14 and...