Job 1:3 (DBY)

Passage

And his substance was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and very many servants; and this man was greater than all the children of the east.

Nearby Context

Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and this man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God and abstained from evil.

Job 1:2 And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters.

Job 1:3 And his substance was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and very many servants; and this man was greater than all the children of the east.

Job 1:4 And his sons went and made a feast in the house of each one on his day; and they sent and invited their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.

Job 1:5 And it was so, when the days of the feasting were gone about, that Job sent and hallowed them; and he rose up early in the morning, and offered up burnt-offerings [according to] the number of them all; for Job said, It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sheep", "substance", "seven", "thousand", "three", "camels", and "five". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sheep" and "substance", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "And there were born to him seven..." into verse 4's "And his sons went and made a...", so "sheep" and "substance" belong inside that flow. In Job context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "sheep" and "substance" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.