a day (as the warm hours) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
sons
וּבָנָ֨יוu.va.Nav
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
daughters
וּבְנֹתָ֤יוu.ve.no.Tav
H1323
a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms… · conjunction + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
eating
אֹֽכְלִים֙'o.khe.Lim
H398
to eat (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
drinking
וְשֹׁתִ֣יםve.sho.Tim
H8354
to imbibe (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
wine
יַ֔יִןYa.yin
H3196
wine (as fermented) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
eldest
הַבְּכֽוֹרha.be.Khor
H1060
firstborn · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
brother’s
אֲחִיהֶ֥ם'a.chi.Hem
H251
a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
house
בְּבֵ֖יתbe.Veit
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Proverbs 27:1 Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
Luke 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so th…
Ecclesiastes 9:12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the so…
Luke 17:27-29 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came,…
Job 1:4 And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
Luke 12:19-20 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 1:13-19
We have here a particular account of Job's troubles.
I. Satan brought them upon him on the very day that his children began their course of feasting, at their eldest brother's house (Job 1:13), where, he having (we may suppose) the double portion, the entertainment was the richest and most plentiful. The whole family, no doubt, was in perfect repose, and all were easy and under no apprehension of the trouble, now when they revived this custom; and this time Satan chose, that the trouble, coming now, might be the more grievous. The night of my pleasure has he turned into fear, Isa 21:4.
II. They all come upon him at once; while one messenger of evil tidings was speaking another came, and, bef…
JOB, IN AFFLICTION, BLESSES GOD, &c. (Job 1:13-22)
wine--not specified in Job 1:4. The mirth inspired by the "wine" here contrasts the more sadly with the alarm which interrupted it.
John Gill on Job 1:13
And there was a day,.... Which according to the Targum was the first day of the week, but this is not certain, nor material; nor can it be said whether it was the day following that, Satan had leave to do what he would with Job's substance, nor how long this was after that; for though Satan was no doubt eager upon it, and in haste to do mischief; yet besides its requiring some time to get the Sabeans and Chaldeans to march out of their own country into Job's, so he would contrive and fix upon the most proper time to answer his ends and purposes, which was
when his (Job's) sons and daughters were eating, and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house; it should rather be rendered, "in the…
13-15 And it came to pass one day, when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, that a messenger came to Job, and said, The oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them, when the Sabeans fell upon them, and carried them away, and smote the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
The principal clause, היּום ויהי, in which the art. of היּום has no more reference to anything preceding than in Job 1:6, is immediately followed by an adverbial clause, which may be expressed by participles, Lat. filiis ejus filiabusque convivantibus. The details which follow are important. Job had celebrated the…
The Church Fathers
HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION We ought to observe what times are suited for temptations; for the devil chose that as the time for tempting, when he found the sons of the blessed Job engaged in feasting; for the adversary does not only cast about what to do, but also when to do it. Then though he had gotten the power, yet he sought a fitting season to work his overthrow, to this end, that by God's disposal it might be recorded for our benefit, that the delight of full enjoyment is the forerunner of woe.
The day of trial is chosen by the devil in order that he may now overwhelm the holy Job with the variety of damages and afflictions. For previously, after offering the sacrifices, by having his meals in the circle of his children, Job could be safe in God's protection. It was not without meaning that on the day of the theft of the oxen and donkeys mention was also made of what happened to the children as they were eating together. This was to show that all the misfortunes, by which the soul of the righteous man was to be crushed, happened simultaneously.
MORAL INTERPRETATION In the hearts of the Elect wisdom is first engendered, before all the graces that follow; and she comes forth as it were a first born offspring by the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now this wisdom is our faith, as the Prophet testifies, saying, If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not understand. For then we are truly wise to understand, when we yield the assent of our belief to all that our Creator says. Thus the sons are feasting in their eldest brother's house, when the other virtues are feasted in faith. But if this latter be not first produced in our hearts, all besides cannot be good, though it may seem to be good. The sons feast in their eldest brother's house, so long as our virtues are replenished with the good of holy writ, in the dwelling place of faith; for it is written, without faith it is impossible to please God; and so our virtues taste the true feasts of life, when they begin to be sustained with the mysteries of faith. The sons feast in their eldest brother's house, in that except the other virtues, filling themselves with the feast of wisdom; do wisely all that they seek to do, they can never be virtues.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Birth-day — The observance of birth-days was common in early times (Job 1:4, 13, 18). They were specially celebrated in the land of Egypt (Gen. 40:20). There is no recorded instance in Scripture of the…
Ink · 1:12; — 1:12;
Job · .Trial of, by affliction of Satan — .Trial of, by affliction of Satan
Pen · 8:1; — 8:1;
Resignation · EXEMPLIFIED — EXEMPLIFIED
Salutations · By letter — By letter
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
These attacks destroyed the blessings enumerated in 1:2-3; Job was left alone with the four ominous messengers who came to report and a wife who offered misguided counsel. • The repetition of while he was still speaking emphasizes the relentlessness of the attacks (see Jer 51:31). The repetition of I am the only one who escaped to tell you emphasizes the total obliteration of Job’s resources.
Rashi on Job 1:12
“Behold, all that he has etc. Another explanation: Now the day came about That day when they recommenced the cycle [and were] to eat at the house of their eldest brother.
the angels of God The heavenly hosts, which are near the Divine Presence, to be the members of His household, and were therefore called His children.
to stand beside the Lord Heb. Around Him, as (Gen. 45:1) “all who stood around him (עליו).”
