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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
sons	בָנָיו֙ va.Nav	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
went	וְהָלְכ֤וּ ve.ha.le.Khu	H1980	to walk (in a great variety of applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
feasted	מִשְׁתֶּ֔ה mish.Teh	H4960	drink · noun, common masculine singular absolute
houses	בֵּ֖ית beit	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct
one	אִ֣ישׁ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
day	יוֹמ֑וֹ yo.Mo	H3117	a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
sent	וְשָׁלְח֗וּ ve.sha.le.Chu	H7971	to send away · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
called	וְקָרְאוּ֙ ve.ka.re.'U	H7121	to call out to (i.e. properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
three	לִשְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת lish.Lo.shet	H7969	three · preposition + cardinal number, both genders singular construct
sisters	אַחְיֽוֹתֵיהֶ֔ם 'ach.yo.tei.hem	H269	a sister (used very widely (like brother) · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
eat	לֶאֱכֹ֥ל le.'e.Khol	H398	to eat (literally or figuratively) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
drink	וְלִשְׁתּ֖וֹת ve.lish.Tot	H8354	to imbibe (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + preposition + verb, qal infinitive 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

Hebrews 13:1 Let brotherly love continue.
Psalms 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Job 1:4-5

We have here a further account of Job's prosperity and his piety. I. His great comfort in his children is taken notice of as an instance of his prosperity; for our temporal comforts are borrowed, depend upon others, and are as those about us are. Job himself mentions it as one of the greatest joys of his prosperous estate that his children were about him, Job 29:5. They kept a circular feast at some certain times (Job 1:4); they went and feasted in their houses. It was a comfort to this good man, 1. To see his children grown up and settled in the world. All his sons were in houses of their own, probably married, and to each of them he had given a competent portion to set up with. Those that…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Job 1:4

every one his day--namely, the birthday (Job 3:1). Implying the love and harmony of the members of the family, as contrasted with the ruin which soon broke up such a scene of happiness. The sisters are specified, as these feasts were not for revelry, which would be inconsistent with the presence of sisters. These latter were invited by the brothers, though they gave no invitations in return.

John Gill on Job 1:4

And his sons went and feasted in their houses, everyone his day,.... It appears by this that Job's sons were grown up to men's estate, that they were from him, and were for themselves, and carried on a separate business on their own accounts, and had houses of their own, and, perhaps, were married; and being at some distance from each other, they met by appointment at certain times in their own houses, and had friendly and family entertainments in turn; for such were their feasts, not designed for intemperance, luxury, and wantonness, for then they would not have been encouraged, nor even connived at, by Job; but to cherish love and affection, and maintain harmony and unity among themselves,…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Job 1:4-5

4, 5 And his sons went and feasted in the house of him whose day it was, and sent and called for their sisters to eat and drink with them. And it happened, 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, I may be that my sons have sinned, and dismissed God from their hearts. Thus did Job continually. The subordinate facts precede, Job 1:4, in perff.; the chief fact follows, Job 1:5, in fut. consec. The perff. describe, according to Ges. 126, 3, that which has happened repeatedly in the past, as e.g., Rut 4:7; the fut. consec. the customary act o…

The Church Fathers

Each day, in turn, they gave each other a feast, a sign of charity.
— Augustine of Hippo, ANNOTATIONS ON THE BOOK OF JOB (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

Mutual understanding, the greatest good, was profound within Job's family. They were accustomed to have meals together, to hold a common banquet—a custom, to be sure, that significantly contributes to establishing a profitable mutual understanding. Do you perceive, dear brothers, the joy of the banquet mixed with security? Do you observe this brotherly table? Do you see that harmoniously united group? Profound affection is the source of all this.
— John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 1:4

"Job would sanctify them," that is, Job purified them through the waters of cleansing and through the sacrifices that he offered for them. And since the righteous man had full confidence in the fact that his children were free from manifest sins, thanks to the education and instruction which he had given them, he offered sacrifices for their secret sins and thoughts by saying, "It may be that my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts."
— Ishodad of Merv, COMMENTARY ON JOB 1:5

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…
Birthday — The custom of observing birthdays is very ancient, (Genesis 40:20; Jeremiah 20:15) and in (Job 1:4) etc., we read that Job’s sons “feasted every one his day.” In Persia birthdays were celebrated with…
Feast — As a mark of hospitality (Gen. 19:3; 2 Sam. 3:20; 2 Kings 6:23); on occasions of domestic joy (Luke 15:23; Gen. 21:8); on birthdays (Gen. 40:20; Job 1:4; Matt. 14:6); and on the occasion of a…
Entertainments · Given by the guests in return — Given by the guests in return
Testimony · 3:4-14; — 3:4-14;
Time · Computed by: Days — Computed by: Days

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).

Job 1:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Job 1:4-5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Job 1:4

John Gill on Job 1:4

Keil & Delitzsch on Job 1:4-5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Job 1:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Job 1:4-5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Job 1:4

John Gill on Job 1:4

Keil & Delitzsch on Job 1:4-5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Job 1:2-3

Rashi on Job 1:4