Job 42:13 · Bible study
Job 42:13 Commentary: Restored Family, Same Number
Hebrew · 9 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Why does Job receive the same number of children after his loss? Explore divine restoration, hope beyond grief, and the meaning of God's justice in Job 42:13.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Job receives the same number of children he had before his trials, signaling full restoration of his family line and hope beyond loss.
- Key words: shiv'anah (seven, with paragogic -ana emphasizing the number), banim (sons), banot (daughters).
- Main debate: Whether the same number indicates the first children are spiritually preserved (Keil) or that these are new children by a different wife (Barnes, JFB).
- Theological theme: God’s restoration respects the irreplaceable value of each person; children are not commodities to be doubled.
- Best use: Comfort for those grieving the loss of children; a lesson on the nature of divine restoration as relational rather than purely quantitative.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
And he also had seven sons and three daughters.
WEB World English Bible 2000
He had also seven sons and three daughters.
KJV King James Version 1769
He had also seven sons and three daughters.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
He had also seven sons and three daughters.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And he hath seven sons and three daughters;
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And he had seven sons and three daughters.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And he had seven sons, and three daughters.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y tuvo siete hijos y tres hijas.
Também teve sete filhos e três filhas.
Il eut sept fils et trois filles:
Und er kriegte sieben Söhne und drei Töchter;
Daartoe had hij zeven zonen en drie dochteren.
E s’ebbe pure sette figliuoli e tre figliuole;
Miał też siedm synów, i trzy córki.
И было у него семь сыновей и три дочери.
他 也有 七個 兒子，三個 女兒。
And he had seven sons and three daughters.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Job 42:13
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that this verse deliberately records the same number of children Job had before his trials (Job 1:2). Matthew Henry calls this a sign that God's blessing returns in full. Barnes notes the absence of any mention of Job's wife after 19:17, making a second marriage the strong presumption. Keil and Delitzsch press deeper: the children are not lost according to the Old Testament view (2 Samuel 12:23), so this restoration is also a doubling, not of number but of enduring relationship. Gill reports that the Chaldee Targum actually doubles the sons to fourteen, while some Jewish interpreters understood the same children to be returned in spirit. The consensus holds that the symmetry between Job's beginning and end is intentional, highlighting that God's restoration is not merely quantitative but touches the unbreakable bond with those who have died.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Literal replacement: The text states Job 'had' seven sons and three daughters after his restoration, with no indication they are the same individuals. Barnes, JFB, and others infer a second marriage from the silence about Job’s wife.
- Spiritual preservation: Keil and Delitzsch argue that the same number reflects the Old Testament view that deceased children are not lost (2 Samuel 12:23), so this is a doubling in a deeper, relational sense.
- Chaldean doubling: The Targum and some Jewish interpreters (Jarchi, Nachmanides cited by Gill) read the letter in 'seven' as permitting a doubling to fourteen sons, interpreting the restoration as fully quantitative.
What is clear: Job receives a full family line of seven sons and three daughters after his trial, and he lives to see his descendants to four generations, confirming God’s blessing.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Same number vs. double for children | Christians agree that Job received exactly seven sons and three daughters, the same number as before. | Some interpret this as a literal doubling of the original children (since they are not lost, per 2 Sam 12:23), while others see it as a fresh gift of new children, often linked to a second marriage (Barnes, JFB, Gill). |
| Job’s wife and second marriage | All note that the text does not explicitly mention Job’s wife after 19:17 or a second marriage. | Barnes and JFB consider a second marriage the strong presumption; Keil and others leave the question open. The Geneva Bible offers no comment on the matter. |
| Significance of daughters’ inheritance and naming | It is widely observed that Job gave his daughters an inheritance among their brothers, an unusual act for the period. | Some see this as a sign of Job’s extraordinary wealth and favor (Cambridge), others as a hint of a changed social order (Lange, allegorical traditions). The naming is generally read as highlighting the daughters’ beauty and virtue. |
| What the restoration reveals about divine justice | All traditions see the passage as affirming that God vindicates the righteous and restores what was lost. | Catholic and Orthodox readers often emphasize the foreshadowing of resurrection (the children are restored in a new creation), while Protestant commentators focus on temporal blessing and the lesson of patient endurance (Matthew Henry, JFB). |
Historical & Cultural Context
The epilogue of Job (42:7, 17) shifts abruptly from the soaring poetry of the divine speeches to spare, formulaic prose. This stylistic change signals that the story has moved from theological crisis to settled resolution. In the ancient Near East, a man's wealth and standing were measured not only by livestock but by the size of his family. Seven sons and three daughters, the exact number from chapter 1, reestablishes Job as a patriarch of full social stature.
The Hebrew text uses a paragogic form for “seven” (שִׁבְעָנָה, shiv'anah), an embellished ending that Keil and Delitzsch note is borrowed from the style of primeval histories (Genesis 21:29; Ruth 1:19). This literary flourish elevates the moment. The names of the daughters are given (v. 14), but the sons remain unnamed, which is typical for the period: sons carried the family name, but daughters in this narrative receive extraordinary attention. Verse 15 reports that Job gave his daughters an inheritance “among their brothers,” a legal departure from Israelite custom (Numbers 27:8, 11). This detail, along with the notation that no women in the land were as beautiful as Job's daughters, underlines the completeness of Job's restoration, it breaks open expected social norms.
The cultural backdrop of the book (likely set in patriarchal times, Edom or northern Arabia) assumes that children are divine gifts (Psalm 127:3). The restoration of the same number, rather than double (as with the livestock), suggests that children are treated theologically as irreplaceable persons, not commodities. The silence regarding Job's wife after 19:17 has led Barnes and others to infer a second marriage, though the text never confirms it. This restraint may reflect the Bible's delicacy about marriage after widowhood, especially when the first wife had been a source of suffering.
Textual Notes
The verse is textually stable across the major witnesses (Masoretic Text, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate). The MT presents the singular form שִׁבְעָנָה (shiv'anah) with a paragogic ending; Keil and Delitzsch note that this is a stylistic flourish borrowed from primeval narratives. The Chaldee Targum departs from the MT by reading “fourteen sons,” effectively doubling the sons. The LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate all agree with the MT on seven sons. No other significant variants are recorded in the supplied sources.
Reception History
The restoration of Job’s children has been read across church history as a type of the resurrection and the ultimate restoration of all things. Gregory the Great’s Moralia in Job celebrates the naming of the daughters, Jemimah (dove), Keziah (cassia), Keren-happuch (horn of eye-paint), as allegories of the Church’s beauty, fragrance, and spiritual vision. Medieval and Reformation commentators often highlighted Job’s patience (James 5:11) and saw the return of the same number of children as a sign that grief is not erased but transformed. In more recent scholarship, the emphasis has shifted to the literary structure: the epilogue deliberately mirrors the prologue, giving the book a chiastic shape that underscores God’s sovereign faithfulness.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Symmetry as divine signature. The same number of children as before (Job 1:2) shows that God's restoration follows a pattern, not a random windfall but the return of the shape of life that Job had known. God does not erase the past; He restores its goodness.
- Daughters named and honored. The naming of Jemimah, Keziah, and Keren-happuch, along with their inheritance, signals a reversal of vulnerability. Where Job once feared for his children (1:5), now they are protected and celebrated.
- Children as living hope. The same number, not double, implies that the first children are not replaced. As Keil writes, “the relation is different from that with things which we have lost.” Restoration includes hope that the dead are not lost to God.
Five-point outline
- Restoration of the family line. Seven sons and three daughters reestablish Job’s household for generations (v. 16).
- Literary symmetry with the prologue. The epilogue matches the opening frame, giving the whole book a bookend structure.
- The theological silence about Job’s wife. The text chooses not to address remarriage, focusing attention on the children as the visible sign of blessing.
- The extraordinary naming and inheritance of daughters. This inversion of ancient custom points to a new creation that exceeds the old.
- The qualitative rather than quantitative view of children. Job’s livestock doubles; his children do not. This preserves the uniqueness of each life.
Illustration hooks
- A family loses their home in a fire but rebuilds on the same foundation. The new house has the same number of rooms, not more, but each room is a gift.
- A gardener loses a beloved tree to disease and plants a new one of the same kind in the same spot. The garden feels whole again, though the old tree is remembered.
- A couple who lost a child in infancy later has another child. They say, “We have one child in heaven and one here.” The number is the same from one perspective, but the loss is not undone.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why didn’t God give Job double the children, the way He gave double the livestock?
- Does this passage mean God will always restore what we lose in this life?
- What does this say about children who die young, are they still part of God’s blessing?
Leading a Discussion
Job’s restoration raises questions about how God heals a life that has been shattered. The fact that the children number the same as before, not twice as many, invites us to consider what restoration means when the loss involves persons, not property. This passage has brought comfort to grieving parents for centuries.
Discussion questions
- What catches your attention in verse 13 as you read it alongside Job 1:2?
- Why do you think the writer records the same number of children rather than double the number, as with the livestock (v. 12)?
- What do the names of the daughters (Jemimah, Keziah, Keren-happuch) and the mention of their beauty and inheritance suggest about how Job valued them?
- Barnes and others infer that Job married again after his wife’s harshness (Job 19:17). Does the Bible’s silence on this say anything about how we discuss difficult personal decisions after loss?
- How does Keil’s observation that deceased children are “not absolutely lost” (2 Samuel 12:23) shape the way you read this restoration?
- In what ways does this passage challenge or deepen your understanding of God’s justice?
- How might this text be used to encourage someone who has experienced the death of a child or a deep personal loss?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Job 1:2 | There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. |
| Psalms 107:41 | Yet he lifts the needy out of their affliction, and increases their families like a flock. |
| Psalms 127:3 | Behold, children are a heritage of Yahweh. The fruit of the womb is his reward. |
| Isaiah 49:20 | The children of your bereavement will say in your ears, ‘This place is too small for me. Give me a place to live in.’ |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke notes that different ancient translations give different numbers for Job’s children (seven sons and three daughters or fourteen sons and three daughters). He presents these differing counts as what the original texts actually say.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes observes that the sacred writer gives Job the same number of children as before yet says nothing about his wife, strongly implying a second marriage. He argues the silence is deliberate: even with an impious first wife, the Bible will not present a second marriage as a happy event to celebrate.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges notes the three names each describe a physical feature (a dove feather a spice and eye paint). It holds these names are meant to highlight the girls’ beauty not their flirtatiousness.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
He had also seue sonnes, and three daughters.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill is skeptical of Jewish traditions that try to make Job's later children a spiritual "double" of the first set. He notes several creative interpretations but dismisses them as unreliable, leaving the plain fact that Job had the same number and kind of children as before, with no certainty about the mother.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
Jamieson Fausset Brown notes the number forty appears twice in this chapter and once earlier in chapter one. It may refer to a second wife or to the wife mentioned in chapter nineteen.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch note that the mention of three daughters but not seven sons is intentional. This choice shows that those who die are not completely gone.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange argues that Job's restored prosperity is not a retreat to a simplistic theory of earthly rewards. For Old Testament believers, this visible restoration was a necessary and fitting sign of God's vindicating grace. It provides genuine consolation while pointing forward to the deeper spiritual hope Christians find in Christ.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes that after Job prayed for his friends the Lord ended his suffering and gave him twice as much wealth as before. He also adds that Job later had seven sons and three daughters and lived to be one hundred and forty years old.