And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.
Parallel translations
- WEB There were born to him seven sons and three daughters.
- BSB He had seven sons and three daughters,
- NKJV And seven sons and three daughters were born to him.
- NASB Seven sons and three daughters were born to him.
- NLT He had seven sons and three daughters.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Job had seven sons and three daughters, signs of God's blessing in the ancient world. The numbers suggest a full, complete family.
Overview
Children were regarded as a heritage from the Lord, and Job's large family marks him as richly favored. Seven and three together (ten) convey completeness, underscoring how much he has to lose. The verse quietly sets up the tragedy that will test whether Job serves God for God's own sake or for His gifts.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Ps 127:3–5Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
- Job 42:13He had also seven sons and three daughters.
- Esth 5:11And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.
- Ps 107:38He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.
- Ps 128:3Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.
- Job 13:13Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will.
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 1:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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