Job 1:3 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

His substance also was seven thousand sheep Namely, seven thousand small cattle, whether sheep or goats, in opposition to the larger cattle next mentioned. And three thousand camels Camels in these parts were very numerous, as is manifest from Judges 7:12; 1 Chronicles 5:21, and the testimonies of Aristotle and Pliny; and very useful, both for carrying burdens in those hot and dry countries, being able to endure thirst much better than other creatures, and for service in war. And five hundred she-asses Which were preferred before he-asses, as serving for the same uses of carrying burdens, riding on, and different kinds of labour; and likewise for breeding and giving milk: but he-asses also may perhaps be included in the expression, the denomination being, as usual, taken from the greater part, which were she-asses. This man was the greatest of all the men of the East Hebrew, magnus præ omnibus filiis Orientis, great in comparison, in respect, or before all the children of the East. Grotius and others have observed, that the phraseology here used is an argument that the book must have been written by some Israelite, or inhabitant of the land of Canaan, Job's country lying eastward from thence, and it being usual with the Hebrews to call Arabia the East. The expression probably only means that he was the greatest, or one of the greatest, that lived in those parts; such general expressions being commonly understood with such limitations. The account of his piety and prosperity comes before the account of his afflictions, to show that neither of these will secure us from the common, no, nor from the uncommon calamities of human life.