Feeding beside them— Feeding near them. Houbigant. Feeding as usual. Heath and Schultens. Job 1:15. The Sabeans fell upon them] Hebrew, שׁבא. Sheba fell upon them; Sheba was the general name of the nation; so the two kingdoms of the posterity of Jacob were called Judah and Israel. These spoilers seem to have been Job's near neighbours; for the Sabeans lay at the north-west of his country. The Chaldee says, he was plundered by Lilith, queen of Zamargad and Barthinnon; this last is undoubtedly the Barathena of Ptolemy, and Zamargad was probably the name of the city of the Sabeans, called by Ptolemy σταυη. The name Lilith is supposed to be a name of dignity, as Pharaoh was among the Egyptians. The Sabeans were the descendants of Abraham by Keturah, whose son Jokshan begat Sheba. The sons of Keturah were by Abraham sent into the east, Genesis 25:6 inhabited Arabia the desart, and were notorious plunderers, as the Arabs are to this day. The Chaldeans, mentioned in the 17th verse, lay on the east and south-east of the Regio Ausitis, and were descended from Chesed, another son of Nahor; whence they are called Chesdim. Heath.
The fire of God— i.e. The lightning. It has been thought scarcely reconcileable with the truth of history, that lightning should have destroyed seven thousand sheep at once: but let it be remembered, that we do not pretend to account for this or the other particulars here mentioned in a natural and ordinary way. It is evident from the history, that there was something supernatural in it. It was the prince of the power of the air who raised this storm of thunder, and caused perhaps an extraordinary hail-shower with it; such as that recorded Exodus 9 which destroyed both man and beast that were left without shelter in the field; or that which destroyed the army of the confederate kings, Judges 10:11 or who shall say how far the power of this evil spirit may extend, when he is suffered to exert it? Peters.