And [there was] a man in Maon, whose possessions [were] in Carmel; and the man [was] very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
Ver. 2. And there was a man.] Or rather, A golden brute, χρυσουν προβατον, a - as Caligula called that rich wretch, his father-in-law, Syllanus, - or a great Colosse full of rubbish.
And he had three thousand sheep.] Men's wealth of old consisted most in their herds of cattle; whence money also in Latin hath its name: Omnis enim pecuniae pecus fuit fundamentum, saith Columella. b
a Dion.
b A pecudibus pecunia, et peculium. - Liv. vi.