And [there was] a man in Maon,.... A city of the tribe of Judah, from whence the wilderness had its name before mentioned; of which place, see Joshua 15:55; though Ben Gersom takes it to signify a dwelling place; and that this is observed to show, that he did not dwell in a city, but had his habitation where his business lay, which was in Carmel, where his fields, gardens, and vineyards were: wherefore it follows,
whose possessions [were] in Carmel; not Carmel in the tribe of Issachar, but in the tribe of Judah, not far from Maon, and are mentioned together, Joshua 15:55; his cattle were there, his sheep particularly, for they are afterwards said to be shorn there; or "his work" r; his agriculture, his farming, where he was employed, or employed others in sowing seed, and planting trees:
and the man [was] very great; in worldly substance, though not in natural wisdom and knowledge, and especially in true religion and piety:
and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats; so the substance of men in those times was generally described by the cattle they had, whether of the herd or flock, in which it chiefly lay:
and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel; which was the custom in Judea and Syria, and was a very ancient one, as early as the times of Judah, yea, of Laban, see Genesis 31:19; though the old Romans used to pluck off the wool from the sheep's backs; hence a fleece of wool was called "vellus [a] vellendo", from the plucking it off; and Pliny says s, in his time, that sheep were not shorn everywhere, but in some places the custom of plucking off the wool continued; and who elsewhere observes t, that the time of shearing was in June or July, or thereabouts; at which times a feast was made, and it is for the sake of that this is observed.
r מעשהו "opus ejus", Montanus, Vatablus; "eujus opus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. s Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 48. t Ibid. l. 18. c. 27.