And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually. When the days of feasting were gone about - i:e., at the end of all the birthdays collectively, when the banquets had gone round through all the families.
Sent - i:e., sent and summoned them to him: for Job was not present himself at their feasts (Job 1:13; Job 1:18).
Job sanctified them - by purificatory washings (Genesis 35:2; Exodus 19:10; Exodus 19:14; 1 Samuel 16:5), followed by his offering up as many expiatory burnt offerings as he had sons (Genesis 8:20; Leviticus 1:4). This was done in the morning (Genesis 22:3; Leviticus 6:12). So Jesus began devotions early (Mark 1:35). The holocaust or burnt offering, in patriarchal times, was "offered" (literally, caused to ascend х wªhe`ªlaah (H5927) `olowt (H5930)], referring to the smoke ascending to heaven) by each father of a family officiating as priest in behalf of his household.
Cursed God. The same Hebrew word х baarak (H1288)] means to curse and to bless; Gesenius says the original sense is to kneel, and thus it came to mean bending the knee in order to invoke either a blessing or a curse. Cursing is a perversion of blessing, as all sin is of goodness. Sin is a degeneracy, not a generation. It is not, however, likely that Job should fear the possibility of his sons cursing God. The sense bid farewell to, derived from the blessing customary at parting, seems sufficient (Genesis 47:10). Thus, Umbreit translates, 'may have dismissed God from their heart;' namely, amidst the intoxication of pleasure (Proverbs 20:1; cf. Psalms 10:4-5). This act illustrates Job's "fear of Cod," Job 1:1.