Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.
It was Job's complaint in his misery that his "brethren" and his "acquaintance" were "estranged" from him (Job 19:13): these now return with the return of his prosperity (Proverbs 14:20; Proverbs 19:6-7, "All the brethren of the poor do hate him; how much more do his friends go far from him? he pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting to him"); the true "friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity (Proverbs 17:17; Proverbs 18:24, "There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother"). 'Swallow-friends leave in the winter and return with the spring' (Henry).
Eat bread - in token of friendship (Psalms 41:9).
Piece of money. Presents are usual in visiting a man of rank in the East, especially after a calamity (2 Chronicles 32:23, "Many brought presents to Hezekiah king of Judah," after the invasion of Sennacherib) [Hebrew, qªsiyTaah (H7192)]. Magee translates a lamb (the medium of exchange then, before money was used), as it is in margin of Genesis 33:19; Joshua 24:32. But it is from the Arabic Kasat, 'weighed out' (Umbreit), not coined; so Genesis 42:35; Genesis 33:19, compared with Genesis 23:15, makes it likely it was equal to four shekels: Hebrew [qaashaT], 'pure'-namely, metal (Bochart). The term, instead of the usual 'shekel,' etc., is a mark of antiquity.
Ring - whether for the nose or ear (Genesis 35:4; Isaiah 3:21). Much of the gold in the East, in absence of banks, is in the shape of ornaments.