Sometimes we may read something in the Bible that is supposed to be impressive, but we read over it, not taking in what it is supposed to represent. This seems to be so when one speaks of the wealth of Job, which, contextually, is supposed to show how great a man the text is introducing. Some may read that and think: ‘big deal, so he had a lot of animals. The cattlemen of western America during the 19th century had much more than that, and, while some of them may have been rich in their own social circles, it didn’t make them great men.’ Well, I don’t think the text would compare Job to western American cattlemen, but if it would, the cattlemen wouldn’t measure up to Job’s status. Consider the text:
His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east. (Job 1:3)
First of all, if Job’s wealth included such as these, he would have had to have owned a vast amount of land. Not only would he need a large amount of land for his herds to graze, the fact that he had five hundred yokes of oxen (a yoke has two, so 1000 oxen), means they were used to plow up the fields, so they could be planted with fruit bearing seed. Moreover, oxen were also used for their meat and as animals offered for sacrifice. Job could also have been raising them for these purposes, but they were mostly used as work animals. Thus, Job was a major food producer in the East. He probably had fields as far as the eye could see, because why else would he need five hundred yokes of oxen. If he planted for his own use only, he may have one or two yokes, but certainly not five-hundred yokes of oxen! Such a huge number of oxen implies Job was a major figure in the food producing industry of his day.
Moreover, Job’s seven thousand sheep was a supply for both food and wool, which, once again, the large number indicates Job wasn’t operating a local shop, but was a major producer in wool and meat products in the East. Additionally, the milk from the female donkeys was considered a delicacy in that day. Job had five hundred of these donkeys and their milk had to be shipped to markets before it spoiled.
The camels were used to truck or transport his goods both locally to thriving urban areas in Mesopotamia and to points far away. He had three thousand camels. Once more, this indicates Job was established in the shipping industry of his day in a major way. He wasn’t a small businessman with a half dozen camels. He was established in big business and needed three thousand camels to ship his goods to wherever the demand could be heard. Without question, much of Job’s business would have supplied the needs of urban areas in Mesopotamia, but some of his goods wouldn’t spoil over time, like wool, could be shipped further away, and no doubt, this included traveling the Kings Highway to Egypt.
Last, but certainly not least, Job needed a great number of servants to care for these animals, to use them for plowing, milking, to package and transport his goods, and to act as business agents to sell what he produced to markets, both near and far. Therefore, when the text claims that Job was a big man, an important man, the greatest in the East, it is speaking of a man who not only supplied the needs of several urban communities near him, but it would also include shipping products like wool to markets much further away.
Yet, when you add up all of Job’s wealth and the influence those riches surely would have brought him, among his contemporaries, this wasn’t what made Job great in the eyes of the Lord. The text says that Job was: “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil” (Job 1:1). Later chapters will show that he was a friend to the person in need, the widow and the orphan, and he also helped the stranger/immigrant (Job 29:12-17). He wasn’t merely a wealthy man, he was a good, decent man, a man sought after for his wisdom (Job 29:21-23). The greatest man in the East didn’t merely point to his wealth, for there were many who had wealth, sometimes acquired through dubious means. Rather, Job’s greatness overflowed from within. He was a wealthy man, but he used his wealth as a means to help the poor, the downtrodden and the helpless. Job was a man of integrity, a man of great character.
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