Question: How many children did God give to Job to replace his lost children?
Answer: 10 (Job 42:13)
Comments: At both the outset and conclusion of the Book of Job, the title character has ten children - seven sons and three daughters. (Seven sons and three daughters was the ancient Hebrew equivalent of the contemporary American’s 2.4 kids.)
The significance of this fact is that at the book’s conclusion, Job does not have twice as many children as he started with. A comparison of Job’s holdings before (Job 1:3) and after his trial (Job 42:12), will show that all of his possessions are doubled at the end of the book. His number of children remain the same. Children are irreplaceable. No amount of children would have replaced the ones he lost. The text subtly acknowledges this.
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