Job 42:10

And the Lord turned the captivity of Job,.... Not literally, in such sense as Lot's captivity was turned, Genesis 14:12; for Job's person was not seized on and carried away, though his cattle were:

And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Turned the captivity of Job, i.e. brought him out of that state of bondage in which he had been so long held by Satan and by his own Spirit, and out of all his distresses and miseries. Or, returned Job’ s captivity, i.e. the persons and things which had been taken from him; not the same which he had lost, but other equivalent to them, and that with advantage. When he prayed for his friends; whereby he manifesteth his obedience to God, and his true love and charity to them, in being so ready to forgive them, and heartily to pray for them; for which God would not let him lose his reward. Also; an emphatical particle. He not only gave him as much as he lost, but double to it.

Job 42:10 And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.Ver. 10. And the Lord turned again the captivity of Job] He took him out of Satan’ s clutches, who had hitherto held him prisoner, as it were, in the bands of poverty, sickness, sorrow, contempt, distress, &c. Whether all at once or by degrees God did all this for him, it skills not. Upon his prayers for his friends (which was no small evidence and effect of his piety and charity) it appears that God did all this that followeth for him. So true is that of Solomon, The reward of humility, and of the fear of the Lord is riches, and honour, and life, Proverbs 22:4. When he prayed for his friends] According to that of the apostle Paul, Being defamed we pray. This is a high degree of Christian perfection, which but few attain unto, as Merlin here bewaileth it; O raram et singularem virtutem, &c. And another well observeth, That God gives and forgives, according as man forgives his neighbour. Also the Lord gave Job twice as much, &c.] Understand it both of goods and graces; which though he never parted with, yet by trial and experience he found them much increased. As for outward things, it is nothing unusual for men to recover and recruit as far as God seeth fit. Multa dies variusque labor mutabilis aevi Retulit in melius; multos alterna revisens Lusit, et in solido rursus fortuna locavit (Virg. Aen. l. 11). The best way is to hang loose to these things below, not trusting in uncertain riches, but in the living God, 1 Timothy 6:17, who will be our exceeding great reward, and give to his sufferers a hundred fold here, and eternal life hereafter, Matthew 19:29. Optanda nimirum est iactura quae lucro maiore pensatur, saith Agricola. It is doubtless a lovely loss that is made up with so much gain. Well might St Paul say, Godliness is profitable to all things, as having the promise of both lives, 1 Timothy 4:8. Well might St Peter call it the divine nature, 2 Peter 1:2. For as God brings light out of darkness, comfort out of sorrow, riches out of poverty, &c., so doth godliness. Let a man, with Job, bear his losses patiently, and pray for his enemies that wrong and rob him, and he shall be sure to have his own again, and more, either in money or money’ s worth; either in the same or a better thing: contented godliness shall be great gain to him, 1 Timothy 4:6, besides heaven’ s happiness, which shall make a plentiful amends for all, The Rabbis would persuade us that God miraculously brought back again to Job the selfsame cattle that the Sabeans and others had taken from him, and doubled them.

(10) When he prayed for his friends.—Job’s personal discipline was not complete till he passed from the sphere of his own sorrows to the work of intercession for his friends, and it was through the very act of this self-oblivion and self-sacrifice that his own deliverance was brought about. When he prayed for his friends, we are told, the Lord turned his own captivity: that is, restored and re-instated him in prosperity even greater than before. This is the true moral of all human history, which is to be accomplished in the world of the regeneration, if not here. All sorrow is fraught with the promise and the hope of future blessedness, and to know that is to rob sorrow of its pain. It is impossible to reap the full gain of it when the burden presses, but, as far as it can be done, sorrow is mitigated. Had Job been able to look forward with confidence to his actual deliverance, he would have been able to bear his affliction; it was because he could not that all was dark. And after all there are sorrows and afflictions for which there is no deliverance like Job’s; there is a captivity which can never be turned in this life, and for this the only hope is the sure hope of the Gospel, and the promise which in its degree is afforded by the history of Job: for if Job’s is a representative history, as we are bound to believe it must be, then the lesson of it must be that what is not explained or mended here will be explained and mended hereafter. It is God alone who can enlighten the darkness which surrounds His counsels; but at the same time we must remember that with Him is the well of life, and in His light we shall see light.

Verse 10. The Lord turned the captivity of Job] The Vulgate has: Dominus quoque conversus est ad poenitentiam Job; "And the LORD turned Job to repentance." The Chaldee: "The WORD of the Lord (מימרא דיי meymera dayai) turned the captivity of Job." There is a remark which these words suggest, which has been rarely, if at all, noticed. It is said that the Lord turned the captivity of Job WHEN HE PRAYED FOR HIS FRIENDS. He had suffered much through the unkindness of these friends; they had criticised his conduct without feeling or mercy; and he had just cause to be irritated against them: and that he had such a feeling towards them, several parts of his discourses sufficiently prove. God was now about to show Job his mercy; but mercy can be shown only to the merciful; Job must forgive his unfeeling friends, if he would be forgiven by the Lord; he directs him, therefore, to pray for them, Job 42:8. He who can pray for another cannot entertain enmity against him: Job did so, and when he prayed for his friends, God turned the captivity of Job. "Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven." Some suppose that Job, being miraculously restored, armed his servants and remaining friends, and fell upon those who had spoiled him; and not only recovered his own property, but also spoiled the spoilers, and thus his substance became double what it was before. Of this I do not see any intimation in the sacred text.

10–16. Job is restored to a prosperity double that which he formerly enjoyed; his former friends gather around him; he is again blessed with children; and dies, old and full of days.

And the Load turned the captivity of Job - Restored him to his former prosperity. The language is taken from restoration to country and home after having been a captive in a foreign land.

10. The Lord turned the captivity — ωׁ ?αΰϊωׁ ?αιϊ. An instance of paronomasia — an elegance, as the reader has seen, common in this book.