Job 42:10,12,13, Did the Lord give to Job his previous sons or new sons?

Question

Job 42:10,12,13; (DRB):

10The Lord also was turned at the penance of Job, when he prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. 12And the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. And he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. 13And he had seven sons, and three daughters.

Job 42:10, (KJV):

10. And the LORD turned the captivity of Job.

The question is so simple:

Did the LORD give to Job his previous sons or new sons?

I suggest that the LORD raised his previous sons from the dead. It seems plausible to me. What makes me accept this suggestion is that the LORD turned the captivity of Job.

Answer 1

Job initially had seven sons and three daughters (Job 1:2). They were all killed in an incident recorded in Job 1:19.

In Job 42:10, we read that: "And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before." (ESV)

Note that after Job's ordeals, he had twice as much: He owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. (Job 42:12). However, the number of sons and daughters remained the same - seven sons and three daughters. (v13).

There is a subtlety here that some miss: at first sight it appears that while Job's family size was restored to what it was before (seven sons and three daughters) it was NOT twice as much as V12 suggests.

However, Job was a great believer in the resurrection of the righteous as recorded in Job 19:25-27 -

I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in f my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

Thus, Job believed that when the Lord resurrects the righteous (see also John 5:28, 29, 1 Thess 4:16, 17, 1 Cor 15:50-54, etc), that he (Job) and his family would also be resurrected bodily as well. At that time his family would have increased, doubled in fact, to 14 sons and six daughters, and God's promise would be fulfilled.

Answer 2

I suggest that the LORD raised his previous sons from the dead. It seems plausible to me.

If the LORD had, it would have been recorded explicitly. It would have been celebrated. There is no such group resurrection recorded until Matthew 27

50And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

51At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and e went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

Answer 3

It is implied that God raised Job's children from the dead, as He did with Jonah (who died in the great Fish) and Lazarus. This raising is very different from the coming resurrection. They were simply brought back to life, not changed into spiritual bodies as the resurrection will. To claim God gave Job new children is to claim that, to God, people are replaceable and their uniqueness means nothing. This would make God alien to us and cold-hearted.