Job’s restoration to God and the friends has been established. The circle now widens as he is restored to society in the form of his brothers and sisters. These probably include all those who had at least the same father but not necessarily the same mother. The larger circle is made up of all who had known him before; these are his “former friends.” There is no suggestion that these people had come to help Job in his calamity. Job’s wife is not mentioned but is present by implication when he has more children in verse 13. Ate bread is too limited to express in English the idea of feasting, and so Good News Translation has “feasted with him.” All of this celebration takes place in Job’s house, and so it is a feast prepared by Job.

These friends and relatives showed him sympathy and comforted him, which was the intention of the three friends in 2.11, but they never managed to do it. Their actions are in response to the evil inflicted on Job by God. In 2.10 Job asks “Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” In 30.26 Job says “when I looked for good, evil came.” This is said in Job’s complaint of the harsh treatment he receives from God. In translation a literal rendering of evil may be far more specific than the suffering and ill treatment Job has received. Job does not refer to such things as the evil eye, witchcraft, secret murders, and the kinds of things associated with evil as used in some languages. Accordingly it may be necessary to translate as misfortune, suffering, or trouble.

Each of them gave Job a piece of money, an expression which translates a Hebrew word used only in Genesis 33.19 and Joshua 24.32. This was an uncoined piece of silver used in buying and selling before coins were made. A ring of gold was an ornament worn by women in the nose (Gen 24.47; Isa 3.21), and by men and women in the ears (Gen 35.4; Exo 32.2-3; Judges 8.24).

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, Wiliam. A Handbook on Job. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .