Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 42:14
And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Keren-happuch.
And he called the name of the first, Jemima – It is remarkable that in the former account of the family of Job, the names of none of his children are mentioned, and in this account the names of the daughters only are designated. Why the names of the daughters are here specified, is not intimated. They are significant, and they are so mentioned as to show that they contributed greatly to the happiness of Job on the return of his prosperity, and were among the chief blessings which gladdened his old age. The name Jemima ( yemymah) is rendered by the Vulgate Diem, and by the Septuagint, Hemeran, Day. The Chaldee adds this remark: He gave her the name Jemima, because her beauty was like the day. The Vulgate, Septuagint, and Chaldee, evidently regarded the name as derived from yom, day, and this is the most natural and obvious derivation. The name thus conferred would indicate that Job had now emerged from the night of affliction, and that returning light shone again on his tabernacle. It was usual in the earliest periods to bestow names because they were significant of returning prosperity (see Gen 4:25), or because they indicated hope of what would be in their time Gen 5:29, or because they were a pledge of some permanent tokens of the divine favor; see the notes at Isa 8:18. Thomas Roe remarks (Travels, 425), that among the Persians it is common to give names to their daughters derived from spices, unguents, pearls, and precious stones, or anything which is regarded as beautiful or valuable. See Rosenmuller, Alte u. neue Morgenland, No. 779.
And the name of the second Kezia – The name Kezia ( qetsyah) means cassia, a bark resembling cinnamon, but less aromatic. Gesenius. It grew in Arabia, and was used as a perfume. The Chaldee paraphrasist explains this as meaning that he gave her this name because she was as precious as cassia. Cassia is mentioned in Psa 45:8. as among the precious perfumes. All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia. The agreeableness or pleasantness of the perfume was the reason why the name was chosen to be given to a daughter.
And the name of the third, Keren-happuch – Properly, horn of stibium. The stibium ( puk), was a paint or dye made originally, it is supposed, from sea-weed, and afterward from antimony, with which females tinged their eye-lashes; see the notes at Isa 54:11. It was esteemed as an ornament of great beauty, chiefly because it served to make the eye appear larger. Large eyes are considered in the East as a mark of beauty, and the painting of black borders around them gives them an enlarged appearance. It is remarkable that this species of ornament was known so early as the time of Job, and this is one of the cases, constantly occurring in the East, showing that fashions there do not change. It is also remarkable that the fact of painting in this manner should have been considered so respectable as to be incorporated into the name of a daughter; and this shows that there was no attempt at concealing the habit. This also accords with the customs which prevail still in the East. With us, the materials and instruments of personal adorning are kept in the back-ground, but the Orientals obtrude them constantly on the attention, as objects adapted to suggest agreeable ideas. The process of painting the eye is described by a recent traveler to be this: The eye is closed, and a small ebony rod smeared with the composition is squeezed between the lids so as to tinge the edges with the color. This is considered to add greatly to the brilliancy and power of the eye, and to deepen the effect of the long black eye-lashes of which the Orientals are proud. The same drug is employed on their eye-brows; used thus, it is intended to elongate, not to elevate the arc, so that the inner extremities are usually represented as meeting between the eyes. To Europeans the effect is at first seldom pleasing; but it soon becomes so. The foregoing cuts give a representation of the vessels of stibium now in use.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 14. The name of the first Jemima] yemimah, days upon days.
Kezia] ketsiah, cassia, a well-known aromatic plant. And,
Keren-happuch.] keren happuch, the inverted or flowing horn, cornucopiae, the horn of plenty. The Chaldee will not permit these names to pass without a comment, to show the reason of their imposition: “He called the first Jemimah, because she was as fair as the day; the second Ketsiah, because she was as precious as cassia; the third Keren-happuch, because her face was as splendid as the emerald.” Cardmarden’s Bible, 1566, has the Hebrew names.
The Vulgate has, “He called the name of one Day, of the second Cassia, and of the third The Horn of Antimony.”
The versions in general preserve these names, only the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic translate Jemimah, DAY; and the former for Keren-happuch has , the horn of Amalthea. This refers to an ancient fable. Amalthea was the nurse of Jupiter, and fed him with goat’s milk when he was young. The goat having by accident her horn struck off, Jupiter translated the animal to the heavens, and gave her a place among the constellations, which she still holds; and made the horn the emblem of plenty: hence it is always pictured or described as filled with fruits, flowers, and the necessaries and luxuries of life. It is very strange how this fable got into the Septuagint.
Coverdale is singular: The first he called ‘Daye’, the seconde ‘Poverte’, the thirde, ‘All plenteousnes’.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Giving them such excellent names as signify their excellent beauty, of which see my Latin Synopsis.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. Names significant of hisrestored prosperity (Gen 4:25;Gen 5:29).
Jemima“daylight,”after his “night” of calamity; but MAURER,”a dove.”
Kezia“cassia,”an aromatic herb (Ps 45:8),instead of his offensive breath and ulcers.
Keren-happuch“hornof stibium,” a paint with which females dyed their eyelids; incontrast to his “horn defiled in the dust” (Job16:15). The names also imply the beauty of his daughters.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he called the name of the first Jemima,…. That is, the name of the first and eldest daughter was called by Job Jemima; which either signifies “day”, so the Targum interprets it, and most do, and so is the same with Diana; or, as Spanheim u observes, it may be the same with the Arabic word “jemama”, which signifies a turtle or dove w; and who also observes that a country in Arabia is so called, and perhaps from her; and which seems to be confirmed by the Arabic geographer x, who speaks of a queen called Jamama, who dwelt in a city of the country he describes as being on the north of Arabia Felix, and also speaks of a way from thence to Bozrah in Edom;
and the name of the second, Kezia; or Cassia; an aromatic herb of a very fragrant smell, as we render the word, Ps 45:8; and from this person the above learned writer conjectures Mount Casius in Arabia might have its name;
and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch; which signifies an horn or vessel of paint, such as the eastern women used to paint their faces, particularly their eyes with, Jer 4:30; and as Jezebel did, 2Ki 9:30; or “the ray of a precious stone”; some say the carbuncle y or ruby; according to the Targum, the emerald; in 1Ch 29:2, the word is rendered “glittering stones”. Now these names may have respect to Job’s daughters themselves, to their external beauty, afterwards observed, so the Targum,
“he called the one Jemima, because her beauty was as the day; the other he called Kezia, because she was precious like cassia; and another he called Kerenhappuch, because great was the brightness of the glory of her countenance, as the emerald.”
The complexion of the first might be clear as a bright day, though like that but of a short duration; see So 6:10; the next might have her name from the fragrancy and sweetness of her temper; and the third, as being so beautiful that she needed no paint to set her off, but was beauty and paint herself; or her beauty was as bright and dazzling as a precious stone; see La 4:7. Or these may respect their internal qualities, virtues, and graces; being children of the day, and not of the night; having a good name, which is better than all spices; and possessed of such graces as were comparable to jewels and precious stones. Though it might be, that Job, in giving them these names, may have respect to the change of his state and condition; his first daughter he called Jemima, or “day”, because it was now day, with him: he had been in the night and darkness of adversity, temporal and spiritual, but now he enjoyed a day of prosperity, and of spiritual light and joy; the justness of his cause appeared, his righteousness was brought forth as the light, and his judgment as noonday; and the dispensations of divine Providence appeared to him in a different light than he had seen them in: his second daughter he called Kezia, or Cassia, an herb of a sweet smell, in opposition to the stench of his ulcers and of his breath, which had been so very offensive, and from which he was now free; and may denote also the recovery of his good name, better than precious ointment, in which cassia was an ingredient: his youngest daughter he called Kerenhappuch, the horn of paint, in opposition to his horn being defiled in the dust, and his face foul with weeping, Job 16:15; or if Kerenhappuch signifies the horn turned, as Peritsol interprets it, it may have respect to the strange and sudden turn of Job’s affairs: and it is easy to observe, that men have given names to their children on account of their present state and condition, or on account of the change of a former one; see
Ge 41:51.
u Hist. Jobi, c. 12. s. 7. w Golii Lexic. Arab. col. 2767, 2768. x Geograph. Nub. Climat. 2. par. 6. y Hiller. Onomastic. Sacr. p. 356.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
14 And the one was called Jemma, and the second Kezia, and the third Keren ha-pch.
The subject of is each and every one, as Isa 9:5 (comp. supra, Job 41:25, existimaverit quis ). The one was called (Arab. jemame , a dove) on account of her dove’s eyes; the other , cassia, because she seemed to be woven out of the odour of cinnamon; and the third , a horn of paint (lxx Hellenizing: ), which is not exactly beautiful in itself, but is the principal cosmetic of female beauty (vid., Lane, Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, transl.): the third was altogether the most beautiful, possessing a beauty heightened by artificial means. They were therefore like three graces. The writer here keeps to the outward appearance, not disowning his Old Testament standpoint. That they were what their names implied, he says in
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(14) Jemima.This name perhaps means as fair as the day.
Keziai.e., cassia, an aromatic bark, much prized by the ancients. (See Psa. 45:9.)
Kerenhappuchi.e., the horn for containing kohl for the eyes. The Eastern women are in the habit of painting the upper part of the eyelids with stibium, so that a black edge is formed about them and they seem larger. (See 2Ki. 9:30; Jer. 4:30.) The meaning of this name is the paint-box for this purpose.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. And he called the name The grace and beauty of person of the three daughters are reflected in the descriptive names, given, not by the parent necessarily, but more probably by admiring friends. They were like the three graces of classic times. The subject of the word called is not defined. Sir Thomas Roe, the traveller, says of the Persians, “They call their women by the names of spices or odours, or of pearls or precious stones, or else by other names of pretty or pleasing signification.”
Jemima (Sept., Day) was in former times supposed to be an Aramaic word. and to signify pure as daylight; but it is now regarded as kindred to the Arabic Jemaimat, which means a dove, and was given (so Delitzsch thinks) as a name “because of her dove’s eyes.” Compare Son 2:14; Son 5:2; Son 6:9.
Kezia (Sept., Casia) Cassia, or, fine as the fragrance of cassia, “as if woven out of the odor of cinnamon.” Delitzsch. Comp. Psa 45:8; Son 1:3. This bark is something like cinnamon, but not so aromatic. Its Hebrew name, ketsiah, expresses the fact that it is stripped from the trees. Excessive fondness for perfumes is characteristic of the people of the East unto the present day. “The people of the Hedjaz, especially the ladies,” says Burckhardt, “steep rose-buds in water, which they afterward use for their ablutions.” Arabia, 1:68.
Keren-happuch (Septuagint, Amalthaea’s horn,) is literally a horn of paint boxes of pigment in those days being, as is supposed, sometimes made of horn, or in the shape of a horn. Oriental ladies from very ancient times have painted their eyes, in order to produce an apparent enlargement of the eye, and to promote its brilliancy. The accompanying engraving is copied from the sarcophagus of Oimenepthah, and is supposed to represent an Egyptian goddess whose eyebrows and eyelids have been painted with a black dye.
To the bright and languishing expression thus produced the writer of the Proverbs (Pro 6:25) is supposed to refer when he says, “Neither let her [the wanton] take thee with her eyelids.” Horns containing pigment have been found in Egyptian sarcophagi, with silver, ivory, and wooden needles, and minute brushes for applying the cosmetic to the eye. The Assyrian monuments also give evidence of the prevalence of the same custom. The art, in later times, became meretricious, as may be seen in 2Ki 9:30, (margin;) Jer 4:30; Eze 23:40. The Prophet Isaiah (Isa 54:11) makes the colouring matter (stibium, Hebrews pouk,) used in painting the eye the ground of an exquisite figure the very cement of the stones which compose the new Jerusalem, he prophesies, shall be stibium, thus intimating that, as with the human eye artificially decorated, the beauty of these stones shall stand forth in greater splendour because of the dark background in which they also are set. The name of Keren-happuch, says Hengstenberg, is an irony upon the use of cosmetics. See further in RUSSELL’S History of Aleppo, i, pp. 111, 366.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 42:14. He called the name of the first Jemima Job, being restored to his family and friends, is afterwards blessed with a numerous issue, seven sons and three daughters. Of the former nothing remarkable is recorded; but the names of the daughters are preserved, and they are said to have been the most beautiful women of their time. Their names are certainly of Arabic extraction: the eldest was named Jemima, which in the Arabic signifies a dove. This name was given to women of the greatest beauty in the east. So Semiramis had her name from Semir-jemama two Arabic words, signifying the brown dove. For the same reason the dove was made the bird of Venus; and we find it placed on the head of the Syrian goddess, whom the Orientals imagine to be the same as Semiramis. The second takes her name Keziah from the Cassia aromatica, a spice in great reputation in early times, as may be seen Psa 45:8. This was likewise agreeable to the Arabian customs, of naming their women from the products of the earth, as flowers, fruits, gums, and the like. The third was named Keren-happuch, rightly rendered, Cornu-stibii, the horn of stibium: the stibium was an ornamental colouring used by the women to make their eyebrows or eyelids black, which they esteemed very beautiful. See our note on 2Ki 9:30. This daughter of Job had her name, probably, from the beautiful black colour of her eyelids and eyebrows. See Costard’s Dissert. on the Mythological Astron. of the Ancients, and Heath’s Life of Job.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Job 42:14 And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch.
Ver. 14. And he called the name of the first, Jemima ] That is, day bright, from her oriental and glistering beauty; q.d. fair as the day (Diurno). Son 6:10 , the Church is said to look forth as the morning, fair as the moon.
And the name of the second, Kezia
And the name of the third, Keren-happuch
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jemima = beautiful as the day (Septuagint and Vulgate) or as a dove.
Kezia = fragrant as cassia (i.e. cinnamon).
Keren-happuch = horn of beauty or plenty. Compare Job 42:15.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Job 42:14. And he called the name of the first, Jemima Which the LXX., and Vulgate, as derived from , jom, interpret day. The Targum is, Her beauty was like that of the day. The name of the second, Kezia Because she was precious like cassia, says the Targum. The meaning probably is, Pleasant as cassia, or fine spices. And the name of the third, Keren- happuch Which the LXX. render, , Amaltheas horn, or, The horn of plenty. The Targum, however, says she was so called, because the brightness of her face was like that of an emerald. Hence some interpret the name, The horn, or child, of beauty.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
42:14 And he called the name of the first, {m} Jemima; and the name of the second, {n} Kezia; and the name of the third, {o} Kerenhappuch.
(m) That is, of long life, or beautiful as the day.
(n) As pleasant as cassia or sweet spice.
(o) That is, the horn of beauty.