Q. After Job’s intense suffering, the Bible says he was given more than he had before his trials began, including seven sons and three daughters. Were these through his first wife, or did he by then have a new wife?
A. The Bible doesn’t say for certain. Some Bible scholars believe it was the same wife, who would have learned important lessons from Job’s suffering. (Remember that she lost almost everything too!) Others believe Job’s first wife died and that he had a new wife (20 children would be a lot of offspring for one woman).
This article appeared in the “Q & A” column of the Baptist Bulletin by Norman A. Olson.