Lives of Scripture

Keren-happuch, whose name means "horn of eye-paint" or "horn of antimony" (a cosmetic used to darken eyelids in the ancient Near East), was the third of three daughters born to Job after the LORD "restored the fortunes of Job" and gave him twice what he had before his trials (Job 42:10-13). Scripture names all three daughters -- Jemimah, Keziah, and Keren-happuch (42:14) -- and adds two details worth noting. First, "in all the land no women were found so fair as Job's daughters" (42:15), a mark of the completeness of God's blessing on Job's restored household. Second, their father "gave them an inheritance among their brothers" (42:15), a striking detail, since in Israelite and broader ancient Near Eastern custom daughters typically inherited only in the absence of sons, and Job had seven sons alongside his three daughters. Keren-happuch has no words or actions of her own recorded; her entire account is this brief closing notice. But within the shape of Job's story, that notice matters: after the LORD allowed Job to be stripped of everything, including his first set of children, His final act of restoration includes deliberately elevating his daughters' place and security in the family -- a small but pointed sign that God's blessing in Job's later years was generous beyond the ordinary custom of the day.