“Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised” (Prov 31:30, BSB).
Highlighted in the list of Job’s blessings we have the birth of three daughters. Of the ten former and ten latter children, these are the only ones named. There must be a good reason. “He also had…three daughters. And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch. In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job” (Job 42:13-15). What do their names mean? Suggestions vary, but I like the following ones. Jemimah, “as beautiful as the day,” is likely derived from yôm, “day,” although some render it “dove.” After Job’s long night of grief, this daughter was like a sunrise to him. A new day had dawned for Job. Yes, “Weeping may stay the night, but joy comes in the morning” (Ps 30:5, BSB). Keziah, Job’s second daughter, isn’t named after a new sight but a new scent. Her name is “as fragrant as cassia.” Cassia, cinnamon-like, is one of the aromatic spices referred to as lingering on the wardrobe of the King of glory. “All Your garments are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made You glad” (45:8). Job knew the stench of a world gone wrong (see Job 19:17), as he sat in the ash heap. But reclaimed by God’s approval, Job could agree, “A good name is better than precious ointment” (Eccl 7:1), made fragrant in the presence of the King. Keren-Happuch is usually linked to “the horn of beauty,” a vessel used for eyeliner! It’s as if she needed no makeup to enhance the beauty God had given her. This is in contrast to the time when Job had his “head [keren, horn] defiled…in the dust” (Job 16:15, KJV). May our lives also be bright, blessed, and beautiful with “the beauty of the Lord…upon us” (Ps 90:17).