Job 1:3. His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses.
Among people of pastoral and nomadic habits it is natural to estimate wealth, not by houses and lands, but by the number of animals owned.
Abram was very rich in cattle (Gen. 13:2). Lot had flocks and herds (Gen. 13:5). See also Genesis 24:35. Job’s wealth, on the return of his prosperity, was estimated in like manner. See Job 42:12. Special mention is made of she-asses because they were more highly valued than the males on account of their milk, a nourishing drink. To this day the riches of the Bedawin are reckoned by the number and quality of their cattle.