gardens, and vineyards were: wherefore it follows: whose possessions were in Carmel; not Carmel in the tribe of Issachar, but in the tribe of Judah, not far from Maon, and are mentioned together; see Gill on Jos 15:55 ; his cattle were there, his sheep particularly, for they are afterwards said to be shorn there; or "his work" (r); his agriculture, his farming, where he was employed, or employed others in sowing seed, and planting trees: and the man was very great; in worldly substance, though not in natural wisdom and knowledge, and especially in true religion and piety: and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats; so the substance of men in those times was generally described by the cattle they had, whether of the herd or flock, in which it chiefly lay: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel; which was the custom in Judea and Syria, and was a very ancient one, as early as the times of Judah, yea, of Laban, see Gen 31:19 ; though the old Romans used to pluck off the wool from the sheep's backs; hence a fleece of wool was called "vellus a vellendo", from the plucking it off; and Pliny says (s), in his time, that sheep were not shorn everywhere, but in some places the custom of plucking off the wool continued; and who elsewhere observes (t), that the time of shearing was in June or July, or thereabouts; at which times a feast was made, and it is for the sake of that this is observed. (r) "opus ejus", Montanus, Vatablus; "eujus opus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. (s) Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 48. (t) Ibid. l. 18. c. 27.