The turning point in Job’s fate occurs the moment he chooses to forgive. Instead of holding a grudge against the friends who had harshly criticized him, or rejoicing in their potential downfall, Job overlooks his personal hurt and prays on their behalf. Because he chooses forgiveness over resentment, God transforms his suffering into a blessing. Some commentators note that Job prays for each of his friends individually [רש״י, אלשיך]. Another perspective suggests his prayer focuses specifically on Eliphaz, the oldest of the group who had criticized him the most, and through him, the rest of the friends are naturally included [תקות אנוש]. By stepping beyond his own pain to forgive, Job causes the heavenly attribute of strict justice to transform into mercy, allowing for the complete restoration of everything he has lost [חומת אנך].
When God restores Job’s life, there are two primary approaches regarding how his family and property are returned. One view is that God moves the hearts of the robbers to return the stolen livestock and servants, while granting Job new sons and daughters to replace those who died [רמב״ן]. A second, more surprising approach suggests that Job’s children and wealth never actually perished. Instead, Satan merely hid them in the desert as captives, creating a powerful illusion of destruction for the messengers who reported the tragedies. According to this view, God simply rescues Job's original children and property from Satan's grasp and returns them to him completely unharmed [רמב״ן, מלבי״ם, אבן עזרא].
Following this restoration, God grants Job double the wealth he originally possessed. While the attribute of strict justice permits the return of what was lost, this extra, doubled measure of wealth flows entirely from God's attribute of mercy [אלשיך]. However, only the material property is doubled, not the number of children. This distinction is made because Job bears a slight, indirect responsibility for their initial fate, as he failed to stop them from holding their frequent feasts [אלשיך].