'Former' in the Bible

For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers:

“If he is snatched from his place [in the garden],Then his place will forget him, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’

So man lies down and does not rise [again].Until the heavens are no longer,The dead will not awake nor be raised from their sleep.

For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.

All his brothers, sisters, and former acquaintances came to his house and dined with him in his house. They sympathized with him and comforted him concerning all the adversity the Lord had brought on him. Each one gave him a qesitah and a gold earring.

The LORD blessed Job during the latter part of his life more than the former, since he owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 teams of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys.