When Job's three friends first saw him from a distance, what happened?

Answer: They could barely recognize him

Job 2:12: they could barely recognize Job (KJV: "knew him not"), so they wept aloud, tore their robes and threw dust over their heads.

“When they lifted up their eyes from afar, they could barely recognize Job. They began to weep aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust in the air over his head.”— Job 2:12 (BSB)