Who was Job? Why does he matter

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The Book of Job, part 1: Who was Job? Why does he matter?


My introduction to the Book of Job (Iyov in Hebrew) was not a promising one. I was in my early teens. A woman with three teenage sons, a stalwart of our community, was dying of cancer. She asked for a Rabbi to attend to her and answer one question: why is this happening to me when it is not my time? A Minister was found who promptly told her to read the Book of Job as she would find consolation within it. But she had read it already and still she searched for an answer.
So a second rabbi was called for. This one did not tell her to read Job: he spoke for hours with her. She resolved many of her difficulties and died in relative peace. But after this experience, "Job" came to embody for me a "Bible in my pocket" answer to suffering, something that could be whipped out to explain uncomfortable questions. It had been used to curtail a more painful and intimate discussion about mortality which was needed at the time.
None the less I gave Job a second chance and picked up the book and read this story. For the first time I understood why anyone should think it held answers to our questions about the nature of suffering and the extraordinary nature of the relationship between God and Humanity.
In this series of blogs I shall revisit the Book of Job, the personality and some of its meaning for contemporary society. It centres on the theme of theodicy: why do bad things happen to good people? The central question of theodicy is to explain how an all-knowing, all-powerful and benevolent and just G-d allows bad things to happen in the world: this applies equally to those suffering or to those witnessing suffering.
In exploring this topic, I am coming from it from a Jewish and a personal point of view and look forward to engaging with some of the difficult questions that arise out of Job with those who have different beliefs.
The Book of Job is one of the first documents in history to concentrate solely on how a just G-d can allow the suffering of innocents. Some scholars claim it might have been written in the 5th century BCE; and some traditional Jewish views even claim Moses was the author of the story.
The story of Job starts in heaven. Satan, the adversary, claims to G-d that Job is only righteous because he is basically wealthy and comfortable. Satan asks G-d whether he can test him. He wipes out Job's 10 children, his possessions and gives him a nasty skin disease to boot. Whilst mourning the death of his children three friends increasingly challenge and berate him suggesting that he must have seriously done something wrong to have received such a fate. Job then questions G-d regarding his suffering, finds Him to be unjust and speaks harshly against G-d. A fourth companion enters the story, Elihu, and it is Elihu's speech that creates the basis for theodicy. He chastises all, tells us G-d is never wrong, merciful and that we cannot know or comprehend all that G-d does. There are greater things than us that we do not and cannot understand. G-d then turns up, confirms this position and tells everyone that Job is a righteous man and that the three people who mocked him should make a sacrifice and that Job will forgive them. The story ends with Job receiving his wealth back several fold, having another 10 children and living for another 140 years.
Job's wife appears briefly in the Book but she is an interesting character which we shall return to later in the series. Having lost her 10 children, she apparently gets angry with Job's piety and a domestic dispute ensues. Reconciliation must have followed at some point as she has another 10 children with him. Her own feelings are never spoken of and she is never challenged in the same way as Job.
Judaism and other religions have "developed" the story of Job. Indeed there is a second Job, of legend and tales. The Talmud mentions him as one of the three Prophets consulted by Pharaoh prior to his decision to drown the Hebrew baby boys (Exodus). Balaam tells him to kill the Jews, Yithro to spare them and Job who does not agree with the plan says nothing. The Talmud concludes that it was for this reason that Job was punished. This undermines the notion of theodicy and rather raises the possibility that he was being punished for his deeds after all.
Legend goes into different religions and cultures. Job has two graves, one Islamic in Oman and one Druze site in Lebanon. With such uncertainty about his identity some Medieval religious scholars are quick to claim he was a myth invented to illustrate a point and if true then this is the ultimate irony: for a man that may have never existed he has given us a lot to think about.

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