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A Reader’s Guide to the Book of Job as Tragicomedy Acrobat version with Hebrew notes Read the entire book aloud as tragicomedy. Share with Job trials he survives with integrity.
The author invites us to identify with Job who is innocent of any wrongdoing, suffers grueling, unfair interrogation, then laughing at God’s preposterous challenges, Job rejects or brushes aside all that preceded and is “consoled on dust and ashes.” Experience relief as God tells Eliphaz Job spoke the truth and his well being is restored.. L'shanah tovah .Adrien Bledstein, August 10, 2007 Rev. August 30, 2007 Synopsis Prologue: 1 On earth: “There was a man in the land of Uz named Job. That man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil” (1:1, 8; 2:3). He was blessed with great wealth and ten children. In Heaven: Depicted as a potentate, YHWH takes pride in the excellence and integrity of this devout servant. When the scoffer (ha-satan) questions Job’s motivation, YHWH allows the cynic to probe Job’s motivation: Job’s people and animals are abducted or killed, his ten children are destroyed by a great wind. On earth: 1 Job’s response to loss of his children, people, and all his wealth: “‘Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there; YHWH has given, and YHWH has taken away; blessed be the name of YHWH.’ For all that, Job does not sin nor does he cast reproach on God” 1:21-22. In heaven: 2 YHWH speaks well of Job to the scoffer, “He still keeps his integrity; so you have incited Me against him to destroy him for no good reason" 2:3. The scoffer retorts: “Skin for skin -- all that a man has he will give up for his life. But lay a hand on his bones and his flesh, and he will surely ‘bless’ You to Your face” 1:4-5. [“Bless” is an ironic euphemism, meaning curse.] YHWH allows the scoffer to afflict Job’s body with inflammation and pain, but not to take his life. Whatever anyone says, keep in mind that Job’s anguish is the result of YHWH’s bragging about a devout servant and the scoffer’s challenge. On earth: 2 Grieving loss of family, seeing her husband writhing with festering boils, Job’s unnamed wife advises he “bless” God and die. Reproving her as a foolish woman, he asks, “Should we accept only good from God and not accept evil?” 2:9-10. Three friends gather to console him in silence for seven days. Job 3 Suffering mental and physical anguish, Job erupts, vents as he curses the day he was born, wishing it were obliterated, that creation be turned upside down so that he never lived. For “what I feared has overtaken me” 3:25. Eliphaz: 4-5 Unable to resist responding, Eliphaz implies Job has sinned, so is corrected by God. “What innocent man ever perished?”4:7 From hearing Job’s deeply personal complaint, Eliphaz fabricates for Job a dream (4:12-21) in which he wonders "Can mortals be acquitted by God? Can man be cleared by his Maker? If He cannot trust His own servants, And casts reproach on His angels, How much less those who dwell in houses of clay, Whose origin is dust, Who are crushed like the moth,” 4:17-19. Then he urges Job to accept God’s reproof. Job: 6-7 Appalled by the false premise and accusation of Eliphaz, Job asserts his complaint is just, his suffering without end. His friends are “fickle, like a wadi,” a torrential stream that dries up. 6:18. In pain, his skin repugnant with maggots, Job contends “I will complain in the bitterness of my soul” 7:11. Then he addresses God: “What is man, that You make much of him, That You fix Your attention upon him?” 7:17. Bildad: 8 Expressing the hope (and fear) of all the friends, and summarizing fundamental themes of the book of Job, Bildad calls Job a blowhard. “How long will you speak such things? Your utterances are a mighty wind ! Will God pervert the right? Will the Almighty pervert justice?” 8:2-3 “If you are blameless and upright, He will protect you, And grant well-being, to your righteous home” 8:6. “Surely God does not despise (cast off) the blameless 8:20 Job: 9-10 Job feels God is not approachable, but knows he has done no wrong, He has no mediator. Loathing his life, he will vent his bitterness. Zophar: 11 Insulted, Zophar insists Job’s guilt deserves worse punishment. If God would speak, Job would hear his iniquity. He advises: pray, remove iniquity, then hold your head high and shine. Job: 12-14 A crowd has gathered. Job knows he is a laughingstock and points out that complacency breeds “contempt for calamity” 12:5. He knows the power of God, but insists on “arguing with God. But you” he charges his friends, “invent lies” 13:3-4. Eliphaz: 15 Eliphaz is aghast that Job’s assertion of his innocence undermines religion, “subverts piety” 15:4. He chastises Job for venting anger against God. Job: 16-17 Viciously attacked by God and friends, the butt of snickers from the crowd, Job grieves that his community is destroyed for no violence of his hand and “for the purity of prayer!” 16:17 He accuses his friends of insisting, “night is day!” 17:12. Bildad: 18 Furious that he thinks Job says the friends are stupid, Bildad accuses Job of tearing himself to pieces with anger. He rigorously, boldly describes the fate of the wicked whose flame does not shine! Job: 19 Job distinguishes verbal assaults of friends from God’s monstrous physical attacks. Vividly describing his losses, he pleads for compassion from friends. “Why do you pursue me like God, Maligning me insatiably? O that my words were written down; Would they were inscribed in a record.” He asserts his expectation and belief, “But I know that my Vindicator lives; In the end He will testify on earth -- This, after my skin will have been peeled off. But I would behold God while still in my flesh, I myself, not another, would behold Him; Would see with my own eyes” 19:22-27. Zophar: 20 Zophar implies Job’s fall is evidence of his wickedness, then relishes describing in graphic detail the suffering of the wicked. Job: 21 In response to both Bildad’s and Zophar’s stormy reproaches, Job with relative calm argues an obvious reality: the wicked often prosper. “How seldom does the lamp of the wicked fail, Does the calamity they deserve befall them?” 21:17 His friends offer “empty consolation”, 21:34 Eliphaz: 22 Inventing lies, Eliphaz accuses Job of greedy demands and lack of compassion for the destitute. That’s why he suffers. Accept instruction. “If you return to Shaddai you will be restored ” 22:23 Job: 23-24 Embittered further by vicious attacks of his friends, Job muses on how he would set his case before God who would not accuse him. He has followed God’s way. But God cannot be found. Job describes violence that is not punished, alternating between describing the wicked on the one hand and the poor on the other. He chants a curse on the wicked who apparently thrive. Bildad: 25 Touched by Job’s complaint, Bildad’s reflections could be an aside,1 not directed at Job. He asks “How can a mortal be righteous before God?” 25:4 [This aside reminds us that indeed Job is righteous before God.] “How much less man, a worm, The son-of-man, a maggot ” 25:6.2 Job: 26 Without hearing Bildad, Job responds to Eliphaz. “To whom have you addressed words? Whose breath issued from you?” 26:4. Job mockingly spouts the friends’ “wisdom” regarding God’s powers. 27 “By God who has deprived me of justice! By Shaddai who has embittered my life! As long as there is life in me, And God's breath is in my nostrils, My lips will speak no wrong, Nor my tongue utter deceit. Far be it from me to say you are right; Until I die I will maintain my integrity ” 27:2-5. He derides his friends’ wisdom as “exuding air” about the fate of the wicked, 27:12. 28 Then he muses, where can wisdom be found? He waxes eloquent, on the search for gems and precious metals as metaphors for wisdom.3 God’s majesty is unsearchable. “But whence does wisdom come? Where is the source of understanding?” 28:12, 20. He concludes (ironically?): "See! Fear of a master is wisdom; To shun evil is understanding" 28:28.4 Job maintains his integrity: the Living God, Shaddai, deprives him of justice. 29 Job reflects on his past comfort, the enormous respect he enjoyed, admiration of young and old, and the good he did for the poor, orphan, widow, stranger. He meted out justice to the wrong doer. He imagined he would be energetic and respected all his days because he tried so hard to do the right thing. 30 He describes his current indignities and accuses God of cruelty. Referring to members of the gathered crowd: “Because God has disarmed and humbled me, (Scoundrels) have thrown off restraint in my presence” 30:11. “He regarded me as clay, I have become like dust and ashes 30:19. He accuses God of harassment 30:20-23 and sarcastically quotes tradition: “Surely He would not strike at a ruin If, in calamity, one cried out to him” 30:24. 31 Job details wrongs he did not commit,
revealing his values and code of conduct: he grieved for the unfortunate;
didn’t covet a
forbidden woman. He listened to servants’ complaints whom he respected
as himself. “Let Him weigh me on the scale of righteousness; Let
God ascertain my integrity 31:6. “Did I ever brush aside the
case of my servants, man or maid, When they made a complaint against
me?” 31:13
He was well aware that though he was a respected, powerful man, he was
not a god. About his servant, “Did not He who made me in my mother's
belly make him? Did not One form us both in the womb?” 31:15 He
provided for the poor and the widow; didn’t worship other gods;
welcomed the sojourner. He didn’t gloat over his great wealth or
coverup wrongdoing. He paid for what he acquired, and he did not wish
death on his enemy. He energetically curses himself IF he committed crimes.
If he had committed wrongs he would welcome Divine rebuke. Eliphaz,
Zophar and Bildad are silent. Elihu: 32-37 The intense dispute is broken with comic relief as a young man steps forward. Elihu has heard the arguments and speaks up. Whereas Job’s friends were fixated on defending God’s benevolence toward the innocent, Elihu seems more concerned with saying whatever will impress the crowd. He is good at it and changes his tune in response to waxing and waning interest. In the process he revisits arguments against Job and eloquently anticipates an approaching storm. 32 Elihu erupts passionately, verbosely insisting on being heard. Not age but God’s inspiration is understanding. The old fellows haven’t answered Job, they leave it to God to answer. But Elihu is “full of words; the wind in my belly presses me...like jugs of new wine ready to burst” 32:17-19. 33 Again demanding attention, he scolds Job by quoting his protests of innocence. Elihu accuses Job of not recognizing “God is greater than any man” 33:12. As if he is the first to do so, he instructs Job to acknowledge God’s discipline. 34 He pontificates to his elders, quoting Job’s claim of innocence, then proclaims “Shaddai does not pervert justice” 34:12. Elihu waxes eloquent on how God hears the needy. "Job does not speak with knowledge; His words lack understanding." 34:35 He pronounces judgment: Job despises God! 35 Projecting, Elihu self-righteously condemns self-righteousness. God does listen, Job must be patient and stop mouthing empty words. 36 To guffaws from the crowd, Elihu protests “In truth, my words are not false; a man of sound opinions is before you” 36:4. He justifies God who punishes the wicked and grants justice to the lowly. He ends describing the grandeur of God with the metaphor of rain, lighting, and thunder of an approaching storm. 37 As the tempest intensifies, sky darkens,
lightning flashes, and thunder rumbles, Elihu uses the storm and unseen
sun above the clouds as proof of the awesomeness of Shaddai who is just
and does not “torment.”5 Job
is silent. YHWH: 38-40 YHWH’s voice emanates from the heavy windstorm and puts down Elihu. “Who is this who darkens counsel, Speaking without knowledge?” 38:1-2 YHWH utterly ignores the question of justice and Job’s request to be informed of any wrong he has committed. Instead YHWH torments Job with rhetorical questions with impossible demands regarding power. “Gird your loins like a hero; I will ask and you will inform Me. Where were you when I laid earth’s foundations?” (38:3-4) After a magnificent description of creation, YHWH sarcastically queries, “Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your years are many!” (38:21) YHWH goes on to describe the heavens and wilderness, peppered with unanswerable questions about wild creatures. Ending with ambiguity, YHWH asks: “Shall a faultfinder strive with Shaddai, dispute God? He will answer/bow down/suffer/sing/or be given a favorable hearing (see Is 30:19)” 40:2. Outdoing all the scoffers’ windy reproaches with magnificent poetry, the Divine speech is satirical, a parody of an Egyptian wisdom teacher, full of double entendres and deliberately ambiguous terms and Janus parallelisms.6 Job: 40:3-5 How may one react to a Divine response which avoids the question? Job’s question is about justice. YHWH’s pronouncements are about power and the tough job of being divine. Job acknowledges he is minuscule compared to the Divine. The incongruity between what Job expects (see 19:25-27) and what he now hears and sees evokes laughter. “What can I answer You? I clap my hand to my mouth. I have spoken once, and will not reply; Twice, and will do so no more.” His gesture covers laughter, as Abraham’s bow covers laughter on hearing a child will be born to Sarah who is ninety years old (Genesis 17:15-19). YHWH: 40:6-41:26 Further prodding Job, as an adversarial friend might, YHWH again demands: “Gird your loins like a hero; I will ask, and you will inform Me.” Then asks: “Would you impugn My justice?” [Imagine Job’s responses in gestures: An arm with fist raises an affirmative: Yes!] “Would you condemn Me that you may be right?” [Raising his fist even higher: Yes! Then God, playing on the raised arm, asks] “Have you an arm like God's?” [Lowering his arm and chuckling, Job shakes his head: No.] “Can you thunder with a voice like His?” [Laughing out loud, Job shakes his head more forcefully indicating: Certainly not!] 40:6-9 With grandiosity YHWH summons Job to bring down Leviathan and all the proud men, then even YHWH would praise him. Again cross examining Job, YHWH uses the term, ,, ashalem, which has several meanings: “Who then can stand up to Me? Whoever confronts Me I will requite/make whole/give peace/grant well-being/restore,” because “everything under the heavens is Mine” 41:2-3; KJV 40:19., anticipates the conclusion of the book when Job is granted well-being for standing up to YHWH who ends this discourse by describing the Behomoth, a creature even divine beings cannot conquer. Job: 42:1-6 Imagine Job buckled with laughter. Despite saying he would not reply again, Job speaks up. He does not politely say “If you please,” “My Lord, if I may speak...”7 Job blurts: “I know that You can do everything, That nothing you propose is impossible for You.” Relieved of rage by God’s parody of a stern school master demanding answers about divine power, Job mimics, with deepened booming voice, God’s dismissal of Elihu as a challenge to himself: “Who is this who obscures counsel without knowledge?” (42:3a repeats 38:2). Continuing in his own voice, Job acknowledges his limits, “Indeed, I spoke without understanding Of things beyond me, which I did not know”(42:3b). Again imitating God’s bullying pedantry: “Hear now, and I will speak; I will ask, and you will inform Me” (42:4 repeats 38:3; 40:7). “I had heard You with my ear, But now my eye perceives You, therefore [gesturing] I brush aside ..., but I am consoled, on dust and ashes” (42:4-5).8 Rejecting YHWH’s bluster, with all that preceded, Job is clear that his question regarding justice is not answered, but he can’t be any worse off for speaking truth and accepting the fact he is human. As he said earlier, “By God who has deprived me of justice! By Shaddai who has embittered my life! As long as there is life in me, And God's breath is in my nostrils, My lips will speak no wrong, Nor my tongue utter deceit” (27:2-4). Job has nothing to repent and he has the last word in the disputation. Epilogue: 42:7-8 The disputation over, narrative resumes. YHWH is pleased with Job’s persistence and capacity to see through not only friends’ but Divine abuse. YHWH now chastises Eliphaz and his friends for “not speaking the truth about Me as did My servant Job.” Having proved that Job has the integrity YHWH trusted he would maintain, the Divine is concerned with human justice and mercy. If Job prays for Eliphaz, Zophar and Bildad, they will not be punished as they deserve. Imagine the scoffer, a heckler in the crowd, slinking away. 42:10-17 Fully vindicated and cleansed by laughter, Job prays on the friends’ behalf. He is relieved of suffering and his prior fortune is doubled as the community he grieved losing (16:7) gathers around with gifts. “They consoled and comforted, him for all the misfortune that the LORD had brought upon him” (42:11) The community now recognizes what Job claimed all along, that YHWH made him suffer though he was innocent of wrongdoing. No replacement for the lost children, he has seven more sons and three beautiful daughters. Unusual in the Bible, Job’s daughters are named, the sons nameless, and Job provides an inheritance to each woman. He lives to see four generations of children and grandchildren. Like Abraham, Job dies “old and contented” (Genesis 25:8). In fulfillment of his wish (19:23), Job’s words were written down and are remembered. The author dramatizes anguish and airs arguments regarding an innocent person suffering, shatters the myth of divine justice, then brings us to mercy, justice, and a comforting conclusion. ************ Endnotes: 1. Once our group imagined we were reading a performance, Tom Schnitzer envisioned Bildad’s aside which makes sense of an otherwise problematic passage. 2. Compare to Psalm 22 in which David likens himself to a worm. 3. Noel Salinger characterized Job’s metaphors. 4. Compare: Ecclesiastes 12:13 “The sum of the matter, when all is said and done: Revere [fear] God and observe His commandments! For this applies to all mankind.” 5. A humorous interlude, Elihu epitomizes Job’s remark about his friends “exuding air” 27:12, what Harry Frankfort characterizes as “bullshit.” See On Bullshit (Princeton, NJ: Princeton U. Press, 2005) We may also imagine Shakespeare learned from the Bible the technique of inserting a comic character to relieve tension. 6. S. B. Noegel, Janus Parallelism in the Book of Job (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996). “Janus parallelism” was first observed and coined by Cyrus H. Gordon, father of our teacher Deborah Gordon Friedrich.. 7. J. Miles, God, A Biography (New York: Knopf, 1995), p. 321. 8. Job’s response in 42:6 has been seen as key to the meaning of the book. Both Jewish and Christian translations of Job 42:6 suggest Job submissively bows to Divine pressure. See: TNK ““Therefore, I recant and relent, Being but dust and ashes.” JPS “Wherefore I abhor my words, and repent, seeing I am dust and ashes.” KJV “Wherefore I abhor (NRS “despise,”) myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” NAS “Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes." [AJB: a translator added italicized words to fill in the ellipsis, the missing object of the verb.] But Job knows God has been listening and refers back to his own fair treatment of his servants as a kind of reminder to God as he dismisses false accusations, “Therefore I brush aside...” The verb has no object in contrast to 31:13, leaving the question, what does Job “brush aside” or “reject” or “despise?” In light of his laughter, a brushing aside gesture could indicate the irrelevance of the harangue about Divine power and the magnificence of creation for the question of justice which is not answered. Job perceives YHWH as powerful and pedantic, which breaks the tension, disrupting the cycle of his anguish and stress. Job does not “repent in dust and ashes” NAS. He is “consoled on dust and ashes.” See my paper “Laughter in the Book of Job? Reading Job as Tragicomedy” for an extended discussion.
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