Job

If you don’t know me, my name is Rachel, and these are my scripture notes on the Book of Job. The verses are presented sequentially in English and Hebrew, followed by my commentary. Think of it as a living midrash: whenever I learn something new, I add a note. My notes draw from an eclectic range of ancient sources, both Jewish and Gentile. These include rabbinical commentaries, classical sources, and even the holy texts of other religions. See my about page for more.

Job 1אִיּוֹב א

• Job cared not just for himself, but his whole family. He even gave sacrifices on the off chance they had committed wrong in their hearts against God.

• This maps to Jesus’s “sinning in your heart” during the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:27-29). Virtually all of the sermon’s ethical precepts have pre-Christian expressions in the Tanakh (and later collected in the Talmud, see the Golden Rule in Shabbat 31a).

Matthew 5:27-29 – ²⁷Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: ²⁸But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. ²⁹And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

²⁷Ἠκούσατε ὅτι ἐρρέθη τοῖς ἀρχαίοις, Οὐ μοιχεύσεις· ²⁸ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν, ὅτι πᾶς ὁ βλέπων γυναῖκα πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι αὐτῆς ἤδη ἐμοίχευσεν αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ. ²⁹εἰ δὲ ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου ὁ δεξιὸς σκανδαλίζει σε, ἔξελε αὐτὸν καὶ βάλε ἀπὸ σοῦ· συμφέρει γάρ σοι ἵνα ἀπόληται ἓν τῶν μελῶν σου, καὶ μὴ ὅλον τὸ σῶμά σου βληθῇ εἰς γέενναν.

Shabbat 31a – [A Gentile] said ‘Convert me on condition that you teach me the entire Torah while I am standing on one foot.’ [Hillel] converted him and said: That which is hateful to you do not do to another; that is the entire Torah, and the rest is its interpretation. Go study.”

שׁוּב מַעֲשֶׂה בְּגוֹי אֶחָד שֶׁבָּא לִפְנֵי שַׁמַּאי. אָמַר לוֹ: גַּיְּירֵנִי עַל מְנָת שֶׁתְּלַמְּדֵנִי כׇּל הַתּוֹרָה כּוּלָּהּ כְּשֶׁאֲנִי עוֹמֵד עַל רֶגֶל אַחַת! דְּחָפוֹ בְּאַמַּת הַבִּנְיָן שֶׁבְּיָדוֹ. בָּא לִפְנֵי הִלֵּל, גַּיְירֵיהּ. אָמַר לוֹ: דַּעֲלָךְ סְנֵי לְחַבְרָךְ לָא תַּעֲבֵיד — זוֹ הִיא כׇּל הַתּוֹרָה כּוּלָּהּ, וְאִידַּךְ פֵּירוּשָׁהּ הוּא, זִיל גְּמוֹר.

Psalm 119:11. – ¹¹Thy word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee.

¹¹בְּלִבִּי, צָפַנְתִּי אִמְרָתֶךָ-- לְמַעַן, לֹא אֶחֱטָא-לָךְ.

• Job 1:5 textually says blessed God,בֵרְכוּ אֱלֹהִים in Hebrew as a euphemism since the scribes didn’t want to write “cursed God”. The same happens during the Satan’s challenge in Job 1:11, and continues throughout. Job 2:5 and Job 2:9 (“bless God and die!”).

• In Judaism we pray after we eat food because it’s precisely when we are well off that we forget about God. It’s easy when we’re in need: you feel the pangs of hunger, you see what you lack, and call out to God. But the moment these cravings are satisfied, we forget. Like Adam in Adam 2:4-7, or Deuteronomy 8:10, or Quran 41:51, we struggle to remember when what we yearn for has been lifted.

• Deuteronomy 8:10 is also why we Jews pray after the meal (the order is to eat and then bless).

Deuteronomy 8:10 – ¹⁰And thou shalt eat and be satisfied, and bless HaShem thy G-d for the good land which He hath given thee.

¹⁰וְאָכַלְתָּ, וְשָׂבָעְתָּ--וּבֵרַכְתָּ אֶת-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, עַל-הָאָרֶץ הַטֹּבָה אֲשֶׁר נָתַן-לָךְ.

Quran 41:51 – ⁵¹When We show favour unto man, he withdraweth and turneth aside, but when ill toucheth him then he aboundeth in prayer.

⁵¹وَإِذَآ أَنْعَمْنَا عَلَى ٱلْإِنسَٰنِ أَعْرَضَ وَنَـَٔا بِجَانِبِهِۦ وَإِذَا مَسَّهُ ٱلشَّرُّ فَذُو دُعَآءٍ عَرِيضٍۢ

Adam 2:4-7 – ⁴The Lord, the god who had created us, stood before us. ⁵He said to us: “Adam, why were you two moaning in your minds? ⁶Know you not that I am the god who created you, and that I breathed into you a spirit of life, in the form of a living soul?” ⁷Then darkness came over our eyes.

⁴ⲁⲡϫⲟⲉⲓⲥ ⲡⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ ⲉⲧⲁϥⲧⲁⲙⲓⲟⲛ ⲁϥⲁϩⲉⲣⲁⲧϥ̄ ⲙ̄ⲡⲉⲛⲙ̄ⲧⲟ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ. ⁵ⲡⲉϫⲁϥ ⲛⲁⲛ ϫⲉ ⲁⲇⲁⲙ ⲉⲧⲃⲉ ⲟⲩ ⲛⲉⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄ϥⲓ ⲁϩⲟⲙ ϩⲙ̄ ⲡⲉⲧⲛ̄ϩⲏⲧ. ⁶ϩⲓ̈ⲉ ⲛ̄ⲧⲉⲧⲛ̄ⲥⲟⲟⲩⲛ ⲁⲛ ϫⲉ ⲁⲛⲟⲕ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ ⲉⲧⲁϥⲧⲁⲙⲓⲉ ⲧⲏⲩⲧⲛ̄ ⲁⲩⲱ ⲁⲓ̈ⲛⲓϥⲉ ⲉϩⲟⲩⲛ ⲉⲣⲱⲧⲛ̄ ⲛ̄ⲟⲩⲡⲛ̄ⲁ̄ ⲛ̄ⲧⲉ ⲡⲱⲛϩ̄ ⲉϩⲣⲁⲓ̈ ⲉⲩⲯⲩⲭⲏ ⲉⲥⲟⲛϩ̄. ⁷ⲧⲟⲧⲉ ⲁⲩⲕⲁⲕⲉ ϣⲱⲡⲉ ϩⲓ̈ϫⲛ̄ ⲛⲉⲛⲃⲁⲗ.

• The second and final tragedies come from the heavens, and cannot be blamed on the free will of man. His children too.

• The four tragedies may map to the four cardinal directions, the woes smiting Job from all sides. Sheba to the South (recall the Queen who visits Solomon in 2 Chronicles 9 and in 1 Kings 10) and the Chaldeans to the North frequently appear in the Tanakh. However, the identification of Sheba is contested and may break this compass rose, which also requires the wind come from the East and the fire from the West. We also don’t know precisely where Uz is, which may be intentionally broad (and outside of Israel).

• Turns out Job did bless God to Thy face,יְהִי שֵׁם ה' מְבֹרָךְ 🩷

• The torn mantle is practiced in Judaism. We wear a torn piece of fabric when grieving for the first 7 (or 30 days for a parent) during the 11 months we pray the Mourner’s Kaddish.

• Isaiah 45:7. I make good (DSS) and create evil.

Isaiah 45:7 – I form the light, and create darkness; I make good, and create evil; I am HaShem, that doeth all these things.

יוֹצֵר אוֹר וּבוֹרֵא חֹשֶׁךְ, עֹשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם וּבוֹרֵא רָע; אֲנִי יְהוָה, עֹשֶׂה כָל-אֵלֶּה.

• Lurianic kabbalah suggests that prayers in these times helps to purge God’s evil.

Job 2אִיּוֹב ב

• Here HaShem admits Job’s suffering was entirely without cause,חִנָּם. This is the same חִנָּם used in Job 1:9 “Doth Job fear G-d for nought?”

• The word move me,וַתְּסִיתֵנִי is striking. The connotation is as if HaShem was moved against His will. The Talmud agrees.

Bava Batra 16a – Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Were it not explicitly written in the verse, it would be impossible to say this, as it would be insulting to God’s honor. The verse states: “You moved Me against him,” like a person whom others persuade and allows himself to be persuaded, as if God had not wanted to do anything, but allowed Himself to be persuaded to bring harm to Job.

אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: אִלְמָלֵא מִקְרָא כָּתוּב, אִי אֶפְשָׁר לְאוֹמְרוֹ – כְּאָדָם שֶׁמְּסִיתִין אוֹתוֹ וְנִיסָת.

• Literally “bless thee to thy face.”

• Scholars debate the precise meaning of the idiom “skin for skin.” Nevertheless, the satan here speaks to a truth of the human condition: most would trade everything to live another day. To take away his health and reputation is to make his life not worth living, which underwrites his call for the uncreation of the world and the day he was born in Job 3.

• The boils,שְׁחִין are the same curse of the 6th Egyptian plague in Exodus 9:8-9.

Exodus 9:8-9 – ⁸And HaShem said unto Moses and unto Aaron: 'Take to you handfuls of soot of the furnace, and let Moses throw it heavenward in the sight of Pharaoh. ⁹And it shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt.'

⁸וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה, אֶל-מֹשֶׁה וְאֶל-אַהֲרֹן, קְחוּ לָכֶם מְלֹא חָפְנֵיכֶם, פִּיחַ כִּבְשָׁן; וּזְרָקוֹ מֹשֶׁה הַשָּׁמַיְמָה, לְעֵינֵי פַרְעֹה. ⁹וְהָיָה לְאָבָק, עַל כָּל-אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם; וְהָיָה עַל-הָאָדָם וְעַל-הַבְּהֵמָה, לִשְׁחִין פֹּרֵחַ אֲבַעְבֻּעֹת--בְּכָל-אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם.

Deuteronomy 28:35 – ³⁵HaShem will smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore boil, whereof thou canst not be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the crown of thy head.

³⁵יַכְּכָה יְהוָה בִּשְׁחִין רָע, עַל-הַבִּרְכַּיִם וְעַל-הַשֹּׁקַיִם, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-תוּכַל, לְהֵרָפֵא--מִכַּף רַגְלְךָ, וְעַד קָדְקֳדֶךָ.

• Literally “bless God and die!”

• The Septuagint includes a lengthy lament for her lost children.

Job 2:9 LXX – ⁹And when much time had passed, his wife said to him, How long wilt thou hold out, saying, Behold, I wait yet a little while, expecting the hope of my deliverance? for, behold, thy memorial is abolished from the earth, sons and daughters, the pangs and pains of my womb which I bore in vain with sorrows; and thou thyself sittest down to spend the nights in the open air among the corruption of worms, and I am a wanderer and a servant from place to place and house to house, waiting for the setting of the sun, that I may rest from my labours and my pangs which now beset me: but say some word against the Lord, and die.

⁹Χρόνου δὲ πολλοῦ προβεβηκότος, εἶπεν αὐτῷ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ, μέχρι τίνος καρτερήσεις, λέγων, 9a ἰδοὺ ἀναμένω χρόνον ἔτι μικρὸν, προσδεχόμενος τὴν ἐλπίδα τῆς σωτηρίας μου; 9b ἰδοὺ γὰρ ἠφάνισταί σου τὸ μνημόσυνον ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς· υἱοὶ καὶ θυγατέρες, ἐμῆς κοιλίας ὠδῖνες καὶ πόνοι, οὓς εἰς τὸ κενὸν ἐκοπίασα μετὰ μόχθων· 9c σύ τε αὐτὸς ἐν σαπρίᾳ σκωλήκων κάθησαι διανυκτερεύων αἴθριος, 9d κᾀγὼ πλανωμένη καὶ λάτρις τόπον ἐκ τόπου καὶ οἰκίαν ἐξ οἰκίας, προσδεχομένη τὸν ἥλιον πότε δύσεται, ἵνα ἀναπαύσωμαι τῶν μόχθων μου καὶ τῶν ὀδυνῶν αἵ με νῦν συνέχουσιν· 9e ἀλλὰ εἶπόν τι ῥῆμα εἰς Κύριον, καὶ τελεύτα.

• The Greek Testament of Job names Job’s wife, Sitis, and makes her an even more sympathetic character who sells her hair to the satan for bread. Her name Sitis,Σίτις is possibly a grim pun on the word for bread,σῖτος.

Testament of Job 5:16-24 – ¹⁶And when Satan learned this, he took the guise of a bread-seller, and it was as if by chance that my wife met him and asked him for bread thinking that it was that sort of man. ¹⁷But Satan said to her: “Give me the value, and then take what thou wishest.” ¹⁸Whereupon she answered saying: Where shall I get money? Dost thou not know what misfortune happened to me? If thou hast pity, show it to me; if not, thou shalt see.”

¹⁹And he replied saying: “If you did not deserve this misfortune, you would not have suffered all this. ²⁰Now, if there is no silver piece in thine hand, give me the hair of thine head and take three loaves of bread for it, so that ye may live on there for three days. ²¹Then she said to herself: “What is the hair of my head in comparison with my starving husband” ²²And so after having pondered over the matter, she said to him: “Rise and cut off my hair.” Then he took a pair of scissors and took off the hair of her head in the presence of all, and gave her three loaves of bread. ²⁴Then she took them and brought them to me. And Satan went behind her on the road, hiding himself as he walked and troubling her heart greatly.

¹⁶Καὶ ὁ Σατανᾶς τοῦτο γνοὺς μετεσχηματίσθη εἰς πράτην · καὶ ἐγένετο κατὰ συντυχίαν ἀπελθεῖν πρὸς αὐτὸν τὴν γυναῖκά μου καὶ αἰτῆσαι ἄρτον, νομίζουσα εἶναι αὐτὸν ἄνθρωπον. ¹⁷καὶ ὁ Σατανᾶς ἔλεγεν αὐτῇ Παρασχοῦ τὸ τίμημα καὶ λάβε ὃ θέλεις. ¹⁸ἀποκριθεῖσα δὲ αὐτῷ λέγει Πόθεν μοι ἀργύριον; ἀγνοεῖς τὰ συμβεβηκότα ἡμῖν πονηρά; εἰ μὲν ἐλεεῖς ἐλέησον, εἰ δὲ μὴ σὺ ὄψει.

¹⁹καὶ ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῇ λέγων Εἰ μὴ ἄξιοι ἦτε τῶν κακῶν, οὐκ ἂν ἀπελάβετε αὐτά · ²⁰νῦν οὖν εἰ μὴ ἔχεις ἐν χερσίν σου ἀργύριον, ὑποθοῦ μοι τὴν τρίχα τῆς κεφαλῆς σου καὶ λάβε τρεῖς ἄρτους · ἴσως δυνήσεσθε ζῆσαι ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις. ²¹τότε λέγει ἐν ἑαυτῇ Τί γάρ μοι ἡ θρὶξ τῆς κεφαλῆς πρὸς τὸν πεινοῦντα ἄνδρα μου; ²²καὶ οὕτω καταφρονήσασα τῆς τρίχος εἶπεν αὐτῷ Ἀνάστα, ἆρον αὐτήν. τότε λαβὼν ψαλίδα ἔκειρεν τὴν τρίχα τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτῆς καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτῇ τρεῖς ἄρτους πάντων βλεπόντων · ²⁴ἡ δὲ λαβοῦσα ἦλθεν καὶ προσφέρει μοι · καὶ ὁ Σατανᾶς ἠκολούθει αὐτῇ ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ περιπατῶν κεκρυμμένως, καὶ ἐπλαγίαζεν αὐτῆς τὴν καρδίαν.

• Grieving together is a huge emphasis in Judaism. One never suffers alone, attending daily minyans to perform the Mourner’s Kaddish.

• Job’s friends waited 7 days without speaking. From this comes the Talmud’s injunction to wait for the mourner to speak first before consulation.

Moed Katan 28b – The consolers are not permitted to speak words of consolation until the mourner opens and speaks first. As it is stated: “And they sat down with him upon the ground for seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word to him; for they saw that his suffering was very great. After this Job opened his mouth” (Job 2:13–3:1). And afterward: “And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said” (Job 4:1).

אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: אֵין מְנַחֲמִין רַשָּׁאִין לוֹמַר דָּבָר עַד שֶׁיִּפְתַּח אָבֵל, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״אַחֲרֵי כֵן פָּתַח אִיּוֹב אֶת פִּיהוּ״, וַהֲדַר: ״וַיַּעַן אֱלִיפַז הַתֵּימָנִי״.