Job’s seminal monologue, comprising chapters 29 – 31, follows the conclusion of the three-cycle-debate that ends with chapter 27. In this monologue, Job narrates his tragic story.
In chapter 29 he expounds his standing prior to the bet of God and Satan. The first part of the second verse, correctly translated reads: “oh that I be restored to my heyday”,1 has become a phrase in use in modern Hebrew. Job then tells us all about his uprightness and his exalted status before his fall. He says: “I put on righteousness, and my justice clothed me, as a robe and diadem” [29:14]. He sums up by stating: “I …sat as chief, and dwelt as king in the army …” [29:25]. This assertion is borne out by the prologue which describes him, inter alia, as “ … the greatest [wealthiest] of all men of the East [1:3].”2
In chapter 30 Job describes his fall. In the first verse he tells us that he is being mocked by younger people “whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with dogs of my flock.” He adds that even these people abhor him and spit in his face [30:10].
Addressing God, he complains: “I cry to thee, and thou dost not answer me. I stand up, dost thou then regard me? Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hands thou opposest thyself against me [30:20-21].3 By way of contrast, Job refers to his own virtue. He says: “Did I not weep for him that was in trouble? Was not my soul grieved for the poor? But when I looked for good then evil came…” [30:25-26]. He concludes: “I am a brother to jackals, and a companion to owls. My skin hangs down black from me, and my bones are burned with heat. Therefore my lyre is turned to mourning and my pipe4 to the voice of those who weep” [30:29-31].
His decency and strict observance of good behaviour are expanded in chapter 31. To start with, he affirms his decency and exclaims: “If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot has hasted to deceit; let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know my integrity” [31:6].5 He gives details of his caring attitude to widows, orphans and the fallen and concludes “[if]f my land cry against me or its furrows complain together; if I have eaten its fruits without money, or have caused its owners to sigh: let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley”[31:38-39].
Here Job affirms his innocence by way of oath and pleads his case. From a legal viewpoint, his concluding monologue resembles a ‘case stated’. In essence, he maintains that he has been wronged and avers that he is entitled to a reply. To this end, he says: “Oh that one would hear me! Here is my mark, let the Almighty answer me! And would that my adversary would pen his writ” [31:35].6 Job does not deny God’s superiority and omnipotence but asserts his right to question His justice (the “theodicy issue”). On this point, he is, of course, borne out by the prologue.
The last verse of the chapter reads: “The words of [Job] are ended” [31:40]. They differ from the monologue, in which Job speaks and, accordingly, his words are expressed in first person. The concluding phrase, in contrast, is an editorial comment, expressed in third person. Here the Compiler/Editor tells the reader that Job has completed his discourse. Notably, a portion of it is preserved in the Qumran Scroll.7
The epilogue [42:7-end] is in harmony with the poetic part ending in chapter 31. It does not refer to Elihu’s speeches (caps 32 – 37) or to Gods Replies from the Whirlwind (caps. 38 – 42:1-6).
This leads to the conclusion that in the original version of Job, which has not come down to us, Job’s bitter reproaches are not favoured with an answer. If this analysis is correct, this original version would have had to be suppressed as being apostate. Nonetheless, this conclusion is appropriate: it will be recalled that Job’s sufferings do not constitute a befitting punishment for his sins. They are the outcome of a mere bet between God and Satan, a bet won by the latter. Is it possible that the translations destroyed by Gamliel, were copies (or translations) of this original version?
Contextually, too, the proposed analysis is sound. It will be shown that neither Elihu nor God’s Replies from the Whirlwind come up with an answer to the main query raised in Job: the theodicy issue. Job’s concept of She’ol (the afterlife) is discussed hereafter.
Usually translated as “Oh that I were as in months past”; in Hebrew: “מי יתנני כירחי-קדם”. ↩︎
There is here a play on words. “Men of the East ]קדם[” can also mean: “men of antiquity”. ↩︎
Cp. Greenstein’s translation, op. cit., at p. 127. ↩︎
Greenstein, op. cit., at p. 128 uses “flute”. ↩︎
See the Vicchio’s analysis, op. cit., pp. 204 et. seq. ↩︎
Cp. Greenstein’s translation, op. cit., at p. 132. ↩︎
DJD23, at p. 125 [line 2 of Col. XX figure 17 ii]. See also Jongeling, op. cit., pp. 38-39; Sokoloff, op. cit., pp. 66-67. ↩︎