Have You Considered My Servant Job?: Understanding the Biblical Archetype of Patience (Studies on Personalities of the Old Testament)

An extensive history of how the Bible's story of Job has been interpreted through the ages. The question that launches Job's story is posed by God at the outset of the story: "Have you considered my servant Job?" (1: 8; 2: 3). By any estimation the answer to this question must be yes. The forty-two chapters that form the biblical story have in fact opened the story to an ongoing practice of reading and rereading, evaluating and reevaluating. Early Greek and Jewish translators emphasized some aspects of the story and omitted others; the Church Fathers interpreted Job as a forerunner of Christ, while medieval Jewish commentators debated conservative and liberal interpretations of God's providential love. Artists, beginning at least in the Greco-Roman period, painted and sculpted their own interpretations of Job. Novelists, playwrights, poets, and musicians—religious and irreligious, from virtually all points of the globe—have added their own distinctive readings. In Have You Considered My Servant Job?, Samuel E. Balentine examines this rich and varied history of interpretation by focusing on the principal characters in the story—Job, God, the satan figure, Job's wife, and Job's friends. Each chapter begins with a concise analysis of the biblical description of these characters, then explores how subsequent readers have expanded or reduced the story, shifted its major emphases or retained them, read the story as history or as fiction, and applied the morals of the story to the present or dismissed them as irrelevant. Each new generation of readers is shaped by different historical, cultural, and political contexts, which in turn require new interpretations of an old yet continually mesmerizing story. Voltaire read Job one way in the eighteenth century, Herman Melville a different way in the nineteenth century. Goethe's reading of the satan figure in Faust is not the same as Chaucer's in The Canterbury Tales, and neither is fully consonant with the Testament of Job or the Qur'an. One need only compare the descriptions of God in the biblical account with the imaginative renderings by Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, and Franz Kafka to see that the effort to understand why God afflicts Job "for no reason" (2: 3) continues to be both compelling and endlessly complicated. "A tour de force of cultural interaction with the book of Job. He guides today's reader along the path of Job interpretation, exegesis, adaptation and imagining revealing the sheer variety of themes, meanings, creativity and re-readings that have been inspired by this one biblical book. Balentine shows us that not only is there "always someone playing Job" (MacLeish, J.B.) but there's always someone, past or present, reading this ever-enigmatic book." —Katharine J. Dell, University of Cambridge "Balentine "considers Job" for the countless ways this biblical book, in all its rich complexities, has inspired readers over the centuries.... Balentine's volume sparkles with insightful theological commentary and rigorous scholarship, and any exegetical course or study on Job would benefit from it." — Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology Have You Considered My Servant Job? Understanding the Biblical Archetype of Patience 4 Contents 8 Series Editor’s Preface 10 Preface 12 Introduction 14 Prologue: “There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job” 24 First Reading 24 Second Readings 27 Third Readings 29 Rereading Is a Minor Key of Everlastingness 34 Part I: Introduction to the Characters in the Didactic Tale (Job 1–2 + Job 42:7–17) 36 1 The Job(s) of the Didactic Tale: A Saint in the Making 38 “Patience Is Better than Anything” (T. Job 27:7) 40 Saintly Patience: The Construction of the Heroic Job 55 Saint Job 64 “And Then a Hero Comes Along” 70 2 God and the Satan: “Have you considered my servant Job?” 73 “Satan knocked at the Door. . . . Tell Job I wish to meet with him” (T. Job 6:4–5) 78 Medieval Jewish Commentary on Job 1–2 from Saadiah Gaon to Maimonides: Reading Job as a Divine Test or Wager 86 “Give the Devil His Due” 92 Carl Jung: “God Is at Odds with Himself” 97 3 There Was Once a Woman in the Land of Uz: Job’s Wife 100 There Was Once a Woman in the Land of Uz 104 Demonizing Job’s Wife and Feminizing Job 112 “Nice and Womanish” 122 Center Stage: The Compassionate Rebel 126 There’s Always Someone Playing Mrs. Job 130 Part II: Center Stage: The Wisdom Dialogue (Job 3–42:6) 134 4 Job’s Words from the Ash Heap: The Scandalous Voice of Defiance 136 Incantations” (Job 3) 137 Antecedent Voices 139 Prometheus: “A Spectacle That Shames the Fame of Zeus” 145 The End of the Promethean Myth? 155 5 God on Trial: “Who ever challenged Him and came out whole?” (Job 9:4) 158 “I would lay my case before him, and fill my mouth with arguments” (Job 23:4) 160 “Either He is responsible or He is not. If He is, let’s judge Him; if He is not, let Him stop judging us” 168 “O that my words . . . were inscribed in a record, incised on a rock forever” (Job 19:23–24) 174 “For the great idea . . . the bard walks in advance, leader of leaders” 176 6 Job’s Comforters: “Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty” (Job 5:17) 179 Job as Lisbon; Job’s Friends as Leibnizian Theodicy Makers 183 “My friends, don’t leave me alone with God!” 189 “Listen to me and let me also declare my opinion” (Job 32:10) 194 Job’s “Fifth Friend:” The “Belated Reader” 198 7 “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind . . .” (Job 38:1, 3) 200 The “Dialogue” with God (Job 38:1–40:6) 202 “Remember the battle, and speak no more” (Moralia, 6.33.36) 206 “This is the generation of that great leviathan” 209 “Of thy fire thou madest me, and like a true child of fire, I breathe it back to thee” 216 Epilogue: Job’s Children (Job 42:7–17) 225 God 226 Job and His Friends 227 Job’s Children 229 “You . . . did not comprehend the extent of your sleeping power” 229 “We won’t allow your blood to be covered” 233 “We know his story for having lived it” 236 “Have you considered my servant Job?” 242 Notes 244 Introduction 244 Prologue 244 Chapter 1: The Job(s) of the Didactic Tale 245 Chapter 2: God and (the) Satan 251 Chapter 3: There Was Once a Woman in the Land of Uz 256 Chapter 4: Job’s Words from the Ash Heap 260 Chapter 5: God on Trial 264 Chapter 6: Job’s Comforters 266 Chapter 7: “Then the Lord answered Job out of the Whirlwind . . .” (Job 38:1, 3) 269 Epilogue 273 Bibliography 278 Author Index 302 Subject Index 308 An in-depth examination and analysis of the chapters focused on the patient biblical character The question that launches Job's story is posed by God at the outset of the "Have you considered my servant Job?" (1:8; 2:3). By any estimation the answer to this question must be yes. The forty-two chapters that form the biblical story have in fact opened the story to an ongoing practice of reading and rereading, evaluating and reevaluating. Early Greek and Jewish translators emphasized some aspects of the story and omitted others; the Church Fathers interpreted Job as a forerunner of Christ, while medieval Jewish commentators debated conservative and liberal interpretations of God's providential love. Artists, beginning at least in the Greco-Roman period, painted and sculpted their own interpretations of Job. Novelists, playwrights, poets, and musiciansreligious and irreligious, from virtually all points of the globehave added their own distinctive readings. In Have You Considered My Servant Job? , Samuel E. Balentine examines this rich and varied history of interpretation by focusing on the principal characters in the storyJob, God, the satan figure, Job's wife, and Job's friends. Each chapter begins with a concise analysis of the biblical description of these characters, then explores how subsequent readers have expanded or reduced the story, shifted its major emphases or retained them, read the story as history or as fiction, and applied the morals of the story to the present or dismissed them as irrelevant. Each new generation of readers is shaped by different historical, cultural, and political contexts, which in turn require new interpretations of an old yet continually mesmerizing story. Voltaire read Job one way in the eighteenth century, Herman Melville a different way in the nineteenth century. Goethe's reading of the satan figure in Faust is not the same as Chaucer's in The Canterbury Tales, and neither is fully consonant with the Testament of Job or the Qur'an. One need only compare the descriptions of God in the biblical account with the imaginative renderings by Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, and Franz Kafka to see that the effort to understand why God afflicts Job "for no reason" (2:3) continues to be both compelling and endlessly complicated. The Question That Launches Job's Story Is Posed By God At The Outset Of The Story: Have You Considered My Servant Job? (1:8; 2:3). By Any Estimation The Answer To This Question Must Be Yes. The Forty-two Chapters That Form The Biblical Story Have In Fact Opened The Story To An Ongoing Practice Of Reading And Rereading, Evaluating And Reevaluating. Early Greek And Jewish Translators Emphasized Some Aspects Of The Story And Omitted Others; The Church Fathers Interpreted Job As A Forerunner Of Christ, While Medieval Jewish Commentators Debated Conservative And Liberal Interpretations Of God's Providential Love. Artists, Beginning At Least In The Greco-roman Period, Painted And Sculpted Their Own Interpretations Of Job. Novelists, Playwrights, Poets, And Musicians--religious And Irreligious, From Virtually All Points Of The Globe--have Added Their Own Distinctive Readings. In Have You Considered My Servant Job?, Samuel E. Balentine Examines This Rich And Varied History Of Interpretation By Focusing On The Principal Characters In The Story--job, God, The Satan Figure, Job's Wife, And Job's Friends. Each Chapter Begins With A Concise Analysis Of The Biblical Description Of These Characters, Then Explores How Subsequent Readers Have Expanded Or Reduced The Story, Shifted Its Major Emphases Or Retained Them, Read The Story As History Or As Fiction, And Applied The Morals Of The Story To The Present Or Dismissed Them As Irrelevant. Prologue: There Was Once A Man In The Land Of Uz Whose Name Was Job -- Part I. Introduction To The Characters In The Didactic Tale (job 1-2 + Job 42:7-17). The Job(s) Of The Didactic Tale : A Saint In The Making -- God And Satan : Have You Considered My Servant Job? -- There Was Once A Woman In The Land Of Uz : Job's Wife -- Part Ii. Center Stage: The Wisdom Dialogue (job 3-42:6) -- Job's Words From The Ash Heap : The Scandalous Voice Of Defiance -- God On Trial : Who Ever Challenged Him And Came Out Whole? (job 9:4) -- Job's Comforters : Do Not Despise The Discipline Of The Almighty (job 5:17) -- The The Lord Answered Out Of The Whirwind... (job 38:1, 3) -- Epilogue: Job's Children (job 42:7-17). Samuel E. Balentine. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. The question that launches Job's story is posed by God at the outset of the story: "Have you considered my servant Job?" (1:8; 2:3). By any estimation the answer to this question must be yes. The 42 chapters that form the biblical story have in fact opened the story to an ongoing practice of reading and rereading, evaluating and reevaluating. Early Greek and Jewish translators emphasized some aspects of the story and omitted others; the Church Fathers interpreted Job as a forerunner of Christ, while medieval Jewish commentators debated conservative and liberal interpretations of God's providential love. Artists, beginning at least in the Greco-Roman period, painted and sculpted their own interpretations of Job. Novelists, playwrights, poets and musicians -- religious and irreligious, from virtually all points of the globe -- have added their own distinctive readings. In Have You Considered My Servant Job?, Samuel E. Balentine examines this rich and varied history of interpretation by focusing on the principal characters in the story -- Job, God, the satan figure, Job's wife and Job's friends. Each chapter begins with a concise analysis of the biblical description of these characters, then explores how subsequent readers have expanded or reduced the story, shifted its major emphases or retained them, read the story as history or as fiction and applied the morals of the story to the present or dismissed them as irrelevant. Each new generation of readers is shaped by different historical, cultural and political contexts, which in turn require new interpretations of an old yet continually mesmerizing story. Voltaire read Job one way in the 18th century, Herman Melville a different way in the 19th century. Goethe's reading of the satan figure in Faust is not the same as Chaucer's in The Canterbury Tales, and neither is fully consonant with the Testament of Job or the Qur'an. One need only compare the descriptions of God in the biblical account with the imaginative renderings by Herman Melville, Walt Whitman and Franz Kafka to see that the effort to understand why God afflicts Job "for no reason" (2:3) continues to be both compelling and endlessly complicated