Commentary: On Job

Introduction

Moses wrote his book [the Torah] and the book of Job [see b. Bava Batra 14b]; thus we have received from our ancestors, the sages, because they and their words are true. The meaning of the sons of God (Job 1:6) we know only through prophecy. However, Moses our lord wrote it as a token against the rebellious children (Numbers 17:25). Perhaps one who hears His laws will observe them, and His children will endure it when He tests them. So let them not be like their fathers, a nation who disobeyed Him at Marah: There He made a statute and ordinance for them, and there He tested them (Exodus 15:25). He who examines hearts watched and saw an innocent man who out of fear [of God] did not harden his heart. However, to test him, He sent an angel from His dwelling place to persecute him. And so the story of Job will assure every believer that he whom the Lord loves He corrects (Proverbs 3:12).

And as for one who says Job never existed [see b. Bava Batra 15a]—since the text says There was a man (Job 1:1), there was a man like him, as we maintain. It is written as a sign and an exemplar for us and our children, to reinforce our faith and knowledge. And the verse [that mentions] Noah, Daniel, and Job (Ezekiel 14:14) proves it, for it is true and reliable testimony. The text only put him last after Noah and Daniel due to his shortcomings in relation to their virtues, because they were truly prophets. Similarly, [in the verse]: these are the same Moses and Aaron (Exodus 6:26), [Moses] is listed first because he was on a higher level.

Now I will explain the meaning of the whole book: first the grammatical meaning of the words, and the interpretation second, fulfilling the wishes of those who have urged me to write for them a whole explanation, clarified as best as my thoughts can manage. My help is from God. [ . . . ]Commentary

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and the satan also came among them. And the Lord said to the satan, “From where do you come?” So the satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” (Job 1:6–7)

Now there was a day: all the commentators have said that this “day” is Rosh Hashanah, the day on which the world is judged. But I believe that a better interpretation of now there was a day is the day of the celebration [mishteh]. The explanation is that the known day had already arrived, that is to say, the time of the celebration [on which God would take counsel,] starting from the most important [of His ministering angels] [see m. Sanhedrin 4:2]. The proof is the verse: Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking (Job 1:13).

And the sons of God came: from the places where they had been sent. On that day, they had already come—the angels, who are called the children of God because they came into being through His power. As it says: mountains were brought forth [lit., born] (Psalms 90:2). And since they are pure and holy forms, they are called His children.

To present themselves before the Lord: to do His will, some going wherever He commanded them, while others were returning from His missions, such as the satan, who was sent by God to watch over Job and all that he had. When he [the satan] returned to the Lord to learn what He would command him, He said to him: “From where do you come?” (Job 1:7). The verse calls him satan [adversary] because of His request that he test [Job, to see] whether his inside was like his outside, and if the standing of one created from earth could be equivalent to his faith.

And [regarding] the words of Daniel, about the assistance provided by angels [see Daniel 10:21], the Torah spoke in the language of man. For there is no jealousy between them. Good and evil were given only into the hands of man; there is no such thing among the higher beings. Rather, they can perform only the will of their Creator, when He commands and informs them. There are those who say [e.g., Se‘adya Ga’on] that the satan was a person, but the first interpretation is more correct.

And He said . . . “From where do you come?” This is a question about a place: [From where do] you come? Nothing is hidden from God. He only said that to initiate a conversation. He said, “From where do you come?” meaning: “What place have you come from?” The answer, like the question, was in order to start the conversation.

This is the meaning of going to and fro on the earth: the word [meaning] from going to and fro [mi-shut] is from [the same verb as in] they were [your] oarsmen [hayu shatim] (Ezekiel 27:8), who move the boat, as do the legs on a body. Therefore, going to and fro has the same meaning as walking back and forth. The verse thus repeats itself, as it is the way of our language [Hebrew] to state one thing in two ways, such as: and the rough goat, the male goat is the king of Greece (Daniel 8:21).

On the earth: higher beings are more honorable than people, and the meaning of on the earth, as is known, is the inhabited land.