Lament for Sitis, Job’s Wife

Testament of Job 25:1–8

1st Century BCE–1st Century CE

1Who is not amazed that this is Sitis, the wife of Job?

2Who used to have fourteen draperies sheltering her chamber and a door within doors, so that one was considered quite worthy merely to gain admission to her presence:
3Now she exchanges her hair for loaves!
4Whose camels, loaded with good things, used to go off into the regions of the poor:
Now…
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In the biblical book of Job, Job’s wife is not named, but in the Testament of Job, she is called Sitis. The lament is uttered not by her but about her and refers to the sudden and precipitous reversal of her wealthy and comfortable condition. Formerly, she cared for the poor and extended hospitality at her table. Now she exchanges her hair for bread (selling one’s long hair out of need was more likely to be done by women than men).

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