Book of Theodicy (Commentary on Job)

Introduction

He opened by saying: Blessed be the Lord, God of Israel, eternal before all things that begin, everlasting beyond all things that end, Creator and Originator, who sets our term and will restore us, to whom praise and thanksgiving are due for His universal grace and all-encompassing beneficence. [ . . . ]

Plainly, His bringing creation into being from nothing is the ultimate act of grace. For He created the entire world and settled it with human beings for their benefit. [ . . . ]

God’s creating suffering, sickness, and injury in the world is also an act of beneficence and in the interest of humanity, who fear His punishment and dread His retribution, as it says: God acts that they shall fear him (Ecclesiastes 3:14). [ . . . ]

Accordingly, there are three cases in this respect. The first is that of discipline and instruction. Although these may be painful for human beings, hard, wearying, and troubling of mind, all this is for our own good. [ . . . ]

The second case is that of purgation and punishment. [ . . . ]

The third case is that of trial and testing. An upright servant, whose Lord knows that he will bear sufferings loosed upon him and hold steadfast in his uprightness, is subjected to certain sufferings, so that when he steadfastly bears them, his Lord may reward him and bless him. [ . . . ]

Further, we have the record of the history of one righteous person who was tested and bore the test with fortitude that was acknowledged. He was assured eternal bliss in the hereafter and granted far more than he had hoped for in this life. That was the prophet Job (peace be upon him). Knowing that throughout the ages the thoughts which pass before men’s minds when sufferings befall them are of four sorts, corresponding to those which arose in Job’s day, God required all this to be set forth for us, so that we might learn from it, discover the proper view, see its cogency and discard the rest. [ . . . ]

Job held it admissible¹ that the Allwise might cause suffering to His servant despite that servant’s being guilty of no sin. By our account, such sufferings would be called chastisements—unless they were for the sake of future recompense, in which case they would be called trials. [ . . . ]

But that God should in any way cause suffering to a righteous servant, not one of Job’s companions held admissible. All of them maintained to Job, “Unless you had some prior guilt, God would not have loosed such terrible misfortunes upon you.” [ . . . ]

They are unaware, as Job was, of the proper position, which is the third alternative, that of Elihu, that God might bring His servant to the blessed state which He has prepared for the righteous by any of three different routes: first through repentance of prior sins. [ . . . ] Second, through merit which that servant has, no matter how small. [ . . . ] And third, through trial and tribulation, by which a servant is tested, and through which he steadfastly endures. [ . . . ]

I took it as an obligation on myself to explicate the Book on the basis of the three mainstays which interpreters employ in the exegesis of all God’s Books; (1) what is rooted in the proof of reason, (2) the linguistic usage of the people among whom the book was written, and (3) the tropes attested by the traditions of their ancestors as going back to the prophets of God. I took it for granted that in using these I should put first things first, and second things second.

To explain: the first foundation of any interpretation is the commonly accepted sense of the expressions in the book to be explained, as understood among its recipients—unless indeed the intellect voids that understanding as irrational or the traditions reject it as unsound. The next recourse is to figurative meanings in use among that nation. In that case the interpreter should cite some parallel expressions which bear the figurative meaning, and where one or both of our two reasons clearly excludes the familiar sense, thus showing that resort to figurative usage is justified objectively. For one must show that the people actually employ such a figure of speech, not simply that they do not exclude it. [ . . . ]

In this book I shall follow my usual practice in commentaries and translate the full text, chapter by chapter, so that each passage will be present to mind for the reader. Then I will go back and explain whatever requires explanation. Likewise, if it is necessary to call to witness any figurative usage of language, or any proof of reason, or a passage from another Scriptural text, or a reference to the testimonies of the truthful prophets, I shall supply all in brief, lest the work grow long and ponderous.

And in God I seek my help.

The Book of Job

[Translation:]

A man there was in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, God-fearing and shunning evil (Job 1:1).

[Commentary:]

[ . . . ] As for the lineage of this man, our traditions warrant that he was a descendant of the aforementioned person, Uz son of Nahor, son of Abraham’s brother, and that he was not of Israel—although I know that many have leapt to that conclusion, some making him an Israelite, some even saying that he was of priestly descent. But I say, all they had to go on were superficial bits of circumstance like his offering sacrifices, wearing a mantle (1:5, 1:20, 30:18, 42:8), and such. None of these amounts to compelling evidence, so I have not gone into them at length and refrained from detailing how they break down, but have proceeded directly to the outcome, the tradition that he was not an Israelite. Nor were his companions, according to the genealogies which I have presented here.

As for the age in which Job lived, although the text does not specify it, tradition explicates, stating that he lived at the time when our forefathers were sojourning in Egypt, and that it was Moses who set down this Book of Job at the mandate of God and published it to the nation. And this is the true account. [ . . . ]

[Translation:]

When it was the day that God’s beloved came and presented themselves before Him, Job’s adversary was present along with them (Job 1:6).

[Commentary:]

[ . . . ] As for the adversary [śaṭan], he was in fact an ordinary human being, like the one mentioned when Scripture says, The Lord raised an adversary [śaṭan] to Solomon, Hadad the Edomite (1 Kings 11:14).