Day 136 Job 1-3 Supplemental Note

Job Chapter 1
The Book of Job has been recognized and used as part of Holy Scripture from early times. Ezekiel The Prophet wrote of him, as spoken by The Lord i.e. "even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, says The Lord God" (Ezekiel 14;14 RSV); Jesus Christ would have therefore taught about Job (see the Fact Finder question below). Job is mentioned in the New Testament also e.g. "You have heard of the steadfastness of Job" (James 5:11 RSV).

"There was a man in The Land Of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God, and turned away from evil. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand Camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and very many servants; so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east." (Job 1:1-3 RSV)

Ironically, righteous Job's name, in Hebrew pronounced ee-yobe, means hated, or persecuted - not by The Lord, not by other humans, but by Satan because Job was a good and honest man.

"Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before The Lord [see YHVH, Adonai, Jehovah, LORD and "The God Of The Old Testament"], and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, "Whence have you come?" Satan [see also What Does Satan Look Like?] answered The Lord, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it."
And The Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?"
Then Satan answered The Lord, "Does Job fear God for nought? Hast Thou not put a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse thee to thy face." (Job 1:6-11 RSV)

The Lord permitted the test of Job (the loss of his children and property, Job 1:13-19), not to allow Satan to do evil, but to enable Job to become more righteous (see Trials and Tribulations).

"Then Job arose, and rent his robe, and shaved his head, and fell upon the ground, and worshiped. And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return; The Lord gave, and The Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of The Lord." In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong." (Job 1:20-22 RSV)

Job Chapter 2
Satan was then allowed to afflict Job himself, not to weaken him, but to make him stronger.

"And The Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you moved Me against him, to destroy him without cause." Then Satan answered The Lord, "Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. But put forth Thy hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse Thee to Thy face."
And The Lord said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your power; only spare his life."
So Satan went forth from the presence of The Lord, and afflicted Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes [see also Sackcloth and Ashes].
Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God, and die."
But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips." (Job 2:3-10 RSV)

Upon hearing of their friend's troubles, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite arrived "to condole with him and comfort him."

"Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to condole with him and comfort him. And when they saw him from afar, they did not recognize him; and they raised their voices and wept; and they rent their robes and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven [see Heavens Below, Heavens Above]. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great." (Job 2:11-13 RSV)

Job Chapter 3
In his pain and sorrow, Job's lament began.

"After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job said: "Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night which said, 'A man-child is conceived.' Let that day be darkness! May God above not seek it, nor light shine upon it. Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. Let clouds dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. That night - let thick darkness seize it! let it not rejoice among the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months. Yea, let that night be barren; let no joyful cry be heard in it. Let those curse it who curse the day, who are skilled to rouse up Leviathan [see also Dragons]. Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light, but have none, nor see the eyelids of the morning; because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb, nor hide trouble from my eyes.
Why did I not die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire? Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should suck? For then I should have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept; then I should have been at rest, with kings and counselors of the earth who rebuilt ruins for themselves, or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. Or why was I not as a hidden untimely birth, as infants that never see the light? There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. There the prisoners are at ease together; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster. The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master.
Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul, who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hid treasures; who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they find the grave [see Sheol and Hades]? Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, whom God has hedged in? For my sighing comes as my bread, and my groanings are poured out like water. For the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest; but trouble comes." (Job 3:1-26 RSV)