- Iyov is one of the Poetic Books of the Torah. Scholars agree that the book was written sometime between the 4th and 7th centuries, BCE.
- Iyov was probably not a real person, and the Talmud argues about this. Some say he was an advisor of Pharaoh, together with Bilam and Jethro. He remained silent when Pharoh decreed to have all Jewish male babies thrown into the Nile.
- It discusses Theodicy--the study of why bad things happen to good people through the eyes of a deity. Punishment and suffering. Not necessarily has the answers but brings up the questions.
- Satan is an "Adversary," aka as Satan, Yetzer Hara, Serpent etc.
(א) אִ֛ישׁ הָיָ֥ה בְאֶֽרֶץ־ע֖וּץ אִיּ֣וֹב שְׁמ֑וֹ וְהָיָ֣ה ׀ הָאִ֣ישׁ הַה֗וּא תָּ֧ם וְיָשָׁ֛ר וִירֵ֥א אֱלֹקִ֖ים וְסָ֥ר מֵרָֽע׃
A man who for all is going well. and to top it off he is also spiritually and emotionally in synch. So all was really well... That's one of the blessings in life. He also turns from evil, meaning this was written at a time in Judaism when that was a goal.
Many children. All seem healthy... He was rolling in good fortune
Much wealth... the wealthiest in town... the idea of
His children got along. They partied and fraternized together. Children who were close, What more could a parent want? This is all an indication of his good fortune.
He reveled in his good fortune and thanked God for his bounty.
And with this verse ends an introductory narrative before the gloom starts to appear. In other words, there was no real reason why this impending misfortune befalls him. It was an act from above, from beyond, apparently (Malbim). He had checked all the boxes: wealth, healthy family, spiritual fulfilment. But god had other plans...
The scene is changing, going to another world...like a screenplay. New scene. in God's court...
Hayom, according to some, is referring to Rosh Hashanah when all is judged. The U'nitaneh Tokef prayer etc.
The proverbial Heavenly Court is being displayed here. The idea is that there is an actual accounting for our actions in the world. This is the message the book is trying to impart. That the word has meaning and rhyme and reason. Nothing is random...
The Satan's job is to go out there and discover the good and ther bad that is going on in the world and to highlight it.
This is all metaphorical , as God is all-knowing in the theological sense. The "Satan" is more for us, and how we approach the duality of good and evil. But the way it was developed in Judaism--probably taken from Zoroastrianism--was that God created it as a means to embrace the world and all of its ugliness. There is something/force out there that is dredging up all this negative stuff. And god works with it in tandem to give humans free will.
Is this the way it works? is there divine providence, where God literally takes an interest in each individual human. Perhaps. At least, this is where the narrative is going.
Meaning, it's easy to "fear God" and do good deeds when you have everything and all is well in your life. So Job is not that big a deal and not much to celebrate, says the Satan. Similar to the way the Talmud.
Interesting discrepancy from the way it is in modenr times: these days, the poor are the ones who are religious, and the rich are not. Job, though, was a good, religious man, despite his wealth and the inclination to determine that his success was all about him
(י) הֲלֹֽא־[אַ֠תָּ֠ה] (את) שַׂ֣כְתָּ בַעֲד֧וֹ וּבְעַד־בֵּית֛וֹ וּבְעַ֥ד כׇּל־אֲשֶׁר־ל֖וֹ מִסָּבִ֑יב מַעֲשֵׂ֤ה יָדָיו֙ בֵּרַ֔כְתָּ וּמִקְנֵ֖הוּ פָּרַ֥ץ בָּאָֽרֶץ׃
The language of "fenced in" (ibn Ezra, as in a fence around a vineyard where all is protected) is interesting, essentially the idea of a "bubble," where the individual is so not aware of what is going on outside of it. So Job was doing well, but the rest of the world was not, and he was not aware of that at all. So said the Satan.
As Rashi points out, "the man has never been tested." He is so privileged that he knows not of what it means not to have things go his way. It's easy being a good man when one has no challenges....
This is a question. Would he be this way if anything happened to his good fortune? Would he be as righteous?
Perhaps you should try that and you'll see how this "righteous" man reacts to some pain.
Blaspheme was the ultimate sin, cursing one's creator, essentially not acknolwding the creator of all...
Touch his possesions and those close to him, but not him. It seems that God wanted to give hims some leeway, as in if he actually attacked him, if he became ill or something like that, that Iyov would not be able to withstand. Perhaps he would not pass the test if he was personally afflicted.
Imagine how one felt losing all thier money to Maddoff or FTX or in the Derepression or great Recession of 2008. Your whole existence, your whole "you" is suddenly no more. Especially
That's all material stuff. and now the big loss, human and familial... He lsot his servants, his confidants, and then...
He is left alone, bereft of all his joy in his life....and Job's reaction is immidiate and expected...
ever the pious servant, Iyov takes it in, and bows..to God.
Thsi is some of the language that Jews recite at funerals. When the loss is so great and the pain so unbearable, we invoke the idea that God is in charge and we don't understand the mysteries of life and death. Job is saying this about both material matters, as well as the idea of losing a loved one--and many of them. The entire youth of his family is struck down in one fell swoop.
But Job somehow carries on and still is a righteous man....
God declared that he passed the test with flying colors. Satan counters...
(4) The Adversary answered the LORD, “Skin for skin-a—all that a man has he will give up for his life.
A man will do anyting for his life, so as long as Iyov is healthy and alive, all bets are off.
the Torah uses a euphimism for curse as "bless." We had that earlier in the text as well.
Job seemed to have an eclectic group of friends, perhaps indicating that the issues contained in this book and of the discussion of the 4 men are univesal and apply to every human being.
Also, the language of
Seven days and nights, the custom of Shiva.
we see that they were there for him. They didn't have to say anything. Just being there was enough, as many of us know when visiting a grieving friend. Just being there is soemtimes all they need. And what was there to say?
(ב) וַיַּ֥עַן אִיּ֗וֹב וַיֹּאמַֽר׃ (ג) יֹ֣אבַד י֭וֹם אִוָּ֣לֶד בּ֑וֹ וְהַלַּ֥יְלָה אָ֝מַ֗ר הֹ֣רָה גָֽבֶר׃ (ד) הַיּ֥וֹם הַה֗וּא יְֽהִ֫י־חֹ֥שֶׁךְ אַֽל־יִדְרְשֵׁ֣הוּ אֱל֣וֹקַּ מִמַּ֑עַל וְאַל־תּוֹפַ֖ע עָלָ֣יו נְהָרָֽה׃
(3) Perish the day on which I was born,
And the night it was announced,
“A male has been conceived!” (4) May that day be darkness;
May God above have no concern for it;
May light not shine on it;
He cursed his day, as in the day he was born, as in his very existence, as in he felt there was no reason to continue on...the beginnings of suicidal thoughts.
Interesting how he switched gears from the last chapter, where he seemed very accepting is his lot...
Now it's after his physical pain. Also, he's processing his thoughts...it is after seven days. In other words, he's going through the stages of grief...
He is still invoking God, he's only saying that God should erase that day from the record, as it has brought so much misfortune to the world. Interestingly, it is his own misfortune, no one else's.
May a pall lie over it;
May what blackens-b the day terrify it.
The word Tzal Mavet is a combination of two words: the Shadow of Death, a metaphor for darkness and gloom.
May it not be counted among the days of the year;
May it not appear in any of its months;
Iyov was so determined that his existance was so troubled that he wanted every trace of it forgotten.
May no sound of joy be heard in it;
Galmud (rare word) means Alone and Lonely, meaing that the union of the man and woman who brought about this person who has been so unsuccessful, should never have come together and they should have been lonely instead and not brought about this kind of misfortune.
This can be related to parents having children and not feeling that they can adequately care for them. Story of psychologists with patients whose main issue was not being wanted etc.
Those prepared to disable Leviathan;
May it hope for light and have none;
May it not see the glimmerings of the dawn—
And hide trouble from my eyes.
Who didn't hide the troubles, the night didn't. Just like his says in verse 2, when it describes the "night" talking.
In essence the night was supposed to be the one protecting him so he was not born. but, alas, he was born,
Expire as I came forth from the womb?
The ultimate sign of deperation and depression. Wishing he was not born...
Or breasts for me to suck?
He is going back in time as if he there observing his birth, so the language is in the present
Invoking the euphimism for death, sleeping. He wishes he did not have to expereicne his pain.
Like babies who never saw the light? (17) There the wicked cease from troubling;
There rest those whose strength is spent.
He didn't care who he was like, a fallen prince or a stillborn baby. The main thing is that they are all dead and don't feel the pain... All are equal under the spell of death. The wicked don't have troubles (perhaps),
They do not hear the taskmaster’s voice.
And the slave is free of his master.
Interstingly, you might have thought that in death the discrepancy in status is not there. Iyov is sayig it is because all is satble and static. There is not wranling and jockying for power. No one is moving up or down on the ladder of success...
And life to the bitter in spirit;
The big question: why does he, ostensibly the night, but also God, give light (life) to those that will suffer, or to the ones who can't cope...
Who search for it more than for treasure,
Death seems to be the answer for many...some search it like a treasuere. Some don't, but those that suffer seem to.
Hospice, some people are waiting to die, others enjoy every moment (as long as they area not in too much pain)
And are glad to reach the grave;
Those words of "I want to die, "I can't live any longer," are real for many.
Whom God has hedged about?
We can think of those that are weary and tired. The opioid epidemic comes to mind. People who are so lost and who feel so forsaken--by God, by society, by globalization, that they wish for death or they look for any escape and many overdose--wittingly or unwittingly.
My roaring pours forth as water.
What I dreaded has come upon me. (26) I had no repose, no quiet, no rest,
And trouble came.
It seems like Iyov is admitting somethign htat we didn't know about him until now: that he always harbored these fears, though he never displayed them.
We all wish for peace. Three expressions of peace and serenity. Iyov, in the end, had none. He was wiped out. depleted of all energy.
(2) If one ventures a word with you, will it be too much?
But who can hold back his words?
His friends listen to his rant and then finally speak...but also Elifaz begins with the fact that perhaps in this state no words woud suffice...
You have strengthened failing hands.
You were once a contender... Iyov, you were once the one who never talked this way but who strengthened anyone who did. How the tables have turned...
You have braced knees that gave way.
You had the power of pursuation and molification. You were able to talk someone down from the ledge. Now you are the one on the ledge.
It reaches you, and you are unnerved.
It's easier to be strong about something when you are not expereincing it. Now that Iyov is there, how is he doing? Not too well, apparently.
Your integrity your hope?
Elifaz is trying to encourage him and show him his powers. You were once a pious man, and that was what you brought to the table. Don't jsut give up...
Where have the upright been destroyed?
And sow mischief reap them. (9) They perish by a blast from God,
Are gone at the breath of His nostrils.
Elifaz is trying to say that in the end, as the Psalmist always says, the righteous will win in the end and the evil will reap what they sow. A classical theological interpretation of life. Though we see the wicked obtaning wealth and good in this world, they will eventually lose.
(10) The lion may roar, the cub may howl,
But the teeth of the king of beasts are broken.-a
God is the boss in the end, even over the greatest of warriors
And its whelps are scattered.
more synanoms for lions. Reprasenting the predators our there. Eventually their prey, or thier victims are no longer there, or the world has moved on from these predators and no one wants to play with them...
My ear caught a whisper of it. (13) In thought-filled visions of the night,
When deep sleep falls on men, (14) Fear and trembling came upon me,
Causing all my bones to quake with fright. (15) A wind passed by me,
Making the hair of my flesh bristle. (16) It halted; its appearance was strange to me;
A form loomed before my eyes;
I heard a murmur, a voice,
A prophecy of sorts, and a greand proclomation...
Can man be cleared by his Maker?
And casts reproach on His angels, (19) How much less those who dwell in houses of clay,
Whose origin is dust,
Who are crushed like the moth,
If the angels can't seem to be able to be beyond the reproach of their Maker, how can Man? Meaning, Iyov, how can you seem to think that you can understand it all? We are but humans of flesh and blood! We are so vulnerable, essentially nothing in the big scheme of things, so perhaps you can quit whining a bit....
Perishing forever, unnoticed.
We humans are so buried in our world that in a day of work where we can be battered by the curse of work, we do not realize that perhaps this is all for naught. We work and for what? we might not be here the next day?
And they die, and not with wisdom.”
we have so much hubris we don't even realize how deep we are lost. We die without wisdom.
To whom among the holy beings will you turn?
The prophesy has ended and he goes back to his regular type of conversation (Rashi)
Passion slays the simpleton.
He's referring to the fact that Job cried out. That perhaps God would have been more clement if he would have not raised such a ruckus. Meaning, despite the situation he's in, we know that too much passion, too much emotion without rationale can get peopel in trouble.
Now, Job is in a very emotinal-worth place, so what is he saying?
Impulsively, I cursed his home:
His way of saying, you will see a lot of people who you don't think should be successful, but they are. And your inclination is to curse them. To, perhaps, wonder why are they successful...
May they be oppressed in the gate with none to deliver them;
The kinds of things you might say about that underserving fellow...
Crushed at the Gate: In public, for all to see... (Ibn Ezra)
Carrying it off in baskets;
May the thirsty swallow their wealth.-a
His way of asking why the rich are so wealthy and there are poor that have nothing. May the poor, he says, devour the wealth of this undeserving person...
Discussion: 1%...
Nor does mischief spring from the ground;
Meaning, as he follows up i the next verse, nothing evil in the world comes from anything but mankind. The ground does not grow evil. Man is the one who brings it to bear. He's referring to these people who is cursing.
Just as sparks fly upward.
Man is the one responsible for all...
Eli Weisel story about how he can't believe in God after the Holocaust. Man does a lot of mischief in this world.
Amal also means work or hard labor...
I would lay my case before God,
God is where it all comes to rest, because if he is the one ruling the world etc, then the buck stops with him/her. So if I was in that position, Job's friend is saying I would bring y case to God...
Wondrous things without number;
Some God talk here in the same style as it is in the rest of the Torah here.
God is infinite, his deeds have no llimit, so let's talk to him...
And sends water over the fields;
So physical descriptions of the wonders of God...
Rain is always a symbol of blessing in the Bible....
So that the dejected are secure in victory;
Finally, we come to the talk of Torah and Judaism, this is all about making the comfortable uncomfortable and the uncomfortable comfortable. A principle in the history and the religion and the literature of our people.
So that their hands cannot gain success;
The crafty who attempt to steal from the poor, think subprime lending etc... or any get-rich fix. FTX...
Essentially, he's saying that there is justice in the world, and the crafty will eventually not succeed. they will get there comeuppance.
The plans of the crafty go awry.
There is an element of the he Crafty here. That class of people who don't mind cheating others.... they will all not succedd in the end...
At noon they grope as in the night.
What was clear to them as day--fooling people and pulling the wool over their eyes--those same characters will stumble.
From the clutches of the strong.
The weak and the poor and the despondant will be always watched....
This is all aspirational or a hope or a knowledge that seems like the way it should be. If we look at Ukraine today, many of these people are not getting these rewards...
The mouth of wrongdoing is stopped.
There is hope, the world is not some place that is spinning on its axis on its own. The poor can aspire to living the good life...
Do not reject the discipline of the Almighty.
It's coming back in to land. Coming back to Job, although the poor and the wretched are being looked after in the end, while they have suffering, perhaps there is somethign there to learn. Of course, this is nto to bewished upon anyone, and perhaps this is an ode to struggle...
He wounds, but His hands heal.
You might suffer today, but you will be healed. By God. There is a special relationship in all of this. Those that suffer are also looked after bu God...
In seven no harm will reach you:
He then enumerates troubles you will be saved from....
In war, from the sword.
Meaning, there is alwyas a deeper meaning to things. From war you will be saved, and from hunger in famine. War can bring to new beginings, famine to new ventures....
You will have no fear when violence comes.
The tongue of the Ssatan--the adversary--and violence will have no hold on you....
That's 4..
And have no fear of wild beasts.
All major problems to contend with and these will have no handle on you. You will be able to overcoem your fears and/or you will emerge from the violece intact....
And the beasts of the field will be your allies.
You will be one with nature and things of nature will protect you. I think of those that survived tragedies like the Holocaust because of a cave etc.
When you visit your wife you will never fail.
Your home will remain intact, and nothing will be missing from your life
Your descendants like the grass of the earth.
As shocks of grain are taken away in their season.
everything will be as it's supposed to be...
Hear it and accept it.
That sums it up Job, what say you?
He's been a good listener... but now he's going to talk...
My full calamity laid on the scales,
An allusion to the idea of God weighing man's actions. Language from the High Holidays
That is why I spoke recklessly.
Sometimes our calamiaties are so great--the sand, obviously, an exagaration--but Job is explaining why he has been so reckless with his words.
My punishment is so much and heavy, it's weighing me down and I'm not able to speak properly. Kind of when someone really loses their temper. Something in their life and worldview is so bad that it's hard to see beyond it... E.G when someone is hurt and can't beyond the hurt and sees the world only through that lens...
My spirit absorbs their poison;
God’s terrors are arrayed against me.
Right now I'm not feeling what you are saying because the pain is so hard to bear...and my mind and heart corrupted by the pain. Poisoned.
Does a bull bellow over his fodder?
Meaning, there is a reason why I'm crying and whining. If I had much, like I used to, I would not be whinging... Also, we don'tappreciate what we have until we lose it.
Does mallow juice-a have any flavor?
Of course not.
They are like food when I am sick.
Just as I refuse them, so I can't pretend I' am happy now or can see beyond my pain.
It's what anyone you come to who had a major loss and you tell them Elifaz's words, they'll say, please, another time...
That God gave me what I wished for;
Loosed His hand and cut me off.
As I writhed in unsparing-a pains:
That I did not suppress my words against the Holy One.-b
He's saying that he wishes he would have died so he doesnt have to suffer like this and curse God...We tend to curse the great unknown/God when we suffer travails. Job was doing this. He didn't want to. He wished that he was not here any more to be able to do this.
How long have I to live, that I should be patient?
I can't take it any longer...
Is my flesh bronze?
Why do you think I can endure this pain? I can't.
I have been deprived of resourcefulness.
Though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty;-a
Very interesting point. Friends are there to support each other, even if what they are empathizing about is going against the ways of God, i.e. saying he feels their pain even though he knows that this is somewhere in the divine plan... Meaning, sometimes one has to do what is most empathetic even if it goes against some of your values. Story of Rabbi who told me about JB talking about why one could uncover a body on Shabbat that is covered in rubble...
But sometimes friends can play a different role, not the best...
Like a bed on which streams once ran.
Not always there for you.
Snow obscures them;-a
Don't show their true colors...
In the heat, they disappear where they are.
They run into the desert and perish.
Processions from Sheba count on them.
When they reach the place, they stand aghast.
Friends can disappoint...
At the sight of misfortune, you take fright.
He's expressing the fact that perhaps they are not dealing with his pain properly...They are overreacting, they are acting out of excitement and fear...
Pay a bribe for me out of your wealth;
Sometimes we say the wrong thing to people in their time of need. In a shiva house, sometimes all we need to do is to be there and hear the person. No need to give advice, no need to ask how they are feeling etc. Just hold their hand and listen to their soul weep...
Redeem me from violent men”?
Job is indicating that sometimes friends misdirect their love and attention and address that does not need addressing....
Tell me where I am wrong.
But what sort of reproof comes from you?
But count a hopeless man’s words as wind?
Or barter away your friend.
I will not lie to your face.
Be honest with me. Tell me the truth in your heart...
Relent! I am still in the right.
Can't you see where I'm coming from?
Can my palate not discern evil?
He's asking his friends to please understanding him and cut him some slack
His days are like those of a hireling—
We are all on borrowed time...an idea as old as ever....
Like a hireling who waits for his wage.
We are all pining for soemthing....
Nights of misery have been apportioned to me.
And in Job's case, he feels that he has days ahead of him, but they are all futile, and full of pain. The sound of someone who is in anguish...
“When shall I rise?”
Night drags on,-a
And I am sated with tossings till morning twilight.
Insomnia existed back then as well...good sleep is the sign of someone who is at peace. Job is tossing and turning in emotional pain...
My skin is broken and festering.
Literally. The man was in pain, as we said earlier...
(6) My days fly faster than a weaver’s shuttle,
And come to their end without hope.-b
A hopeless trope. On one hand, when one is suffering, one can say that days go by slowly. Or they go by so fast because they have no meaning. Job's days were of the latter..
I shall never see happiness again.
After I die, nothing will come of me. Death, and it's all over. Rashi says the he was denying the rehabilitation of the dead.
Your eye will seek me, but I shall be gone.
After death I am nothing. Rashi says he is addressing God. You caoul dhave jsut destroyed me. Why put me through all this suffering?
So whoever goes down to Sheol does not come up;
Sheol was a term for the abyss. Hell, purgatory, a term reserved for those that entre a spiritual world of suffring.
His place does not know him.
Physically and perhaps spiritually.
I will give voice to the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
He is expressing himself. Not holding back. Essentially, nothing to lose attitude. Speaking to God...
That You have set a watch over me?
My couch will share my sorrow,”
My bed that knows so much of my sorrows...
And terrify me with visions,
Death, to my wasted frame.
I shall not live forever;
Let me be, for my days are a breath.
That You fix Your attention upon him?
Why do you feel that Man is so important...? We all feel that somehow, but is it true? and why?
Examine him every minute.
At least according to some. Other's think more nihilistically. but Job was not one of those people...He felt there was a purpose and that there was a highe power, but he was questioning it all...
Let me be, till I swallow my spittle?
that question of can't you just make it more simple? does there have to be this intense relationship between man and God?
Watcher of men?
Why make of me Your target,
And a burden to myself?
The questions that may of us have? what is the idea of sin? Ca we actualoly affect God with Sin?
And forgive my iniquity?
For soon I shall lie down in the dust;
When You seek me, I shall be gone.
what is this idea of Teshuvah, or repentence, Yom Kippur? Arent' we all going to die and it will all be null and void?