Notes Job 1:1,2:1-10 First cut

1) the book starts with this prose prologue. It imagines a terrible wager made in the heavenly realm between god and a member of the divine Cabinet, a chief inspector/investigator, the Satan, the adversary. 2) If one accepts the notion that god is constantly involved in discrete details of a life, or if one views God as a punisher or a giver of signs in this life, then who would not imagine such an arbitrary scene when suffering itself seems so harsh and arbitrary? 3) We must be careful that Job is portrayed as a remarkable person here. Once we accept the prologue as part and parcel of the rest of the book; we make a mistake to take on the role of the friends to try to figure out some reason that Job deserves his suffering. No, he is portrayed as a pious, righteous victim of suffering. He is presented as a man of integrity. 4) We have to look a moment at Mrs. Job.If we connect chapter one's test with those of chapter two, she too has suffered everything her husband has, now with the exception of his illness. We marry with a vow for richer or poorer, but sometimes we fail it when we cannot offer the support a spouse needs or deserves. It could be that her words reveal her character and Job's integrity has long been challenged by a most difficult spouse.She is signalling the abandonment of support that will soon be shown by his friends. In a certain mood, I would say the sufferings of Job may have started with his marriage.For other views see Janzen's Job p.49-51 and Carol Newsom on Job in the NIB 5) What do you think of the adversary's basic premise: that people can serve god when things are going well but turn away when in trouble? Is the adversary correct in his assessment of what is most important to a person? 6) I see that Rabbi Kushner has just released a book on Job. 7) the Coen Brothers did a movie A Serious Man that has links to the Job story.