6. Job

1
6. Jobs Lament Job 3
2

• Now were always suffering
• Already lost
• Were always suffering
• Already lost
• The Rolling Stones, Always Suffering, Bridges
  to Babylon, 1997

3
The Structure The Curse 3.3-10

• A. Subject of the Curse Day and Night (3.3)
• B. Curses on that day
• six incantations summoning darkness and
  oblivion (3.4-5)
• B1 Curses on that night
• three incantations summoning darkness and
  oblivion (3.6)
• three incantations summoning barrenness and chaos
  (3.7-8)
• three incantations summoning darkness and
  oblivion (3.9)
• A1 Ground for the Cruse Misery ((a4ma4l)(3.10)

4
The Structure The Lament 3.11-26

• A. Subject of the Lament
• The WHY of Job not dying at birth (3.11)
• B. The WHY of Job being raised a child (3.12)
• C. Portrayal of land of death as repose and rest
  (nu4ah) (3.13-15)
• B1 The Why of Job seeing the light of life (3.16)
• C1 Portrayal of the land of death as freedom from
  Turmoil (ro4gez) (3.17-19)
• B2 The WHY of any sufferer seeing the light of
  life (3.20)
• C2 Portrayal of sufferers longing for death
  (3.21-22)
• B3 The WHY of a sufferer having no direction in
  life (3.23)
• A1 Ground for the Lament
• Turmoil (ro4gez) no repose or rest (nu4ah)
  (3.24-26)

5
Job 3 Jer 20.14-18

• Terminological and thematic links between Job 3
  and Jer. 20.14-18 have long been explored. What
  has not been appreciated is that the tradition
  which both Jeremiah and Job are appropriating is
  employed by the poet of Job primarily for the
  framework of his curse in the first unit. The
  four basic motifs of cursing the day of birth
  (Jer 20.14a), announcement of a male child (Jer.
  20.15), blocking the womb (Jer. 20.17), and
  seeing misery / trouble ((a4mal, Jer 20.18),
  which are taken from this tradition, are the
  substance of the inclusio formed by vs. 3 and
  10. Habel, The Book of Job, 103

6
The Curse 3.1-10gt3.1-2

• After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the
  day of his birth. And he answered and said . . .
  .
• . . . the purpose of this formula (And he
  answered and said) in the Book of Job is
  threefold (a) it indicates the beginning of a
  new speech except on one occasion where it sets
  off the conclusion to a speech (40.1) (b) it
  identifies the speaker and (c) it marks the
  speech as a response to the previous speakers
  discourse or to a preceding action or event as in
  the case of 3.1-2. Course, John E., Speech and
  Response A Rhetorical Analysis of the
  Introductions to the Speeches of the Book of Job
  (Chaps. 4-24), 5

7
The Curse 3.1-10gt3.1-2

• . . . it appears that Job 3.2 would best be
  understood as introducing a response to (a) his
  friends expressions of solidarity with him
  (2.12-13) and (b) the severity of his suffering.
  Course, John E., Speech and Response A
  Rhetorical Analysis of the Introductions to the
  Speeches of the Book of Job (Chaps. 4-24), 5
• This pious patriarch had castigated his wife for
  her counsel to curse God and die (2.9). Now he
  unloads a string of incantations that approximate
  her advice. He does not, however curse God
  directly nor provoke God to impose curses.
  Habel, The Book of Job, 106-7

8
The Curse 3.3-10gt3.3

• Perish the day on which I was born,
• And the night it was announced, "A male has been
  conceived!"

• A. Subject of the Curse Day and Night (3.3)
• A reversal of Gen 1.3-5
• Note the parallelism

9
The Curse 3.3-10gt3.3

• The curse is not simply against his birthday as
  such, but against a life now so embittered that
  he wishes it had never begun. The day of birth
  and the night of conception are distinct events,
  yet treated, for purposes of poetic parallelism,
  as one and the same. The fact that they are
  mentioned in reverse of the normal order is
  enough to show that one ought not to press the
  details too hard. Pope, M. H., Job A New
  Translation with Introduction and Commentary. The
  Anchor Bible, 28

10
The Curse 3.3-10gt3.4-5

• B. Curses on that day - six incantations
  summoning darkness and oblivion (3.4-5)
• 1. May that day be darkness
• 2. May God above have no concern for it
• 3. May light not shine on it
• 4. May darkness and deep gloom reclaim it
• 5. May a cloud settle over it
• 6. May what blackens the day terrify it.

11
The Curse 3.3-10gt3.6-9

• B1 Curses on that night
• three incantations summoning darkness and
  oblivion (3.6)
• That night-- May thick darkness seize it!
• May it not rejoice among the days of the year
• May it not come into the number of the months.
• three incantations summoning barrenness and chaos
  (3.7-8)
• May that night be desolate
• May no sound of joy be heard in it
• May those who cast spells upon the day damn it,
  Those prepared to disable Leviathan

12
The Curse 3.3-10gt3.6-9

• B1 Curses on that night
• In rousing Leviathan, and by implication Yam,
  Job is calling up the powers of chaos to destroy
  the created order and return the night of his
  creation to the domain of primordial absence.
  Habel, N., The Book of Job, 108
• three incantations summoning darkness and
  oblivion (3.9)
• May its twilight stars remain dark
• May it hope for light and have none
• May it not see the glimmerings (eyelids) of the
  dawn

13
The Curse 3.3-10gt3.10

• A1 Ground for the Cruse Misery ((a4ma4l)(3.10)
• Because it did not block my mother's womb, And
  hide trouble ((a4ma4l) from my eyes.
• The key term Job selects to characterize his lot
  is (a4ma4l, misery / trouble. A dual aspect of
  agony and evil is discernible in this term. It
  may refer to hardships such as those of the
  Israelites in Egypt (Deut 26.7) or to agonies
  like those of the suffering servant (Isa 53.11).
  But (a4ma4l may also be the work of evil minds
  (Ps 94.20 Prov. 24.1-2) or an evil deed Yahweh
  cannot tolerate (Hab. 1.13). An interplay between
  both meanings of the term obtains in the speeches
  of Job and the friends. When Job begins he rails
  against the misery of his life (3.10) Eliphaz
  immediately interprets this (a4mal as the evil
  which people reap for the sins they sow (4.8 cf.
  5.6). Habel, The Book of Job, 109

14
The Lament 3.11-26gt3.11-12

• At this point Jobs speech changes from cursing
  to questioning. Andersen, 106
• A. Subject of the Lament The WHY of Job not
  dying at birth (3.11)
• Why did I not die at birth, Expire as I came
  forth from the womb?
• B. The WHY of Job being raised a child (3.12)
• Why were there knees to receive me, Or breasts
  for me to suck?
• Genesis 50.23 suggest that verse 12a is the
  fathers acceptance of the newborn but a
  reference to my mothers knees, as in Isaiah
  66.12, makes all of verse 12 describe the first
  acts of nursing. Andersen, 106

15
The Lament 3.11-26gt3.13-15

• C. Portrayal of land of death as repose and rest
  (nu4ah) (3.13-15)
• For now would I be lying in repose, asleep and
  at rest,
• Jobs portrayal of the inviting land of dead
  represents a desperate reversal of traditional
  understandings of that unhappy domain. Sheol
  spelled gloom, darkness, and forgetfulness (Ps
  88.11-13). Job himself characterizes the
  underworld as a place of gloom ()o4pel), darkness
  (ho4sek), and deaths shadow (salma4wet
  10.21-22). Habel, 110

16
The Lament 3.11-26gt3.13-15

• C. Portrayal of land of death as repose and rest
  (nu4ah) (3.13-15)
• With the world's kings and counselors who
  rebuild ruins for themselves,
• . . . that the Mesopotamian kings frequently
  boasted of their accomplishments in restoring and
  rebuilding of ruins. . . Pope, 32
• Or with nobles who possess gold and who fill
  their houses with silver.

17
OT Conception of Death

• Hebrew literature does not hide a sense of
  deaths power nor does it sequester death from
  life as though it did not exist. The
  reminiscences of Israels seeking to placate or
  communicate with the dead are heard (I Sam
  288-14 Isa 819ff.), but intolerance for any
  cult of the dead is the dominant position.
• Death is seen as the normal end of life. The
  notations of the death of important individuals
  (Gen 231-2 3529), as well as of multiple
  individuals (Josh 54 1011) are found
  throughout the literature. A good death is
  portrayed when an individual dies with sufficient
  offspring and at an old age (Gen 258 4630).
  Humankind must accept mortality (2 Sam 1414),
  while Yahweh was thought to perdure (Pss 1847
  -Eng 1846 90). Death was a problem when it
  came prematurely.

18
OT Conception of Death

• Yahweh was the source of life and death. It was
  not possible to place the blame on competing
  divine forces. Yahweh could give or take away
  life (2 Kgs 201-11). Life was dependent on the
  deity whether one looked at this from an
  individual or communal perspective.
• The most significant theme for Israel was the
  understanding that life provided an opportunity
  for the individual and community to praise
  Yahweh. Praise of God was the sign of life. The
  inability to praise was a signal of death, even
  in life. The Hebrew Bible is replete with the
  idea that death constitutes silence and that the
  major characteristic of life is to praise Yahweh
  (Ps 309-11 -Eng 308-10 Isa 3816-20).

19
OT Conception of Death

• One of the major differences of opinion about
  the OT understandings of death centers around
  whether death is viewed predominantly with fear.
  There are magnificently crafted Hebrew texts on
  the fear of death. The conclusion of Qoheleth is
  among the most provocative (121-8). The reader
  is placed before the fact that among all the
  images of the undoing of nature no death is more
  profound than the readers own. There is
  certainly a deep sense of fear in being brought
  before this reality. However provocative these
  expressions of fear are, they do not provide the
  dominant perspectives.
• Anger and hostility in the face of death are
  more common expressions (Psalms 6, 102). Few
  contemporaries are able to express so vividly the
  horror of deaths invasion into the midst of
  life.

20
OT Conception of Death

• Whatever perspective is taken on the issue of
  the fear of death, it is widely agreed that the
  Hebrew Bible contains ample expression of the
  anger and grief experienced in the face of
  death.
• Richards, Kent Harold, Death, ABD, Vol. II,
  pp. 108-110

21
The Lament 3.11-26gt3.16-19

• B1 The Why of Job seeing the light of life (3.16)
• Or why was I not like a buried stillbirth, Like
  babies who never saw the light?
• C1 Portrayal of the land of death as freedom from
  Turmoil (ro4gez) (3.17-19)
• There the wicked cease from troubling There
  rest those whose strength is spent.
• "In Sheol there is no turmoil (ro4gez) to make
  one weary, not even for the wicked (resa4(m).
  The Hebrew root rgz represents strong emotional
  agitation. It describes the consternation that a
  terrible ruler causes throughout the earth (Isa
  14.16) and the dreadful panic that a display of
  God's anger arouses among the populace (Joel
  2.11 cf. Isa 23.11)." Hartley, The Book of Job,
  98

22
The Lament 3.11-26gt3.17-19

• C1 Portrayal of the land of death as freedom from
  Turmoil (ro4gez) (3.17-19)
• Prisoners are wholly at ease They do not hear
  the taskmaster's voice.
• not persons in confinement, but captives set to
  forced labour and brutally ill-treated. Rowley,
  The Book of Job, 43
• . . . for Job the implied divine Lord now begins
  to resemble the Babylonian divine taskmasters who
  created humankind for the purposes of slave labor
  on their earthly estates. From such a
  divine-human relation, death would be a
  setting-free and a liberation. Janzen, Job.
  Interpretation, 64

23
The Lament 3.11-26gt3.17-19

• C1 Portrayal of the land of death as freedom from
  Turmoil (ro4gez) (3.17-19)
• Small and great alike are there, And the slave
  is free of his master.
• It would seen that slave, free and master (not
  necessarily a slave-owner, but a land-owning
  citizen) represent three strata in society, all
  of which disappear after death. Andersen, 108

24
The Lament 3.11-26gt3.20

• B2 The WHY of any sufferer seeing the light of
  life (3.20)
• Why does He give light to the sufferer And life
  to the bitter in spirit
• The choice of light (?o4r) rather than an
  alternative word for life (v. 20) was probably
  dictated by the cosmogonic imagery of the opening
  curses and the correlative language of birth used
  earlier (vs. 4,-5, 10, 16). Habel, The Book of
  Job, 111
• Now he strikes deeper into the problem by asking
  why any of this should happen at all. Andersen,
  108-9

25
The Lament 3.11-26gt3.21-22

• C2 Portrayal of sufferers longing for death
  (3.21-22)
• To those who wait for death but it does not
  come, Who search for it more than for treasure,
• . . . suicide as a means for attaining it is
  never contemplated. Death also must be Gods
  gift, and for Job now, this has become the only
  possible evidence of His goodness. Andersen,
  109
• Who rejoice to exultation, And are glad to reach
  the grave

26
The Lament 3.11-26gt3.23

• B3 The WHY of a sufferer having no direction in
  life (3.23)
• To the man who has lost his way, Whom God has
  hedged about?
• It is not the suffering or bitterness of life as
  such that consumes him, but the misery of
  meaninglessness. The futility of existence has
  two clear features (a) the derek of life is
  hidden, and (b) the one who hides it is God. In
  wisdom literature derek, way, is a symbol for
  the conduct of life, personal destiny, and the
  underlying principle of order. Habel, The Book
  of Job, 111
• "Job imagines that God has surrounded him with a
  fence so that he cannot find any way of escape
  from his predicament. His complaint here
  functions as an

27
The Lament 3.11-26gt3.23

• ironic twist to the Satan's suspicion (1.10).
  The Satan argued that God had fenced Job in to
  keep him safe from any harm and thus Job grew
  prosperous without any hindrances." Hartley, The
  Book of Job, 99

28
The Lament 3.11-26gt3.24-26

• A1 Ground for the Lament Turmoil (ro4gez) no
  repose or rest (nu4ah) (3.24-26)
• My groaning serves as my bread My roaring pours
  forth as water.
• "shrieks ()ana4h9a) is often translated "sighs,"
  but that word is far too gentle in meaning. The
  Hebrew root refers to the loud moans or wails
  that arise from those doing oppressive, slave
  labor or from a people devastated by a tragedy
  (Exod 2.23 Lam 1.4, 8, 11, 21, 22). The shrieks
  of one afflicted wear out his body and keep him
  from finding any rest (Ps 6.7) 102.6." Hartley,
  The Book of Job, 100

29
The Lament 3.11-26gt3.24-26

• A1 Ground for the Lament Turmoil (ro4gez) no
  repose or rest (nu4ah) (3.24-26)
• For what I feared has overtaken me What I
  dreaded has come upon me.
• "This statement reveals that before his trial Job
  had dreaded that some ill might befall his
  household . . . . Job's qualms about some
  foreboding calamity have become a terrifying
  reality." Hartley, The Book of Job, 100
• I had no repose, no quiet, no rest, And trouble
  came
• Job summarizes his plight. He can find none of
  the repose he has envisaged in the realm of the
  dead. Instead of a threefold exultation on
  discovering his

30
The Lament 3.11-26gt3.24-26

• grave (v. 22), he endures a threefold absence of
  peace, rest, and quiet. One thing dominates life
  - ro4gez, turmoil (cf. v. 17). His inner being
  is in chaos and his world in confusion. Habel,
  The Book of Job, 112