The Job Search

[vovat]

Although there's some debate on this point, the main theme of the Book of Job seems to be the age-old theological question of why, if there truly is a guiding force at work in the world, bad things happen to good people. Much of the Old Testament holds to the idea that good works and piousness are rewarded, while bad works and heresy are punished. But even back when the Bible was written, people would have realized that not all good and bad fortune can be so easily explained. Job is tested by being afflicted with physical pain and the loss of his wealth and children, and his friends insist he must have done something wrong, but Job's eventual conversation with God (who appears in a whirlwind or a cloud) gives the impression that mere humans can never really know why God deems it necessary for bad stuff to happen. Still, if you have faith, things will work out all right in the end. Sure, you'll lose your kids, but you'll end up with new and better ones! Okay, so that part probably wouldn't appear if a similar book were written nowadays, but the belief that there is some kind of reason for all the crap that occurs still holds true today. Even those of us who don't believe in gods tend to cling to the ideals of justice and compassion, even though those also don't always work out.



Job is said to have lived in the Land of Uz, which I believe is actually the name that the most recent Hebrew translations of the Oz books use for that fairyland. It's not entirely clear where Uz is, but evidence elsewhere in the Bible suggests that it might be a name for what would eventually become known as Edom and Idumea. Since there are no mentions in the book of the Jewish people or the nation of Israel, it's often regarded as taking place in the time of the patriarchs of Genesis. There's also a tradition that Job was Egyptian, and either a king or an advisor to one. And other local interpretations have placed Job and Uz closer to the interpreters' homes (funny, that). I think the chances are that Job was never intended to be a historical figure, but simply a character in a fable. As someone who likes verisimilitude in my fiction, however, I can appreciate the attempts to locate the setting of the book.

Finally, on an unrelated note, happy birthday to vilajunkie!

Comments

IMO

[suegypt.livejournal.com]

Okay, so that part probably wouldn't appear if a similar book were written nowadays, but the belief that there is some kind of reason for all the crap that occurs still holds true today.

Yes, it does, in religions and sects which still believe, or hope, that people were as unsophisticated as they were back in OT times. I think that the people in "charge" of what things meant, back in the day (Pharisees?), told these stories to people so that they would identify with Job, and would see the need for (blind) belief and obedience to the proscribed version of God. Very fable. Very fabulous, in fact. Fabricated? Hmmm.

People today are still told by their churches that they must blindly obey or they will be tested as Job was. Smokescreen. People endure trials of the spirit because shitty things happen to people. It's not initiated by god, or anything else but the chance we all encounter in this mortal life.

To me, the trials of Job represent our need to foist our dysfunctional aspects of our lives off on the "unknowable," to blame it on the "will of God." Mostly so we don't have to face the depressing truth that no Crusader waits on our request to slay our dragons in our hours of need. The Creator gives us tools, and, like a parent, leaves us to develop our powers of discernment, compromise, and reconciliation. Or, if we choose, the powers of subterfuge, sabotage, and obfuscation.

Sorry, it's Sunday, and, being a PK (a very lapsed one), I felt like a sermon.

Re: IMO

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I think one problem with using the story of Job in support of blind faith is that Job wasn't being punished for being unfaithful. His faith remained strong throughout the book, and he eventually even got a chance to chat with God, which I think any of the religious faithful (or ANYONE, really) would appreciate. On the other hand, the book makes it clear that Job's troubles really ARE due to God and Satan messing with him, which I think kind of goes against the rest of the story.