Job 1
Job loses everything but wife and life
Job, family man and herder
1A man named Job lived in the land of Uz. [1] He was a good guy who respected God. 2He had seven sons and three daughters.3He was one of the richest people in the Eastern lands. His livestock holdings included:
4Job’s sons often organized family reunions with a feast that lasted for days. The brothers took turns hosting the reunions at their homes. They invited their sisters and families to join them. 5When the reunion ended, Job sent for them and offered sacrifices to purify each one of them for sins they may have committed. He said, “Who knows? One of them might have silently cussed God out or done something else terrible.”
Job’s critic
6One day the LORD met with his servants, heavenly spirit beings known as “sons of God.” [4] Among them was a prosecutor, known as the Accuser.7The LORD asked the Accuser, “Where have you been?” The Accuser said, “Here and there, all over the earth.”
8The LORD said, “Did you come across Job? He’s not just faithful to me, he’s one of a kind. No one on earth is better at telling evil to get lost.”
9The Accuser said, “Does he follow you because it’s good for business? 10Doesn’t he live under the protection of your blessing? You give him a boost in everything he does. And he got rich because of it. 11Take it away from him and watch him look you in the eye and teach you how to cuss.” 12The LORD said, “I’ll tell you what. I’m giving you control of everything Job owns. Do whatever you want with it. Just don’t hurt him physically.” The Accuser agreed and left the meeting.
Last family reunion
13One day Job’s family met in the home of his oldest son. The daughters and families were there, too.14At Job’s house, though, a messenger arrived with bad news. He said, “The cattle were plowing, and the donkeys were grazing nearby 15when Sabean [6] raiders attacked. They stole the livestock and killed your servants. I'm the only one who lived to tell you what happened.”
16The man was still talking when another person came running in said, “Lightning started a fire that burned up all the sheep and the servants with them. I'm the only one who lived to tell you about it.” 17He was still talking when the next messenger arrived saying, “The Chaldeans [7] attacked with three columns of raiders. They stole the camels and killed the servants. I'm the only one who got away, so I came to tell you about it.”
18He was still talking when someone else rushed in saying, “Your children were eating at the home of your oldest son 19when a windstorm blew in from the desert and collapsed the house on top of them. They’re all dead. I'm the only one who survived, and I came here to tell you about it.”
Job’s poised response
20When Job finally got a chance to respond he stood and tore his robe. Then he shaved his head [8] and sat down and prayed. 21He said, “I came here with nothing, and I’ll leave with nothing. [9] The LORD gave them to me and the LORD took them away. Praise the LORD and thank him for who he is.” [10]22In the middle of this mess, Job did nothing wrong. Nor did he accuse God of doing something wrong.
Footnotes
If anyone knows where Uz was, they’re not talking. The book of Lamentations hints that it’s in the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula. Lamentations 4:21seems to place it near Edom, which is east of what is now Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
The text says “500 yoke of oxen.” Cattle were usually yoked in teams of two.
Many Bibles soften the word to “servants.” The Hebrew word can mean servant, slave, work, or service. But many of these workers took care of the herds, which some scholars say is why they’re probably listed after the livestock. So they had to stay with the herds. Job likely considered them his property and responsibility, too. They are, after all, listed among his property.
“Sons of God” is often translated as angels. The term can also mean “servants of God” or “messengers of God.” These beings belonged to God, served him, and did what he told them to do. The Accuser here, “the Satan” in Hebrew, was among heaven’s council. If God had been King Arthur, this Satan would have had a seat at the Round Table.
The Hebrew word for “Accuser” is Satan. It’s pronounced the same in English and Hebrew. It can mean enemy, prosecutor, or someone holding a grudge. Most scholars seem to agree this isn’t the Bad-Guy Satan of 1 Peter 5:8, “the devil, a roaring lion about to pounce and feed.” So in Job, it’s not “Satan.” It’s always “the Satan,” someone among God’s support staff who steps forward to levy a charge against Job. Anyone can be a satan, an accuser. Bible writers sometimes used satan to describe people (Psalm 38:20 and elsewhere).
Sabeans are a mystery. Some have linked them to Sheba, a town in what is now Yemen, on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. But if Job’s story takes place in what is now northern Arabia, as some suggest, that’s a long ride for raiders. Too long. Some suggest it could be Tema or Dedan, towns in northern Arabia or perhaps a usually dry riverbed known as Wadi es-Saba, near Medina, a town in west-central Saudi Arabia, near the Red Sea. Still others say we should quit looking because this is a fictional story—one that reads like it’s the love child of a parable that ran into a novel on the way to a sheepshearing.
Chaldea was a territory in what is now southern Iraq. This was the name of the land and the name of the people who lived there. Rulers in the city of Babylon, known as Babylonians, ruled these people for about a century, from around 626-539 BC.
Wearing torn and dirty clothes and shaving the head was an ancient way of expressing extreme grief.
That was apparently a saying of the time because it shows up in Ecclesiastes 5:14, “They came into this world with nothing. Now nothing is what they’ve got.” What seems odd is that he didn’t say, “The LORD gave them and the Sabeans, Chaldeans, lightning, and wind took them away.” He saw all of these as under God’s control, leaving the tragedies as acts of God, through inaction if nothing else. Yet he didn’t blame God for doing something wrong. The blame comes later, with heat. See Job 3, 7, 16.
The phrase is more traditionally translated, “Blessed be the name of the LORD.” It appears to have been a common and sacred saying in Bible times. It shows up in Psalms 135:1 and Psalm 113:2.”
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