The Book of Job has been influential in Jewish and Christian theology, and in later secular Western culture. There have been many allusions to it in literature and art, and it was adapted into a play in verse, titled J.B., by the American poet Archibald MacLeish, which won a Pulitzer prize.* Scholars believe it to have been written between the 7th and 4th Centuries BCE, but as with much of the Tanakh there is controversy as to whether it has a single authorship, or represents an accretion of material.
As with Esther, the setting is not in Judah. Job appears to be an Israelite who has a relationship with the Israelite god, but he lives in what is thought to be an area south of Judah in the Levant or possibly in Arabia. He makes sacrifices to god himself, without the intercession of the priesthood. I have not seen any commentary on this anomaly, but it's pretty glaring.
The subject is what we today call theodicy -- the problem that a supposedly benevolent God allows for suffering and injustice. That hasn't actually been a problem in the Torah and histories so far, because Yahweh is not in fact benevolent, he's a seriously psychopathic SOB. However, it had apparently started to vex people by the time this was written. The book makes a partial attempt at a solution by introducing the character of Satan. The idea that God has sons or some sort of community around him has been seen before, in somewhat variable form, but the specific idea of an adversary - which is the meaning of the word Satan -- is novel as far as I know.
Of course, giving Satan agency means depriving God of both omniscience and omnipotence. God doesn't know what Satan has been up to and has to ask; and he surrenders some power to Satan. There is a good deal more that could be said but I've gone on long enough, so without further ado, here's Chapter One.
* MacLeish was a friend of my grandfather, Francis McCloskey. I directed J.B. in high school, believe it or not.
1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.
4 His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.
6 One day the angels[a] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan[b] also came with them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
12 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”
Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
13 One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, 15 and the Sabeans attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
16 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
17 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.[c]
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
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