Job, Wisdom, Suffering and Mystery
One of the beautiful things about the Book of Job is that its wisdom puts us humans in our place in never giving an answer to all the “why” questions. Hubris drives us to formulate platitudes, slogans, and memes to answer some of the world’s most pressing issues, or to settle some deep theological, philosophical, or political debate. But these never really work. As for Job’s case, certain extenuating circumstances remain hidden, i.e. the dialogue between Yahweh and Satan in chapters 1-2, and the reason why the God of the universe permits the righteous man to lose children and property is left to mystery. Much of the Book of Job is poetic dialogue four men—Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and Elihu—who want to convince Job all the calamities were some sort of divine retribution. Eliphaz, for example, says, “As I have seen, those who plow iniquity | and sow trouble reap the same. | By the breath of God they perish, | and by the blast of his anger they are consumed (Job 4:8-9). 1 Bildad cont