Job
Chapter 2
Fourth Scene: In Heaven
Once more, the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the Lord, and again Satan was among them.
The Lord asked Satan: “Where have you been?” Satan answered: “Going up and down the earth, roaming about.”
The Lord asked again: “Have you seen my servant Job? No one on earth is as blameless and upright as he is, a man who fears God and shuns evil. He remains committed to his integrity, even if you have instigated me to ruin him without cause.”
Satan replied: “Skin for skin! For his own life, anyone will give everything he owns.
But lay your hand against his own flesh and bones and he will curse you to your face.”
The Lord said to Satan: “Very well, he is in your power. But spare his life.”
Fifth Scene: On Earth
So Satan left the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with festering sores, from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
Job took a potsherd to scrape himself and sat among the ashes.
His wife said to him: “Do you still hold on to your integrity? Curse God and die!”
Job replied: “You talk foolishly. If we receive good things from God, why can’t we accept evil from him?” Despite this calamity, Job did not utter a sinful word.
Three of Job’s friends—Eliphaz the Tema-nite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite—heard about the trouble that had come upon him. They left their homes and traveled together to offer their sympathy and comfort to Job.
Failing to recognize him from afar, they wept aloud, tore their robes, and threw dust on their heads.
For seven days and seven nights, they sat on the ground beside him. They said nothing to Job, because they saw how great his suffering was.
Commentaries
Prologue.
A prose prologue, composed of five scenes that alternate between Heaven and Earth, opens the book, sets the stage, and introduces the characters. From a serene and happy beginning, the story quickly moves on to suffering and confusion.
Fourth Scene: In Heaven.
The heavenly court reconvenes. What Job will defend throughout the book is clear to everyone: there is no link between his virtuous life and his suffering. Satan responds with a proverb so cryptic that we are left questioning what he is implying. He appears to be suggesting a wager: if Job is attacked physically, he will undoubtedly curse God.
Fifth Scene: On Earth.
Job is struck by a mysterious and painful disease that is too vague to diagnose. The wisdom tradition of the Bible recognizes and praises the wise woman (Prov 31:10-31), but Job’s wife only offers unsuitable advice. Nevertheless, Job resists the temptation to speak foolishly: “Despite everything, Job did not sin with his lips” (10). Three friends hear of Job’s condition and, moved by compassion, travel from their distant lands—we cannot identify them exactly—and set out to comfort him. When they arrive and see Job’s suffering, they too cry out in lament and sit silently in the dust beside him. And so ends the prologue. The scene is set: Job sits in the dust, while God watches from heaven with focus. The stakes are high: What will Job say? The audience—God, his friends, and we, the readers—wait with bated breath.