Hello, My Name Is …

For all we hear about and from Job , we don’t really see or know much of his every day, normal, non-suffering life.  The first three verses of the book introduce him to us in very broad terms, offering scant background information.  It kind of reminds me of ice breakers at an awkward meeting: tell us your name, where you’re from, and three interesting facts about yourself.

First, we get the basic introductions out of the way.  His name is Job, and he lives in Uz.  Next the narrator establishes his character:  among various translations, we are told that Job is blameless, upright, honest inside and out, and a man of his word.

Then we get a glimpse into what makes Job tick:  he fears God and turns away from evil.  The Message says that he was totally devoted to God and hated evil with a passion. 

Next we learn that Job is a dad:  seven sons and three daughters. 

Since we’re counting offspring, I guess we should go ahead and count animals, too, and we learn of Job’s wealth by way of a detailed inventory of his possessions:  7,000 sheep; 3,000 camels; 500 teams of oxen; 500 donkeys, and a lot of servants. 

Isn’t it interesting that we know exactly how many animals he has, but we don’t get an exact number of servants?  There are lots of interesting things about that servant part, but that’s a whole ‘nother thing.  Suffice it to say that Job’s wealth seems to be the driving force behind the last character assessment of Job in this section:  Job was the most influential man in all the East.  The NRSV says “the greatest of all the people in the east.”

I don’t know a lot about OT times, but I wonder if the inventory is included as evidence to prove Job’s character.  Maybe in their way of thinking, only a blameless, upright man would have that much.  Like original version of a prosperity Gospel.  Maybe the narrator has to actually number Job’s possessions so the readers can believe that Job was really that good.  I’m making this up, of course, but it’s how my mind wanders.  It seems to be the only reason I can think of why the list of possessions follows directly on the character evaluation. Also, that OT “if you live well, then you prosper” theory does seem to be supported by the remainder of the story.

So that’s how we meet Job.  The most details we get are about his possessions.  We get no information about what he does or how he acts to support the claim that he’s blameless and upright.  We don’t know how he treats people.  We don’t know if people like him.  We don’t know if he likes people.  OT times were weird and scary and often don’t seem to value the things that matter to me:  kindness and compassion and grace and stuff like that.  Those don’t seem to play well in the OT.  Thank God for Jesus.