The Satan Tested Job

The Book of Job is of wisdom genre. Job was a righteous, rich man. God and Satan have a confrontation regarding Job’s faith in God. God allows Satan to test Job by taking away his family, sheep, camels, and servants. Job was passed the test. Job was tested again. This time it was his health that was taken away. Job speaks to his three friends and curses the day he was born. The four of them have a lengthy conversation as to why Job is being punished. Elihu enters the conversation and becomes somewhat angry with Job’s lack of faith in God. God speaks to Job in question form. Job repents. God speaks the three friends and advises them to sacrifice a burnt offering. Job was them made prosperous and was “given twice as much as he had before” by God.

The theme of the Book of Job is the perseverance of the human spirit. Job loses everything but he does not lose his faith in God. “Job refuses to curse God” (Book). Job has not done anything to deserve this, but it is a test from God and Satan to see if Job is actually as

In the book of Job, Job walks through life making sure his actions and words are carefully chosen, and even goes as far as to burn offerings for sins yet committed. The book of Job, and then later the modern take titled J.B., was a new display from God, showing that bad things can happen to good people. The book of Job made it clear in the bible that God was not giving or taking anything because of our own achievement, but that all things good and bad are from God. Archibald Macleish tries to reenact Job in a more modern version that new readers today might find easier, and although so aspects might be off from the original text, the story of J.B. follows closely to Job’s story line. One area that can be compared when looking at both texts

     Job is a man very limited by God. As illustrated, he has only a negligible amount of agency to begin with. By the time God and Satan finish with him, he has virtually no control over his own life. The fragment of agency he does cling to is his ability to choose whether or not to curse God. No one, except himself, could prevent Job from cursing God. Yet, he refuses to curse God, even though He is responsible for his suffering.

The Book of Job is a very complex translation in which two images of evil are presented. Steven Mitchell calls them the Accusing Angel (Accuser) and the Serpent. They are both very powerful and portrayed as supernatural beings. His first reference to the Accusing Angel appears early on, however references throughout the story do not exist. Unlike the Accusing Angel, the Serpent is mentioned throughout the book. Disturbing imagery and ideas from the unnamable voice from the whirlwind help to give the reader an accurate perception of the Serpent. Although the context in which they are presented is different, the way that both are talked about, and defined, are very similar

As the book opens, “And that man was greater than all of the dwellers of the East.”(Job 1) This opening line is telling the audience that Job is viewed as unique compared to other servants. “And the man was blameless and upright and feared God and shunned evil.” (Job 1) Job is presented to the audience as God’s favorite servant, for Job is a man who is free of sin. He not only fears God but is also and because he is both, “blameless and upright”. “Skin for skin! A man will give all he has for his own life. Yet reach out and pray, your hand and strike his bone and his flesh. Will he not curse you to your face?”(Job 2).When Satan questions Job’s loyalty to the Almighty king, God takes this challenge with pride for he knows how faithful of a servant Job is to him. Satan believes Job is only obedient to him because he has no other reason not to be, but if God were to strike him with hardship, Job would turn against him and curse his name. “Here he is in your hands. Only preserve his life” (Job 2).Though God puts Job into Satan’s hands, he tells him not to kill him to prove his point. Satan strikes Job with a burning rash that spreads from head to toe, takes away all of his animals, kills all his children and yet, Job still does not curse God. Job refuses to let such words past his lips because he still believes in the good of God and says he shall not accept evil. God then sees Job true loyalty of him and restores

Considering, the faith and Loyality Job had for God, he allowed Satan to torture Job. First, Satan destoryed everything in Job’s life and took the lives of his ten children. Secondly, Satan harmed Job physically, causing his health to fail. According to Maxwell, Satan infected Job with sores over the surface of his body, and Job scratched his skin with a pottery shard for relief (as cited in John C. Maxwell, 2014, p.34). Moreover,when Satan was done torturing Job. The faith and loyality Job had for God was even stronger. Job told Maxwell all of his pain, suffering and scars, Satan inflicted on him carried no pain. The only thing mattered to Job was “God see the big picture” (Maxwell, 2014, p. 34). Satan never understood the reason why Job

In stark contrast to God’s presence in Genesis, the character of God in Job strays from the ideal perfection of the divine. The concept of the ideal manifested in Genesis is embodied in God’s moral, reasonable, and rational behavior. In Job, on the other hand, rather than being reasonable, methodical, and creating life, God displays more human characteristics and plays the role of both creator and destroyer. The book of Job begins with God’s boastful bargain with Satan, which subsequently leads God to allow the total destruction of Job’s family and livelihood. Job is even attacked physically with “loathsome sores… from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head” (Job 2:7). In an uncharacteristically immoral decision, God gives Satan the power do

Why does God allow Satan to cause such tragedy in Job’s life, a man whom God has already acknowledged as “my servant Job, that there is none like on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”(1.8) From the beginning, it is known that Job is in no way deserving of his injustices, so a reason must be given. God gives Job an opportunity to prove that under any circumstances Job will still have faith. This simply a test for Job. The whole Book is a “double” journey for Job -- he shows God his faith and realizes the faith God has that Job will not stray from his path. Job knows deep down that God has not forsaken him.

In the case of Christianity, we first consider how the human condition appears in The Book of Job, an exemplary text in this instance which tells the story of Job, a pious, righteous man who is relentlessly tormented by God. In several rounds of discussion

The prologue of the book, set in prose style, is made up of chapters one and two with the introduction of Job and his family and how successful he is and that he is blessed by God wonderfully. It goes into Job's first test which Satan presents himself before the lord. God 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" (Job 1:8). This is when Satan puts up the challenge for God saying, "Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a hedge around him and his

The view of fate the book of Job expresses, though similar in that it originates from God, differs in a few important ways. In Job, situations are predetermined to occur, but the personal choices of the people involved determine the outcome of the situation. The story of Job opens with Job's fate of suffering being planned. Satan presents himself in an audience before God. God makes example of Job, and Satan rebuffs, stating that Job's constancy is only because of God's preferential treatment. Satan tells God, "But put forth thy hand now and touch all he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face."(40). In response, power is given to Satan to torment Job as a test. Job's life and finally health are viciously mangled and destroyed by Satan. Though Job does not know the reasons behind his great suffering, we are told that "In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly."(41), and "In all this did not Job sin with his lips."(41). Self-pity creeps into Job's thoughts and words, but there is no disenchanted turn from God. Instead in Job the reader sees a turn to God for relief and

The Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible is characterized by the misery of a faithful servant of God, and how it relates to this character's ability to praise God. Job is an unwaveringly loyal and righteous subject of God, blessed with immense wealth and a beautiful family. One day God boasts to Satan of the innate goodness of Job, to which Satan questions “does Job fear God for nothing? … you have blessed the work of his hands … but stretch out your hand, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face” (The Bible, Book of Job, 1:6-12). If Job has faced no trials and tribulations, and only experienced the bounty that

him. How one deals with despair and suffering is what makes a person who he or

By classic definition, the character or being of the Satan is Job is not a main character, but the story is unable to happen without his involvement. The Satan is essential for the story of Job, because without the Satan, the trials and testing of Job would never have occurred in the first place. The role of the Satan is equally as important to proper understanding of the book of Job. Most scholars argue that the Satan here is a separate entity from the Devil or Satan in Jewish and Christian theological understandings. If not the devil himself, who is this Satan? The interpretation of the role of this being spans from divine prosecutor, servant of God, and even executioner.