Theology of the Book of Job: Part 3- Job's Wife

Doc Ryan takes a look at the role that the wife of Job plays in the book.     Did she leave Job because of all the sufferings?  Did she die?  Was there a second wife? We know that Job’s wealth and family were greatly restored and increased to him as we read in Job 42:12-13, “So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. He had also seven sons and three daughters.”     The traditional interpretation is that she is urging Job to curse God, The Hebrew verb barak occurs just over 325 times in the Old Testament, most frequently translated “to bless” in the sense of giving benefits. When Job’s wife said to “barak God and die” her words could be translated “give thanks to God, then die!” It could also mean to knel down, If this meaning of barak is applied, Job’s wife would have urged him to “kneel down before God, then die!”   What about the Testament of Job? The apocryphal Divrei Iyov shares the not only the name of job’s first wife Uzit, but also tells of Job’s second wife, Dinah daughter of Jacob, who bore him his sons and daughters when the Lord blessed him, at the end of the book of Job.