The Tanakh Podcast

Bildad's second speech. He tears into Iyov!. And yet, the Rabbis take a line in this chapter and learn a fascinating lesson about concern for others.

Iyov continues his response. On the one hand he seems to want to die, he repeatedly speaks of his descending to his grave; on the other hand he expresses exasperation with his interlocutors and a desire to increase his strength and stamina.

Iyov barely responds to his critics. Instead he expresses that he feels God has handed him over into the hands of some evil force who is tormenting and torturing him. Moreover, he calls his gaunt scarred body and heaven and earth to serve as witnesses on his behalf before God, as he pleads his innocence.

The second round of discussions get underway. Eliphaz speaks first. In essence he will accuse Iyov that his troubles and torments are his own fault. He is a sinner. He has gotten what he deserves.

Today we tell the story of Rabbi Akiva who found faith in the future from watching water smoothing out a rock. He quoted the verse from our chapter (14:19) 'water wears away stone' . As we will see, Job speaks this verse in a dispirited lament at human fatality and futility. We might wonder what might have transpired were Iyov to have met Rabbi Akiva!

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hyrcanus taught: Job served the Holy One, Blessed be He, only out of love, as it is stated: “Though He will slay me, still I will trust in Him” (Job 13:15). Why is Iyov the ultimate lover of God, and why does he accuse his interlocutors as being "creators of lies, healers of idols" in their defence of the Almighty?

If God is all powerful, then he must be responsible for natural disasters, for human error and the like. How can Job's friends sustain the impressions of God's power and responsibility and then also claim that he is kind and just? If he is in charge, then God must also cause pain and suffering!

The 3rd friend, Tzofar, accuses Iyov of overreach, as he thinks he understands God, but in fact God's wisdom is "longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. What audacity to think that one understands the divine!

Iyov speaks to God with a series of direct and powerful questions about the way that God is treating him. At the centre of the chapter is the challenge of the absurdity of the human situation: If God has created and formed us, he knows humans will err. How then does God subject humans to suffering and torment? Is this some sort of masochistic game?

Iyov responds to Bildad by saying that he would love justice - he would love to bring God to trial and vindicate himself. But that with the radical power disparity between humans and God, theer will be no opportunity to get a fair hearing. To listen to the chapter, passuk by passuk https://cdn.tanachstudy.com/archives/Ketuvim/Iyov/iyov-9.mp3