Women in the Biblical World by McCabe Elizabeth A

Author:McCabe, Elizabeth A.
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9780761853886
Publisher: University Press of America

IMPACT OF THE BLESS/CURSE DILEMMA ON JOB’S WIFE

The “faultline” to which Linafelt refers is also present in the phrase spoken by Job’s wife. There is also a similar ambivalence about the character of Job’s wife caused by both the bless/curse impasse and by the questionable use of an interrogative at the end of her first sentence. Her first sentence, “Do you still persist in your integrity?” in Job 2:9 is not necessarily a question as there is no indication of an interrogative in the Hebrew text.10 An equally viable translation could read, “Still you hold fast to your integrity.”11 Without the interrogative, “the statement may mean that Job’s wife, like God, has looked on as he has endured his trials, and now she too affirms that Job is a truly righteous person whose fidelity to God remains as strong as ever.”12

However, reading Job’s wife’s first sentence as a question,13 as it appears most often in English translations, contributes to the male-dominated readings and interpretations of Job’s wife which may explain the prevalence of such translations. In his analysis of ברך in Job 2:9, Linafelt argues that reading the first phrase of Job’s wife’s line as a question “functions to portray Job’s wife in a negative light, which in turn allows one perhaps to expect the use of ברך in the next line to be a euphemism.”14

Without the interrogative, Job’s wife’s first sentence is strikingly similar to what Yahweh says just a few verses earlier to Satan, “He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.”15 In her second sentence, however, the line of Job’s wife closely mirrors Satan’s earlier speeches in 1:11 and 2:5, “But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face,”16 and, “But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.”17 In both of Satan’s speeches, ברך is translated as “curse.” Even though scholars throughout history have portrayed Job’s wife in a negative light, it would seem that based upon her reflection of both Yahweh and Satan, Job’s wife cannot be wholly good or bad.

Another piece of evidence about the nature of Job’s wife that has often been used against her is Job’s response to her statement. Job swiftly follows his wife’s line with a strong rebuke, “You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?”18 Job condemns his wife and her advice, likening her to one of the “foolish women” or יבלות, which has, according to Carol A. Newsom, “both moral and social connotations.”19 Job’s response is perhaps the most significant piece of textual evidence that would allow for the translation of ברך as curse.20 Overcoming the impact of his words has challenged commentators as an entirely positive rephrasing or interpretation of Job’s wife’s statement that would make it “nearly impossible to make sense of Job’s response to her.

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