The civilization of the ancient Hebrews is one of the most fascinating to study, if only due to its longevity in the face of countless trials faced throughout history. Their imagined community, formulated by their religious practices and their devotion to scripture as the center of their beliefs, kept their culture mostly separate from others, allowing them to retain many customs and practices to which they still adhere to this day. The Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible, written circa 580-400 BC, is an excellent indicator of the importance of religious text in their society. It tells the story of a man named Job, the godliest man on earth, of whom God boasts and protects, though Satan, referred to as “the Adversary,” challenges Job’s righteousness,
…show more content…
Similarly, Zophar says “Know therefore that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves,” expressing the opinion that Job’s sin deserved a sharper punishment, through which view Zophar suggests he knows God’s mind better than Job does. Eliphaz makes similar assertions, and even Job makes a claim concerning the nature of God, claiming he has hidden himself from Job, and has not protected him from “thick darkness,” thus attempting to declare possession of a greater understanding of God’s will. Later, when God appears to them, he rebukes them for thinking they could ever understand the magnitude of his might, asking them rhetorical questions about the creation of the world, and then saying sardonically, “Doubtless you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!” God goes on to inform Job’s three friends of his anger toward them, and tells them they must redeem themselves for having “not spoken of me the thing that is right.” This indicates that an individual’s words are the first measure by which God judges them. All this reveals the Hebrew attitude toward the admission of prideful presumption concerning the will of God, and their belief that the words someone says about God were the best indicator of their …show more content…
Since Job refused to renounce God, curbed his pride in presuming to understand God’s mystery, and in the end repented where he failed in this respect, his words remained in line with the will of God, who then blessed him with prosperity and happiness in the latter half of his life. This happy conclusion to an otherwise dismal story highlights the ways in which this story take the shape of an admonition to the Hebrew people. In essence, the story promises that if the students of this text follow the way of the Lord by staying faithful to him in word, never presuming to comprehend him, and always repenting of their wrongs and “[speaking] the thing of [God] that is right,” then they can expect a rich reward. In this way, the text reveals how important the way one spoke of God was in Hebrew society, and the condemnation that followed one who cursed God or proudly pretended to be wise in his ways. In the amphictyony that ruled Jewish culture, these judgments were important, and helped to provide further guidelines, in addition to the rest of the Old Testament, for living righteously in the eyes of God. This passage also brings to light the interesting philosophical idea of questioning the established deity’s motives, and any wider understanding of God either hidden or too vast to comprehend. This connects perfectly to a point made in Tacitus’
Similarly, Zophar says “Know therefore that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves,” expressing the opinion that Job’s sin deserved a sharper punishment, through which view Zophar suggests he knows God’s mind better than Job does. Eliphaz makes similar assertions, and even Job makes a claim concerning the nature of God, claiming he has hidden himself from Job, and has not protected him from “thick darkness,” thus attempting to declare possession of a greater understanding of God’s will. Later, when God appears to them, he rebukes them for thinking they could ever understand the magnitude of his might, asking them rhetorical questions about the creation of the world, and then saying sardonically, “Doubtless you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!” God goes on to inform Job’s three friends of his anger toward them, and tells them they must redeem themselves for having “not spoken of me the thing that is right.” This indicates that an individual’s words are the first measure by which God judges them. All this reveals the Hebrew attitude toward the admission of prideful presumption concerning the will of God, and their belief that the words someone says about God were the best indicator of their …show more content…
Since Job refused to renounce God, curbed his pride in presuming to understand God’s mystery, and in the end repented where he failed in this respect, his words remained in line with the will of God, who then blessed him with prosperity and happiness in the latter half of his life. This happy conclusion to an otherwise dismal story highlights the ways in which this story take the shape of an admonition to the Hebrew people. In essence, the story promises that if the students of this text follow the way of the Lord by staying faithful to him in word, never presuming to comprehend him, and always repenting of their wrongs and “[speaking] the thing of [God] that is right,” then they can expect a rich reward. In this way, the text reveals how important the way one spoke of God was in Hebrew society, and the condemnation that followed one who cursed God or proudly pretended to be wise in his ways. In the amphictyony that ruled Jewish culture, these judgments were important, and helped to provide further guidelines, in addition to the rest of the Old Testament, for living righteously in the eyes of God. This passage also brings to light the interesting philosophical idea of questioning the established deity’s motives, and any wider understanding of God either hidden or too vast to comprehend. This connects perfectly to a point made in Tacitus’