SUMMARY
After the first wave of troubles comes to Job, he stoically accepts what happens as God’s will. It is God who gives and, therefore, God can take away.
ANALYSIS
This is one of the best known passages from the Book of Job. It is passages like this (and Job 2:9-10) that have led to the picture of Job as the patient, accepting survivor of disasters. He desperately hangs on to his belief in a God who is in charge of everything and who will ultimately work things out on his behalf. This raises important theological questions about whether God is in control of everything that happens, even the bad things. Job seems to think so. When a little girl is killed by a hit-and-run driver, is that God’s will, or is it the irresponsible and evil act of another person? This passage leaves that question open.
In the past, this verse was frequently read at funerals. Everything is put in God’s hands. God gave life and God can take it again. In recent years, the verse shows up much less frequently. Though it may still seem helpful when talking about the death of an old person who has led a good and long life and now has been “called home,” it does not work so well for the young victim of a terrible automobile accident.
