SUMMARY
Breaking his image of acceptance and stoicism, Job bursts forth with a terrible lament.
ANALYSIS
The patient Job of chapters 1-2 is the one that is most commonly remembered. Even people who know little about Job have heard the expression “the patience of Job” and have some idea that he was a man who had a lot of trouble but took it “like a man,” without whining or complaining. But already in chapter 3 and throughout all the dialogues, another picture of Job emerges. He does not like what has happened to him and he is not hesitant to talk about it. Though the Bible has many such laments, they tend to be suppressed by some Christians in favor of the happier thanksgiving and praise psalms and prayers. For various reasons, the legitimacy of lament for true believers has been questioned.
In this chapter, Job wishes he had never been born. Since it is too late to prevent that, he wishes God would kill him and remove him from his painful existence. Like old, sick people who long for God to take them, he is more attracted to the idea of death than the continuation of the life he is now living.
Biblical scholars have noted that the language of Job’s curse echoes the language of the creationCreation, in biblical terms, is the universe as we know or perceive it. Genesis says that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the book of Revelation (which speaks of end times) the author declares that God created all things and... More story in Genesis 1-2. [See Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Poetry (T&T Clark, 1985), 96-103] There, God’s first command was, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3). Here, Job’s curse on the day of his birth is, “Let there be darkness” (Job 3:4). In Genesis, the creation story ends with God resting on the SabbathSabbath is a weekly day of rest, the seventh day, observed on Saturday in Judaism and on Sunday in Christianity. In the book of Genesis, God rested on the seventh day; in the Gospel accounts Jesus and his disciples are criticized by some for not... More (Genesis 2:2-3). In Job 3, Job wishes to find rest in the grave (3:13-19). Job wants to abolish the limits God set in creation between light and darkness, and he wishes to extinguish the stars (Genesis 1:3-5, 14-19; Job 3:4-9). While Job has no power, of course, to undo creation or even the day of his birth, his curse is nevertheless a challenge to the Creator of the heavens and the earth. That challenge is answered in the whirlwind speeches.hes God would kill him and remove him from his painful existence. Like old, sick people who long for God to take them, he is more attracted to the idea of death than the continuation of the life he is now living.
