CHAPTER 23

If it is supposed that the story of Job happened, the first thing that occurred was a matter on which there was general agreement between the five, I mean Job and his friends, namely, that everything that had befallen Job was known to Him, may He be exalted, and that God had caused these misfortunes to befall him. All of them were also agreed that injustice was not permitted to Him and wrongdoing not to be ascribed to Him. You will find these notions frequently also in the discourse of Job. If now you consider the discourse of the five in the course of their conversation, you may almost think1 that whatever one of them says is said also by all the others, so that the same notions are repeated and overlap. They are interrupted by Job’s description of the sufferings and misfortunes that had befallen him in spite of his outstanding righteousness and by the description of his justice, the nobleness of his character, and the goodness of his actions. Similarly they are interrupted in the discourse of his friends by exhortations to patience, words of consolation, appeals to him to be amicable, and advice that he ought to be silent and not give rein to his speech like an individual quarreling with another individual; he should rather submit to God’s judgments and be silent. He, on the other hand, says that the violence of the sufferings makes it impossible to be patient and firm and to say what one ought to. All his friends are also agreed that everyone who does good obtains a reward and that everyone who does evil is punished; and that if you see a disobedient man who is fortunate, in the end this state of affairs will be transformed into its contrary, for he will perish and misfortunes will befall him, his sons, and his offspring. If, however, you see an obedient man in misery, his fracture will certainly be remedied. You will find this notion repeated in the discourses of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, all three being agreed on this opinion. This, however, is not the purpose of [48a] this story as a whole; for this purpose is rather to show the peculiarity of each of them and to make known each one’s opinion concerning this story: namely, that the greatest and heaviest misfortunes befall the most perfect individual, who was the most unblemished of them in righteousness. Job’s opinion on this is that this happening proves that the righteous man and the wicked are regarded as equal by Him, may He be exalted, because of His contempt for the human species and abandonment of it. This is what he says in all his speeches: It is all one — therefore I say: He destroyeth the innocent and the wicked. If the flood² slay suddenly, He will mock at the calamity of the guiltless.³ He says thus that if a torrent comes suddenly killing all those it meets and sweeping them away, He laughs at the calamity of the innocent. Thereupon he confirms this opinion in his dictum: One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. His pails are full of milk, and so on. And another dieth in bitterness of soul, and hath never tasted of good. They lie down alike in the dust, and the worm covereth them.⁴ He also begins to cite as proof the good fortune and prosperity of the wicked, treating at great length of this subject. He says: Even when I remember I am affrighted, and horror taketh hold on my flesh. Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, wax mighty in power? Their seed is established in their sight, and so on.5 Having described this perfect prosperity, he begins to say to his interlocutors: Even supposing matters are as you think and the children of the prosperous unbeliever perish after he is no more and their traces vanish, in what way is that prosperous man harmed by what happens to his family after he is no more? He says: For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is determined?⁶ Thereupon he begins to make clear that there is no hope after death, and that nothing remains but neglect.⁷ Accordingly he begins to wonder how it is that He has not neglected in the origin the work of the generation and the creation of the human individual and neglects to govern him. He says accordingly:⁸ Hast Thou not poured me out as milk, [48b] and curdled me like cheese? and so on.⁹ This is one of the opinions believed in concerning providence. You know the dictum of the Sages that this opinion of Job’s is most unsound. They say:¹⁰ May there be dust upon Job’s mouth. And they say: Job wanted to upset the plate. And they say: Job denied the resurrection of the dead. They also say of him: He began to blaspheme. With regard to His¹¹ saying, may He be exalted, to Eliphaz: For ye have not spoken of Me the thing that is right, as My servant Job hath¹² — the Sages, in order to find an excuse for it, say, A man is not to be blamed for [what he does when] suffering,¹³ meaning that he was excused because of his great sufferings. However, this kind of speech does not accord with the parable.¹⁴ The cause of this¹⁵ is as we shall now explain to you. [Job] had given up his opinion, which was most mistaken, and had demonstrated that he had been mistaken therein. This view was such as arises at the first reflection and in the beginning thereof, especially in the case of one whom misfortunes have befallen, while he knows of himself that he had not sinned — which is not denied by anyone. For this reason this opinion is ascribed to Job. However, the latter said all that he did say as long as he had no true knowledge and knew the deity only because of his acceptance of authority, just as the multitude adhering to a Law know it. But when he knew God with a certain knowledge, he admitted that true happiness, which is the knowledge of the deity, is guaranteed to all who know Him and that a human being cannot be troubled in it by any of all the misfortunes in question. While he had known God only through the traditional stories and not by the way of speculation, Job had imagined that the things thought to be happiness,¹⁶ such as health, wealth, and children, are the ultimate goal. For this reason he fell into such perplexity and said such things as he did. [49a] This is the meaning of his dictum: I had heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth Thee; wherefore I abhor myself and repent of dust and ashes.¹⁷ This dictum may be supposed to mean, Wherefore I abhor all that I used to desire and repent of my being in dust and ashes — this being the position that he was supposed to be in: And he sat among the ashes.¹⁸ It is because of this final discourse indicative of correct apprehension that it is said of him after this: For ye have not spoken of Me the thing that is right, as My servant Job hath.¹⁹

The opinion of Eliphaz concerning this event is also one of the opinions professed concerning providence. For he says that everything that befell Job was deserved by him, for he had committed sins because of which he served these misfortunes. This is what he says to Job: Is not thy wickedness great? and are not thine iniquities without end?20 Then he began to tell Job: The righteousness of your actions and your excellent way of life upon which you relied do not entail your being perfect before God so that you should not be punished: Behold, He putteth no trust in His servants, and His angels He chargeth with folly; how much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust.²¹ Eliphaz does not cease turning around this notion; I mean to say that he believes that everything that befalls a man is deserved, but that the deficiencies for which we deserve punishment and the way in which we deserve to be punished because of them are hidden from our perception.

The opinion of Bildad the Shuhite on this question consists in the belief in compensation. For he says to Job: If you are innocent and have not sinned, the reason for these great events is to make great your reward. You will receive the finest of compensations. All this is good for you, so that the good that you will obtain in the end be increased. This is [49b] what he says to Job: If thou art pure and upright, surely now He will awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous. And though thy beginning was small, yet thy end should greatly increase.²² You know already how well known this opinion on the subject of providence is, and we have already made it clear.

The opinion of Zophar the Naamathite is the one that considers that everything follows from the will23 alone; no reason whatever should be sought for His actions, and the question should not be posed:²⁴ Why did He do this and why did He not do that? For this reason the point of view of justice or a requirement of wisdom should not be sought in whatever the deity does, for His greatness and true reality entail His doing what He wills. But we are incapable of penetrating the secrets of His wisdom, which necessitates His doing what He wills without there being another reason. This is what he says to Job:²⁵ That God would speak, and open His lips against thee; and that He would tell thee the secrets of wisdom, that they may teach thee doubly.²⁶ Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?

Know then and consider how the story, which has perplexed people, is composed and called upon them to adopt the various opinions that we have analyzed above concerning God’s providence regarding the created things. All that is required by the classification²⁷ is mentioned and ascribed to one of the men famous at that time because of virtue and knowledge. That would have to be said if this is a parable. Or they might have expressed these opinions in true reality if this is a story that has happened. The opinion attributed to Job is in keeping with the opinion of Aristotle; the opinion of Eliphaz is in keeping with the opinion of our Law; the opinion of Bildad is in keeping with the doctrine of the Muʿtazila; the opinion of Zophar is in keeping with the doctrine of the Ashʿariyya. These were the ancient opinions concerning providence.

Thereupon another opinion supervenes, namely, the one attributed to Elihu. Hence he is considered by them²⁸ as superior.²⁹ For it is mentioned that he was the youngest among them in point of age and the most perfect among them in knowledge. He started to reprove Job and to tax him with ignorance [50a] because of his having manifested his self-esteem and because of his not being able to understand how misfortunes could have befallen him though he performed good deeds. For he had expatiated at length on the goodness of his actions. He also described the opinions of [Job’s] three friends on providence as senile drivel; and made extraordinary speeches that are full of enigmas, in such a way that if someone considers his discourse, he wonders and thinks that he30 does not in any respect make an addition to what was said by Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, but merely repeats in different terms and with amplifications the notions contained in their speeches. For he does not go beyond blaming Job, ascribing the attribute of justice to God, describing His wonders in the universe, and stating that He, may He be exalted, does not care either for the obedience of those who obey or for the disobedience of those who disobey. Now all these notions had been expressed by his companions. However, when you consider the matter, the additional notion that he introduced will become clear to you; this notion is the one that is intended;³¹ it had not occurred before to one of the others. Together with that notion, however, he says all they have said, just as each of all the others — namely, Job and his three friends — repeats, as I have mentioned to you, the notion expressed by another among them. This is done in order to hide the notion that is peculiar to the opinion of each individual, so that at first it occurs to the multitude that all the interlocuters are agreed upon the selfsame opinion; however, this is not so. The notion added by Elihu and not mentioned by one of them is that which he expresses parabolically when he speaks of the intercession of an angel. For he says that it is an attested and well-known thing that when a man is ill to the point of death and when he is despaired of, if an angel intercedes for him — regardless of what angel — his intercession is accepted and he is raised from his fall. This invalid is accordingly saved and restored to the best of states. However, this does not continue always, there being no continuous intercession [50b] going on forever, for it only takes place two or three times. He says: If there be for him an angel, an intercessor, and so on.³² And, having described the various states of the convalescent and his joy at returning to the perfection of health, he says: Lo, all these things doth God work, twice, yea thrice, with a man.³³ This notion is made clear by Elihu alone. He also makes an addition — prior to speaking of this notion — by beginning to describe the how of prophecy in his dictum: For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet [man] perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men.³⁴ Thereupon he begins to confirm this opinion and to make clear its method by describing many natural circumstances, such as his describing thunder, lightning, rain, and the blowing of the winds. He combines this with many subjects belonging to the circumstances of animals — I mean an outbreak of pestilence referred to in his dictum, In a moment they die, even at midnight, and so on;³⁵ the occurrence of great wars referred to in his dictum, He breaketh in pieces mighty men without number, and setteth others in their stead;³⁶ and many other such circumstances.

Similarly you will find that in the prophetic revelation that came to Job37 and through which his error in everything that he had imagined became clear to him, there is no going beyond the description of natural matters — namely, description of the elements or description of the meteorological phenomena or description of the natures of the various species of animals, but of nothing else. For what is mentioned therein in the way of a description of the firmaments and the heavens³⁸ and Orion and the Pleiades³⁹ occur because of their influence upon the atmosphere; for He draws his⁴⁰ attention only to what is beneath the sphere of the moon. Elihu too derives his warnings from various species of animals. For he says:⁴¹ He teacheth us from the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wise from the fowls of heaven.⁴² In this speech⁴³ He dwells at the greatest length on a description of Leviathan, who is a combination of corporeal properties divided between the animals that walk, swim, and fly. [51a] The purpose of all these things is to show that our intellects do not reach the point of apprehending how these natural things that exist in the world of generation and corruption are produced in time and of conceiving how the existence of the natural force within them has originated them. They⁴⁴ are not things that resemble what we make. How then can we wish that His governance of, and providence for, them, may He be exalted, should resemble our governance of, and providence for, the things we do govern and provide for? Rather is it obligatory to stop at this point and to believe that nothing is hidden from Him, may He be exalted. As Elihu here says: For His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He seeth all his goings. There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.⁴⁵ But the notion of His providence is not the same as the notion of our providence; nor is the notion of His governance of the things created by Him the same as the notion of our governance of that which we govern. The two notions are not comprised in one definition, contrary to what is thought by all those who are confused, and there is nothing in common between the two except the name alone. In the same way, our act does not resemble His act; and the two are not comprised in one and the same definition. Just as natural acts differ from those of craftsmanship, so do the divine governance of, the divine providence for, and the divine purpose with regard to, those natural matters differ from our human governance of, providence for, and purpose with regard to, the things we govern, we provide for, and we purpose. This is the object of the Book of Job as a whole; I refer to the establishing of this foundation for the belief and the drawing attention to the inference to be drawn from natural matters, so that you should not fall into error and seek to affirm in your imagination that His knowledge is like our knowledge or that His purpose and His providence and His governance are like our purpose and our providence and our governance. If man knows this, every misfortune will be borne lightly by him. [51b] And misfortunes will not add to his doubts regarding the deity and whether He does or does not know and whether He exercises providence or manifests neglect, but will, on the contrary, add to his love, as is said in the conclusion of the prophetic revelation in question: Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent of dust and ashes.46 As [the Sages], may their memory be blessed, have said: Those who do out of love and are joyful in sufferings.⁴⁷ If you meditate upon everything I have told you with the attention that ought to be practiced in meditating upon this Treatise and if you consider this Book of Job, its meaning will become clear to you; and you will find that I have summed up all its notions, nothing being left aside except such matters as figure there because of the arrangement of the discourse and the continuation of the parables, according to what I have explained to you several times in this Treatise.