Slenderman in the Bible

Dear Jimmy,

I think I’m getting somewhere with my Slenderman research. What I have found is worrying, however it is fascinating nonetheless. Do you remember that for our book 101 Amazing Slenderman Facts we discovered sightings of Slenderman throughout history? Well, old friend, I have found what I believe to be the very origin of the Slenderman in a text read by millions of people since it was written thousands of years ago. Yes, I believe that the Bible itself describes how Slenderman came to be the scourge of the world, the terrible being, the consumer of souls. Everything I explain now is true, and you can refer to the bible - even see the exact wording of the text I quote - to see if you reach the same conclusion as I do. I have referenced the ‘Good News Translation’ as it is the clearest to understand, having been parsed into modern English. If you don’t have a copy on your shelf, you can reference it here:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job+17&version=GNT

The Book of Job is one of the most famous texts in the Old Testament. It tells of how a prosperous man is put in front of God, with Satan suggesting he is only pious and religious because he is rich. Satan suggests that if God took away the trappings of the wealthy, Job would not worship Him any more. So, God begins to take away his goods... and Job still worships Him. God kills his family... and Job still worships Him. God allows Satan to smite him with boils and scratch his skin with broken pottery... but still he worships Him. Eventually, God restores him to full health, gives him a new family and makes him twice as rich as he was before.

However, if one reads the verses carefully, I believe that it tells of how Job’s soul - the bitter, angry part which wanted to curse God - was wrenched from him and became a being of its own. God had pushed him too far, and what God restored was just a husk, an empty shell.

One only has to look at the words used in the book of Job to see this; we shall start with Job’s physical transformation into Slenderman. He says to God:

My grief has almost made me blind; my arms and legs are as thin as shadows.

Job 17:7

This quite obviously speaks for itself. I need not explain how closely this is a description of the faceless, slim terror we all fear.

But it does not stop there:

I know I remain in darkness

Job 17:12

This is clearly describing Job’s realisation that he understands his fate; that because of his hateful resentment of God, his soul will be sentenced to eternity in the world of the dead, the world of the vile, the world of the putrid.

In fact Job further stresses this point by proclaiming:

My only hope is the world of the dead, where I will lie down to sleep in the dark.

Job 17:13

The next quote - again referencing ‘hope’ - has two meanings in my opinion. The first is that Job himself has no chance of sanctuary when he is condemned to this ‘world of the dead’, but also I think it may also refer to his future victims! What do you think?

Hope will not go with me when I go down to the world of the dead.

Job 17:16

The Bible then starts a narrative not from Job, but from a ‘friend’ named Bildad. My understanding is that Bildad is seeing this origin of Slenderman happen before his very eyes, and is a clever man. He knows of the terror that awaits the world, and is telling us of what is to come.

He warns:

All around them terror is waiting

Job 18:11

He also suggests what may happen to the victims of this awful new entity:

A deadly disease spreads over their bodies and causes their arms and legs to rot.

Job 18:13

I think that the picture should now be clear to you. The truth is that God lost to Satan. God thought that Job would worship him no matter what, but after all the punishment, Job gave in and hated God. His soul became twisted, his anger overcame his faith, and his mind was tainted by Satan’s pure evil. God, not wanting to admit defeat, separated Job’s soul from his body and banished it to the world of the dead. He restored the body of Job, to save face amongst his other worshippers.

However, the world of the dead is Satan’s dominion, and therefore Satan allowed Job’s soul to take on a physical form again, a reflection of how it was when it was ripped from the flesh it once had. This form was of something more akin to a monster than a man; a thin, skeletal figure, arms as slender as shadows... a blind, featureless entity destined to offer no hope to those it met. One of the most shocking passages is Job’s curse to God, where he tells the world how he will use his powers for nefarious purposes:

I swear by the living Almighty God, who refuses me justice and makes my life bitter: as long as God gives me breath, my lips will never say anything evil, my tongue will never tell a lie.

Job 27:1-2

It is clear that Job was asking Satan to remove his tongue and lips as a God would not allow them to be used for evil purposes. Once the transformation was complete, Satan released this slender man into to the world to consume other bodies and souls in retribution for the punishment that God had suffered upon it.

As the bible says:

This is the fate of wicked people, the fate that God assigns to them.

Job 20:29

The book even speaks of the horror of Slender sickness:

It has grown so dark that you cannot see, and a flood overwhelms you.

Job 22:11

Have I convinced you? Do you now see what I see? The most shocking discovery in my opinion is how closely Slenderman is connected to Satan. He is one of his direct minions, an entity to do his bidding on earth. A presence condemned to wander our lands for eternity, seeking out souls to devour and flesh to consume. I believe that because of this, there is no reasoning with Slenderman, as he himself has no reason; he is purely and simply a gamble between good and evil which went terribly, terribly wrong.

Yours, in fear,

Jack