Job’s Wife

I have been thinking a lot about Job’s wife lately. I think because I can relate to her. And I bet by the end, you will be able to also.

We’ve all heard the story of Job a million times and each time, his wife is spoken ill of. Job was “…blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil” and he was very rich with 10 children and many servants and animals. (Job 1:1-3)

One day God brags to Satan about Job and Satan says it’s because of the protection you have placed around him and how much you have blessed him, take those away and watch how fast he turns on you.
** a side thought: I think we can expect the same protection and blessings from God when we walk with awe for Who God is and if we are blameless, upright - #lifegoals - and stay away from evil. AND as we see in Job’s story, difficult times does not mean we are not blessed or that God has abandoned us.

I want to focus on “Blessed” in Job 1:10 because it becomes very important in the story of Job’s wife.
This is the word “Barak” which occurs 325 times in the Old Testament. It means to bless, kneel and curse. Can you see where I’m going to go with this?!

We are only introduced to her as Job’s wife and only in Job 2:9. She has been judged by something she said during one of the most tramatic and difficult times in her life - but what if it was misunderstood and miscontrued? Has that ever happened to you?
She too lost all her children and all they owned and built together through the years. She had to watch the husband she loved suffer and be in pain and probably never felt so helpless.
** This is where I can relate because I have watched our children go through some really crappy and painful times. I have watched Dean be hurt and taken advantage of. I have lost people I love and needed here with me. We lost our house. We lost friends. We have been misunderstood and maligned.
I think each of us can have a similiar list.

AND I do not, for one minute, think that Job could be so blameless and upright and have a shrew for a wife. I think they walked in tandem together and were “blessed -barak” because of their faithfulness and love for God.
** I know that to be true in mine and Dean’s life. There is a huge difference when we walk together and when we are in disagreement.

As I researched this passage and her story, many commentaries paint Job’s wife in a bad light and that’s all I ever heard in church. (tsk.tsk.tsk.) But let’s dig deeper…

In Job 2:9, she says: “Are you still holding on to your intergrity? Let’s pause here for a minute because she says the SAME thing that God says in Job 2:3b: “And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without reason.”
** His wife and God both knew him to be a man of integrity.

What if she wasn’t saying that as a mockery or accustation but as a way to acknowledge who she knows him to be.
She follows that with “Curse God and die!” Job 2:9

Now remember, “curse” is the same word “Barak” that was earlier translated “blessed” when God and Satan talked about how blessed Job was.
I found this in an article sharing how “curse” was probably used by Job’s wife:
“The final words of Job’s wife then, “curse God, and die,” should be considered within the translational fact that traditional words are sometimes used to express the opposite of their usual meaning. Would a woman with such intimate insight into the heart of her husband, after acknowledging his integrity, use her very next words to incite her husband with wrath and turn him against his Creator?”
(Taken from iBible)

An example of words being used to express the opposite is how we may say, “that ride was sick”, meaning it was fun and great as opposed to terrible.

What if she was saying, “I know you are a man of integrity and I can’t stand to see you suffering like this, bless and kneel before God and die” out of compassion and sorrow rather then hatred and disgust? If “bless” and “curse” can both be translated from the word “barak”, it’s possible.

In the next verse, Job 2:10 Job answers her with: “…You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God and not trouble? …”
Job spoke to her in a loving and corrective way, reminding her to not be “silly, foolish or senseless” because in life there is both good and bad and they both need to be accepted.

God sets Job straight in 38:1 and in 42:7&8 God sets Job’s friends straight because they failed to speak about Him correctly, but Job’s wife is never mentioned. I think if God was setting things straight, He would have talked to her too.

“After the LORD had said these things to Job,
he said to “Eliphaz the Temanite, ‘I am angry with you and your two friends,
because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.
So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice
a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his
prayer and not deal with you according to your folly.” Job 42:7&8

** Job’s wife had a broken heart but I think she came to her husband in love and pain for what he was going through.
Then the chapter ends with her being restored right next to Job. She goes on to have 10 more children. OK Friend! I see you walking in all that God has for you! ;)
(I wonder…when she hears her story being retold and is painted as a shrew, if she feels like yelling, “OY VEY! That’s not what I meant!”)

I learned a lot from Job’s wife:
We need to know and accept that good and the bad will come to us during our life.
We need to hold onto our integrity and right heart when the worst is happening.
Trust the God Who loves us and sees us!

I hope you have a great day!
All My Love ~
Jodi

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