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`Job' Wager Is Seen
As A Legal Drama
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ho won the wager?"
asks David Noel
Freedman, pro-
fessor of Biblical studies at
the University of Michigan.
The wager was between
God and Satan over the fate
of Job. The story of Job, found
in the "Writings" portion of
the Tanach, the Hebrew Bi-
ble, is generally used to ex-
plore the question of why
good people suffer.
Freedman takes another
approach. In the fourth of five
"Conversations on the Book
of Job" recently presented by
Hilel and Canterbury House,
the scholar analyzes the story
as a dramatic courtroom
drama between Satan and
God.
First, Freedman presents
the facts of the case. Job is
God's humble servant, a
paragon of virtue. "The only
other man in the Bible con-
sidered blameless was Noah.
We must consider Job as a
very special case," Freedman
says.
God rewards Job for his
steadfast love and bestows
wealth upon him, making
him the richest man in the
land of Uz. Along with his
material posessions, Job is
blessed with seven sons and
three daughters. Each week
his sons hold feasts and Job
prays to God on their behalf:
He fears that they may sin
against God in their hearts.
One day tragedies begin to
befall Job: Without any war-
ning from God, he loses his
riches, his land and his
children. Immediately his
friends indict Job as a sinner.
Their logic is simple: Job
must have committed a crime
against God for there is no
other explanation for his
punishment.
They tell him to repent, but
Job refuses. He does not
recognize any evil in himself.
He is a blameless man. Evil
is foreign to him. His friends,
however, condemn him as
guilty.
"As readers, we are privileg-
ed to the real story," Freed-
man says.
Satan, as prosecuting at-
torney, has placed a challenge
before God.
With God's approval, Satan
will test the faith of one of His
servants. God suggests Job
and the wager begins. If
Satan can get Job to curse
God with his lips, Satan wins.
His logic: Job is only
blameless because he. never
truly has been tested. If his
riches are taken from him,
surely he will denounce God.
"At first Job accepts what
he terms God's wishes
without question," Freedman
says. But as he becomes poor
and sick, Job confronts God
and complains that he has
been denied his land and
goods. "In legal terms he asks
why he has been deprived of
due process of law," Freedman
says.
God cannot reveal the
terms of the wager to Job
because His deal with Stan
would then be declared a
mistrial. Instead of giving
him the truth He cites that as
God, the land and possessions
of the earth are His to ap-
Job is only
blameless because
he never truly has
been tested.
propriate. Such a comment
frustrates Job, but after hear-
ing God's words, Job repents.
The biblical text never
specifies why he repents. "Job
believed that he sinned
against God in his heart. This
realization, by definition,
ordered the good man to re-
pent," Freedman says.
In terms of a precise legal
understanding, it is difficult
to say who won the wager. "In
a purely technical sense, God
won because Job never sinned
with his lips," Freedman says.
An in-depth appraisal of the
situation, however, reveals
God as the loser. "In the end
of the story, Job is restored to
his previous position. In fact,
he is given double the riches
he had before," Freedman
says.
Double compensation is a
legal mandate that allows the
injured party to collect for
damages. "Job was restored
because he was unlawfully
deprived of his property,"
Freedman explains.
According to Freedman, the
book of Job's ending can only
be understood in terms of its
beginning. "Job's fear that his
sons will sin against God is a
projection of his own fear,"
Freedman says. In the end,
this becomes a self-fulfilling
prophecy when he curses God
in his heart.
"By restoring Job, however,
God acknowledges that he
was unjustly harmed." In sim-
ple terms, Freedman says, the
one who pays is the one who
lost.
"The book of Job also serves