Job chapter 2

After reading chater 2:

*On another day the Angels came again, to present themselves to Yahweh. Let's stop here for a minute. This week I discovered that the hebrew words  we see translated as "angels" in this book literally mean sons or children of God (Elohim). The Hebrew word "bene," from this passage, is translated in other places as sons or children. Not spiritual children...physical offspring. These so called Angels, literally translated, are the children of the gods. Not only that, Satan the adversary, is one of them.

*Yahweh again asks the adversary where he has been. He again says he was roaming back and forth through the earth. (The bible excels at repetition.) Yahweh again brings the perfection of Job to the adversary's attention, asking him to notice how Job maintained his integrity in spite of the adversary inciting Yahweh to ruin him without reason. Then the adversary ups the ante. He implies that men are so self centered they will endure any loss as long as they are not bodily afflicted. He dares Yahweh to really hurt Job physically, and see if Job refrains from cursing him then.

*Strangely enough, Yahweh takes the dare. He gives the adversary permission to do anything but kill Job. Doesn't christianity say God is omnicient? Wouldn't Yahweh already know what torture Job will be going through and how he will handle it? Is this an ethical bet? Also, how could a loving God sit by and  allow so much pain and suffering? Is it fair to Job? Well, so far, the bible hasn't actually said that Yahweh is completely omnicient, full of loving kindness, ethical or fair. I think I would be very angry if I believed that some  God was piling hurts on me to see if I would cave in.

*So, the adversary leaves Yahweh and gives Job sores, possibly boils,  all over his body. Job meekly sits among the ashes and scrapes the sores with a piece of broken pottery. Meanwhile, his wife says, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God (Elohim) and die!" The study bible and the online interlinear text both say that the word "curse"here in English  is actually the word "bless" in Hebrew (barek). From what I can tell, the book of Job is the only place this word was translated as "curse" in English. It was apparently an euphemism to say "bless God." In the same way, a southern american may facetiously say "bless your heart" and mean the opposite. I imagine the wife of Job, and the authors of Job, were superstitious enough to think that if they personally said or wrote the literal words "curse God," they might be found guilty of blasphemy themselves. It is interesting that the modern English writers have no such Qualms.

*Notice that the worst thing that could happen to Job in this story is physical death. There is no mention of an afterlife, or eternal punishment. So, really, if he felt like he was practically dead already, what more harm could a little cursing do? But apparently Job had enough life left in him  to rebuke his wife and call her a fool, which is an insult. Then he says, "Shall we except good from God (Elohim) and not trouble?" Here again, the translators have been somewhat dishonest. The Hebrew word translated "trouble" is hara, which literally means "evil." Yes, Job said we need to accept evil from the gods. It is made clear from examining this story that that is where evil comes from... If you believe in gods.

*Last, we are introduced to Job's three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to go comfort Job. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him and began to weep. They tore their clothes and sprinkled dust on their heads, a sign of grief. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights without saying a word. Those were some hardy people.