LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 13:7 July 2013
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Catharsis and Its Reward
The Story of Job

Suganthi Hebzibha. R. M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. Research Scholar

Focus of the Book of Job

The story of Job, as presented in the Book of Job in the Bible, presents the human dilemma in several aspects. When a righteous human is inflicted with suffering beyond measure, who does he or she blame? Is blaming another person or God for the affliction justified? Should he or she look inward and patiently suffer for no fault of his or her? Is there no limit to human endurance and probity? In the Book of Job, God’s power, wisdom and sovereignty in the world are presented from the Judeo-Christian perspective. It teaches how the righteous should endure suffering; how man should comfort the suffering, accept the fact that man can never fully comprehend God’s ways in his life and/or in the world.

The Book of Job deals with a wealthy and righteous nobleman named Job. He has a large family, extensive flocks and many servants. He is a blameless and upright man always, careful not to do evil. The scene is shifted to Heaven where God praises Job for his righteous character. Satan challenges God to let him afflict Job to see whether his devotion to God is genuine or not and whether his devotion will last through his suffering. God accepts the challenge with a condition that Job’s life should not be touched in the process. Thus Job loses his wealth and his ten children overnight and finally Job is affected with loathsome sores from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet.

Job’s four friends Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar and Elihu visit to comfort him. On the seventh day, Job begins his conversation, in which each one shares his thoughts. Eliphaz believes that his sufferings are due to Job’s sins and he urges Job to seek God’s favor. Bildad and Zophar also agree that Job must have committed evil. Zophar states that for all the evil done by Job he deserves even greater punishments. Job tries to defend himself and laments for his suffering. To make the situation worse, Elihu remarks that God is trying to teach Job something if he would only stop defending himself. Commenting on Job, Brown states (1), “He is misunderstood, unanswered, and--as his friends' frustration grows--even abused”. Finally God interrupts through the whirlwind and claims his power over all evil as supreme God. Job confesses his unworthiness, lack of understanding and weakness. Job also does a noble thing. He asks the Lord to forgive his friends for all the things they said about him, and God is pleased with him. He restores Job’s health, gives him twice the material possessions he had earlier enjoyed and blesses him with children. The book ends describing Job’s happy in his old age. Job’s Trial

The major problem Job faces during his trial is that he is not able to glorify God in his sufferings. His sufferings and the critical comments hurled at him by his wife and friends, forbid him from praising God. His lamentation is so intense that he is unconsciously deprived of the power of adoration. He loses the good opinion he earns through his deeds. He is titled ‘righteous’ by the people of his country when he is in prosperity. But later, when he loses everything and is walking through terrible suffering, he becomes a byword and a laughing stock for the people. They make a proverb of him like ‘As poor as Job’. This is in tune with the current scenario. This is a true indication of the fickle mind of human beings. Men praise others endowed with wealth and power. But the moment they lose everything, they are no more recognized by the world; no one seems to care whether the poor lives or dies.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Suganthi Hebzibha. R. M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. Research Scholar
FLOFEE, 144A, Alto Dabolim
Airport Road
Goa- 403 801
India
rshebzibha@yahoo.com

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