Job 1:6-22
#455 Weekday Year II Context (Monday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time)
One day, when the angels of God came to present themselves before the LORD,
Satan also came among them.
And the LORD said to Satan, "Whence do you come?"
Then Satan answered the LORD and said,
"From roaming the earth and patrolling it."
And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job,
and that there is no one on earth like him,
blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil?"
But Satan answered the LORD and said,
"Is it for nothing that Job is God-fearing?
Have you not surrounded him and his family
and all that he has with your protection?
You have blessed the work of his hands,
and his livestock are spread over the land.
But now put forth your hand and touch anything that he has,
and surely he will blaspheme you to your face."
And the LORD said to Satan,
"Behold, all that he has is in your power;
only do not lay a hand upon his person."
So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
And so one day, while his sons and his daughters
were eating and drinking wine
in the house of their eldest brother,
a messenger came to Job and said,
"The oxen were ploughing and the asses grazing beside them,
and the Sabeans carried them off in a raid.
They put the herdsmen to the sword,
and I alone have escaped to tell you."
While he was yet speaking, another came and said,
"Lightning has fallen from heaven
and struck the sheep and their shepherds and consumed them;
and I alone have escaped to tell you."
While he was yet speaking, another messenger came and said,
"The Chaldeans formed three columns,
seized the camels, carried them off,
and put those tending them to the sword,
and I alone have escaped to tell you."
While he was yet speaking, another came and said,
"Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine
in the house of their eldest brother,
when suddenly a great wind came across the desert
and smote the four corners of the house.
It fell upon the young people and they are dead;
and I alone have escaped to tell you."
Then Job began to tear his cloak and cut off his hair.
He cast himself prostrate upon the ground, and said,
"Naked I came forth from my mother's womb,
and naked shall I go back again.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
blessed be the name of the LORD!"
In all this Job did not sin,
nor did he say anything disrespectful of God.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jb 1:6-22
This beginning section of the Book of Job describes Satan’s dialogue with God. He attempts to turn Job from being faithful to God by attempting to dupe Job into believing that God’s favor had been withdrawn from him, and punishment was being laid upon him. In successive waves, messengers arrive to bring terrible news, as one at a time, all of the material blessings given to God’s faithful servant are stripped away. The series of disasters concludes with the death of his children, his posterity. With this final blow, Job tears his clothes, a symbol of mourning, and cuts off his hair as a sign of repentance
The first scene ends with Job victorious as God's faithful servant: Satan thought he would curse the Lord (v. 11), but in fact he openly praises him (v. 21). The sacred writer comes out on Job's side when he states that Job committed no sin nor even raised his voice against God. Satan has been proved wrong.[1]
CCC: Jb 1:6 441
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Job 3:1-3, 11-17, 20-23
#456 Weekday Year II Context (Tuesday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time)
#790 Ritual Mass Context (V. Pastoral Care of the Sick and Dying, 1. Anointing of the Sick, 2.)
Job opened his mouth and cursed his day.
Job spoke out and said:
Perish the day on which I was born,
the night when they said, “The child is a boy!”
Why did I not perish at birth,
come forth from the womb and expire?
Or why was I not buried away like an untimely birth,
like babes that have never seen the light?
Wherefore did the knees receive me?
or why did I suck at the breasts?
For then I should have lain down and been tranquil;
had I slept, I should then have been at rest
With kings and counselors of the earth
who built where now there are ruins
Or with princes who had gold
and filled their houses with silver.
There the wicked cease from troubling,
there the weary are at rest.
Why is light given to the toilers,
and life to the bitter in spirit?
They wait for death and it comes not;
they search for it rather than for hidden treasures,
Rejoice in it exultingly,
and are glad when they reach the grave:
Those whose path is hidden from them,
and whom God has hemmed in!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jb 3:1-3, 11-17, 20-23
Job, the faithful servant of God, has lost all his possessions. His family has been taken from him, and he has been personally afflicted. In these verses he begins his first soliloquy. Without asking for salvation by God, Job laments his desperate state, by beginning to question why he was even given the first gift of life (see parallels in Jeremiah 20:14-18, 1 Kings 19:4 and Sirach 23:14). The important element of this lament is the question itself: “why,” for what reason? Going further in vs. 20-23, the question is broadened to include all who are born into suffering and harsh servitude. In this early part of the Book of Job, there is bewilderment on Job’s part. Divine justice has not yet been introduced.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Job 7:1-4,6-11
#790 Ritual Mass Context (V. Pastoral Care of the Sick and Dying, 1. Anointing of the Sick, 3.)
Job .spoke, saying:
Is not man's life on earth a drndgery?
Are not his days those of a hireling?
1Iv Is a slave who longs for the shade,
a hireling who waits for his wages.
So 1 have been assigned months of misery,
and troubled nights have been allotted to me.
If in bed I say, "When shall I arise?"
Then the night drags on;
I am filled with restlessness until the dawn.
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle;
they come to an end without hope.
Remember that my life is like the wind;
I shall not see happiness again.
The eye that now sees me shall no more behold me;
as you look at me, I shall be gone.
As a cloud dissolves and vanishes,
so he who goes down to the nether world shall come up no more.
He shall not again return to his house;
his place shall know him no more.
My own utterance I will not restrain;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jb 7:1-4, 6-11
Job is responding in the first of several exchanges between he and his “friends”, lamenting the terrible situation that has befallen him. His friend Eliphaz has just commented in an optimistic way about Job’s possible future, having been surprised that Job felt that his life should just end instead of hoping for restored health and prosperity. To his friends comments Job responds with both logic and poetry. This selection is part of his first Soliloquy.
In this selection Job first compares life on earth to military service (drudgery being derived from that environment). He complains of the boredom, servitude and pain – without hope of respite; indeed, he concludes, with no hope whatsoever.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Job 7:1-4, 6-7
#74B Solemnities B Context (5th Sunday in Ordinary Time B)
Is not man's life on earth a drudgery?
Are not his days those of hirelings?
He is a slave who longs for the shade,
a hireling who waits for his wages.
So I have been assigned months of misery,
and troubled nights have been allotted to me.
If in bed I say, "When shall I arise?"
then the night drags on;
I am filled with restlessness until the dawn.
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle;
they come to an end without hope.
Remember that my life is like the wind;
I shall not see happiness again.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jb 7:1-4, 6-7
Job is responding in the first of several exchanges between himself and his “friends,” lamenting the terrible situation that has befallen him. His friend Eliphaz has just commented in an optimistic way about Job’s possible future, having been surprised that Job felt that his life should just end instead of hoping for restored health and prosperity. To his friend's comments Job responds with both logic and poetry. This selection is part of his first soliloquy.
In this selection Job first compares life on earth to military service (drudgery being derived from that environment). He complains of the boredom, servitude and pain – without hope of respite; indeed, he concludes, with no hope whatsoever.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Job 7:12-21
#790 Ritual Mass Context (V. Pastoral Care of the Sick and Dying, 1. Anointing of the Sick, 4.)
Job spoke, saying:
Am I the sea, or a monster of the deep,
that you place a watch over me?
Why have you set me up as an object of attack?
or why should I be a target for you?
When I say, "My bed shall comfort me,
my couch shall ease my complaint,"
Then you affright me with dreams
and with visions terrify me,
So that I should prefer choking
and death rather than my pains.
I waste away: I cannot live forever;
let me alone, for my days are but a breath.
What is man, that you make much of him,
or pay him any heed?
You observe him with each new day
and try him at every moment!
How long will it be before you look away from me,
and let me alone long enough to swallow my spittle?
Though I have sinned, what can I do to you,
O watcher of men?
Why do you not pardon my offense,
or take away my guilt?
For soon I shall lie down in the dust;
and should you seek me I shall then be gone.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jb 7:12-21
Job is responding in the first of several exchanges between he and his “friends”, lamenting the terrible situation that has befallen him. His friend Eliphaz has just commented in an optimistic way about Job’s possible future, having been surprised that Job felt that his life should just end instead of hoping for restored health and prosperity. To his friends comments Job responds with both logic and poetry. This selection is part of his first Soliloquy.
In this selection he finds it remarkable that such an insignificant creature as man should deserve the punishment (loving providence as it is seen in Psalms 8:5; 144:7) he does. He compares this in an ironic way to the attention needed for a sea monster (v.12). The principle thrust of Job’s response to Eliphaz’s conventional wisdom (Job 4:7ff) is one which questions why one so small should be punished by God whose greatness surpasses all understanding.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Job 9:1-12, 14-16
#457 Weekday Year II Context (Wednesday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time)
Job answered his friends and said:
I know well that it is so;
but how can a man be justified before God?
Should one wish to contend with him,
he could not answer him once in a thousand times.
God is wise in heart and mighty in strength;
who has withstood him and remained unscathed?
He removes the mountains before they know it;
he overturns them in his anger.
He shakes the earth out of its place,
and the pillars beneath it tremble.
He commands the sun, and it rises not;
he seals up the stars.
He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads upon the crests of the sea.
He made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south;
He does great things past finding out,
marvelous things beyond reckoning.
Should he come near me, I see him not;
should he pass by, I am not aware of him;
Should he seize me forcibly, who can say him nay?
Who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
How much less shall I give him any answer,
or choose out arguments against him!
Even though I were right, I could not answer him,
but should rather beg for what was due me.
If I appealed to him and he answered my call,
I could not believe that he would hearken to my words.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jb 9:1-12, 14-16
This reading picks up Job’s second response to his friends (although they are for the most part ignored in his response). He focuses his response not on Bildad (Job 8), but on a comment by Eliphaz, on the justice of man before God: "Can a man be righteous as against God? Can a mortal be blameless against their Maker?” (Job 4:17)
Job reflects upon God’s omnipotence and omnipresence, the Lord is almighty and everywhere. God created all things and has power over them. Mankind has no options but to endure God’s judgment, even if that judgment seems unjust (“Even though I were right, I could not answer him, but should rather beg for what was due me”). “God’s justice is really his power; he can do what he chooses; none can withstand him; and if he declares a man to be guilty, then it is so. No appeal can be made, and no other standard of justice can be invoked. Yet if the man’s conscience is clear, what he suffers is not felt as justice but as divine anger; thus it is with Job.”[7] He concludes in humility that even in his situation he would be surprised if God noticed his plea.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Job 19:1, 23-27a
#1011 Context (Mass for the Dead, 2.)
Job answered Bildad the Shuhite and said:
Oh, would that my words were written down!
Would that they were inscribed in a record:
That with an iron chisel and with lead
they were cut in the rock forever!
But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives,
and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust;
Whom I myself shall see:
my own eyes, not another's, shall behold him;
And from my flesh I shall see God;
my inmost being is consumed with longing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jb 19:1, 23-27a
In this, Job’s fifth response, we see his hope in seeing God face to face. “At this climax, Job is utterly alone, abandoned by family, friends, men, and apparently God. Yet from this depth (as in 16:18) he achieves a ‘leap of faith.’ If God will not speak now, then he must in the future. It is to the future that Job appeals. Because he will soon die, he wants his testimony recorded, against the day when his case will come to judgment. That record must be an inscription, as permanent and indestructible as possible.” [2] “…with an iron chisel and with lead they were cut in the rock forever!”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Job 19:21-27
#458 Weekday Year II Context (Thursday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time)
Job said:
Pity me, pity me, O you my friends,
for the hand of God has struck me!
Why do you hound me as though you were divine,
and insatiably prey upon me?
Oh, would that my words were written down!
Would that they were inscribed in a record:
That with an iron chisel and with lead
they were cut in the rock forever!
But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives,
and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust;
Whom I myself shall see:
my own eyes, not another's, shall behold him,
And from my flesh I shall see God;
my inmost being is consumed with longing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jb 19:21-27
These familiar verses (“I know that my vindicator (redeemer) lives”) are taken from Job’s fifth response. Job is now utterly deserted. His family, neighbors, and even (apparently) God has deserted him. Yet, in a leap of faith, he expresses hope in the vision of God who will vindicate him and confidence that he will one day meet him, face to face. It is this salvation and consolation that Job desires above all else.
#455 Weekday Year II Context (Monday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time)
One day, when the angels of God came to present themselves before the LORD,
Satan also came among them.
And the LORD said to Satan, "Whence do you come?"
Then Satan answered the LORD and said,
"From roaming the earth and patrolling it."
And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job,
and that there is no one on earth like him,
blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil?"
But Satan answered the LORD and said,
"Is it for nothing that Job is God-fearing?
Have you not surrounded him and his family
and all that he has with your protection?
You have blessed the work of his hands,
and his livestock are spread over the land.
But now put forth your hand and touch anything that he has,
and surely he will blaspheme you to your face."
And the LORD said to Satan,
"Behold, all that he has is in your power;
only do not lay a hand upon his person."
So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
And so one day, while his sons and his daughters
were eating and drinking wine
in the house of their eldest brother,
a messenger came to Job and said,
"The oxen were ploughing and the asses grazing beside them,
and the Sabeans carried them off in a raid.
They put the herdsmen to the sword,
and I alone have escaped to tell you."
While he was yet speaking, another came and said,
"Lightning has fallen from heaven
and struck the sheep and their shepherds and consumed them;
and I alone have escaped to tell you."
While he was yet speaking, another messenger came and said,
"The Chaldeans formed three columns,
seized the camels, carried them off,
and put those tending them to the sword,
and I alone have escaped to tell you."
While he was yet speaking, another came and said,
"Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine
in the house of their eldest brother,
when suddenly a great wind came across the desert
and smote the four corners of the house.
It fell upon the young people and they are dead;
and I alone have escaped to tell you."
Then Job began to tear his cloak and cut off his hair.
He cast himself prostrate upon the ground, and said,
"Naked I came forth from my mother's womb,
and naked shall I go back again.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
blessed be the name of the LORD!"
In all this Job did not sin,
nor did he say anything disrespectful of God.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jb 1:6-22
This beginning section of the Book of Job describes Satan’s dialogue with God. He attempts to turn Job from being faithful to God by attempting to dupe Job into believing that God’s favor had been withdrawn from him, and punishment was being laid upon him. In successive waves, messengers arrive to bring terrible news, as one at a time, all of the material blessings given to God’s faithful servant are stripped away. The series of disasters concludes with the death of his children, his posterity. With this final blow, Job tears his clothes, a symbol of mourning, and cuts off his hair as a sign of repentance
The first scene ends with Job victorious as God's faithful servant: Satan thought he would curse the Lord (v. 11), but in fact he openly praises him (v. 21). The sacred writer comes out on Job's side when he states that Job committed no sin nor even raised his voice against God. Satan has been proved wrong.[1]
CCC: Jb 1:6 441
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Job 3:1-3, 11-17, 20-23
#456 Weekday Year II Context (Tuesday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time)
#790 Ritual Mass Context (V. Pastoral Care of the Sick and Dying, 1. Anointing of the Sick, 2.)
Job opened his mouth and cursed his day.
Job spoke out and said:
Perish the day on which I was born,
the night when they said, “The child is a boy!”
Why did I not perish at birth,
come forth from the womb and expire?
Or why was I not buried away like an untimely birth,
like babes that have never seen the light?
Wherefore did the knees receive me?
or why did I suck at the breasts?
For then I should have lain down and been tranquil;
had I slept, I should then have been at rest
With kings and counselors of the earth
who built where now there are ruins
Or with princes who had gold
and filled their houses with silver.
There the wicked cease from troubling,
there the weary are at rest.
Why is light given to the toilers,
and life to the bitter in spirit?
They wait for death and it comes not;
they search for it rather than for hidden treasures,
Rejoice in it exultingly,
and are glad when they reach the grave:
Those whose path is hidden from them,
and whom God has hemmed in!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jb 3:1-3, 11-17, 20-23
Job, the faithful servant of God, has lost all his possessions. His family has been taken from him, and he has been personally afflicted. In these verses he begins his first soliloquy. Without asking for salvation by God, Job laments his desperate state, by beginning to question why he was even given the first gift of life (see parallels in Jeremiah 20:14-18, 1 Kings 19:4 and Sirach 23:14). The important element of this lament is the question itself: “why,” for what reason? Going further in vs. 20-23, the question is broadened to include all who are born into suffering and harsh servitude. In this early part of the Book of Job, there is bewilderment on Job’s part. Divine justice has not yet been introduced.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Job 7:1-4,6-11
#790 Ritual Mass Context (V. Pastoral Care of the Sick and Dying, 1. Anointing of the Sick, 3.)
Job .spoke, saying:
Is not man's life on earth a drndgery?
Are not his days those of a hireling?
1Iv Is a slave who longs for the shade,
a hireling who waits for his wages.
So 1 have been assigned months of misery,
and troubled nights have been allotted to me.
If in bed I say, "When shall I arise?"
Then the night drags on;
I am filled with restlessness until the dawn.
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle;
they come to an end without hope.
Remember that my life is like the wind;
I shall not see happiness again.
The eye that now sees me shall no more behold me;
as you look at me, I shall be gone.
As a cloud dissolves and vanishes,
so he who goes down to the nether world shall come up no more.
He shall not again return to his house;
his place shall know him no more.
My own utterance I will not restrain;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jb 7:1-4, 6-11
Job is responding in the first of several exchanges between he and his “friends”, lamenting the terrible situation that has befallen him. His friend Eliphaz has just commented in an optimistic way about Job’s possible future, having been surprised that Job felt that his life should just end instead of hoping for restored health and prosperity. To his friends comments Job responds with both logic and poetry. This selection is part of his first Soliloquy.
In this selection Job first compares life on earth to military service (drudgery being derived from that environment). He complains of the boredom, servitude and pain – without hope of respite; indeed, he concludes, with no hope whatsoever.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Job 7:1-4, 6-7
#74B Solemnities B Context (5th Sunday in Ordinary Time B)
Is not man's life on earth a drudgery?
Are not his days those of hirelings?
He is a slave who longs for the shade,
a hireling who waits for his wages.
So I have been assigned months of misery,
and troubled nights have been allotted to me.
If in bed I say, "When shall I arise?"
then the night drags on;
I am filled with restlessness until the dawn.
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle;
they come to an end without hope.
Remember that my life is like the wind;
I shall not see happiness again.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jb 7:1-4, 6-7
Job is responding in the first of several exchanges between himself and his “friends,” lamenting the terrible situation that has befallen him. His friend Eliphaz has just commented in an optimistic way about Job’s possible future, having been surprised that Job felt that his life should just end instead of hoping for restored health and prosperity. To his friend's comments Job responds with both logic and poetry. This selection is part of his first soliloquy.
In this selection Job first compares life on earth to military service (drudgery being derived from that environment). He complains of the boredom, servitude and pain – without hope of respite; indeed, he concludes, with no hope whatsoever.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Job 7:12-21
#790 Ritual Mass Context (V. Pastoral Care of the Sick and Dying, 1. Anointing of the Sick, 4.)
Job spoke, saying:
Am I the sea, or a monster of the deep,
that you place a watch over me?
Why have you set me up as an object of attack?
or why should I be a target for you?
When I say, "My bed shall comfort me,
my couch shall ease my complaint,"
Then you affright me with dreams
and with visions terrify me,
So that I should prefer choking
and death rather than my pains.
I waste away: I cannot live forever;
let me alone, for my days are but a breath.
What is man, that you make much of him,
or pay him any heed?
You observe him with each new day
and try him at every moment!
How long will it be before you look away from me,
and let me alone long enough to swallow my spittle?
Though I have sinned, what can I do to you,
O watcher of men?
Why do you not pardon my offense,
or take away my guilt?
For soon I shall lie down in the dust;
and should you seek me I shall then be gone.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jb 7:12-21
Job is responding in the first of several exchanges between he and his “friends”, lamenting the terrible situation that has befallen him. His friend Eliphaz has just commented in an optimistic way about Job’s possible future, having been surprised that Job felt that his life should just end instead of hoping for restored health and prosperity. To his friends comments Job responds with both logic and poetry. This selection is part of his first Soliloquy.
In this selection he finds it remarkable that such an insignificant creature as man should deserve the punishment (loving providence as it is seen in Psalms 8:5; 144:7) he does. He compares this in an ironic way to the attention needed for a sea monster (v.12). The principle thrust of Job’s response to Eliphaz’s conventional wisdom (Job 4:7ff) is one which questions why one so small should be punished by God whose greatness surpasses all understanding.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Job 9:1-12, 14-16
#457 Weekday Year II Context (Wednesday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time)
Job answered his friends and said:
I know well that it is so;
but how can a man be justified before God?
Should one wish to contend with him,
he could not answer him once in a thousand times.
God is wise in heart and mighty in strength;
who has withstood him and remained unscathed?
He removes the mountains before they know it;
he overturns them in his anger.
He shakes the earth out of its place,
and the pillars beneath it tremble.
He commands the sun, and it rises not;
he seals up the stars.
He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads upon the crests of the sea.
He made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south;
He does great things past finding out,
marvelous things beyond reckoning.
Should he come near me, I see him not;
should he pass by, I am not aware of him;
Should he seize me forcibly, who can say him nay?
Who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
How much less shall I give him any answer,
or choose out arguments against him!
Even though I were right, I could not answer him,
but should rather beg for what was due me.
If I appealed to him and he answered my call,
I could not believe that he would hearken to my words.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jb 9:1-12, 14-16
This reading picks up Job’s second response to his friends (although they are for the most part ignored in his response). He focuses his response not on Bildad (Job 8), but on a comment by Eliphaz, on the justice of man before God: "Can a man be righteous as against God? Can a mortal be blameless against their Maker?” (Job 4:17)
Job reflects upon God’s omnipotence and omnipresence, the Lord is almighty and everywhere. God created all things and has power over them. Mankind has no options but to endure God’s judgment, even if that judgment seems unjust (“Even though I were right, I could not answer him, but should rather beg for what was due me”). “God’s justice is really his power; he can do what he chooses; none can withstand him; and if he declares a man to be guilty, then it is so. No appeal can be made, and no other standard of justice can be invoked. Yet if the man’s conscience is clear, what he suffers is not felt as justice but as divine anger; thus it is with Job.”[7] He concludes in humility that even in his situation he would be surprised if God noticed his plea.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Job 19:1, 23-27a
#1011 Context (Mass for the Dead, 2.)
Job answered Bildad the Shuhite and said:
Oh, would that my words were written down!
Would that they were inscribed in a record:
That with an iron chisel and with lead
they were cut in the rock forever!
But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives,
and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust;
Whom I myself shall see:
my own eyes, not another's, shall behold him;
And from my flesh I shall see God;
my inmost being is consumed with longing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jb 19:1, 23-27a
In this, Job’s fifth response, we see his hope in seeing God face to face. “At this climax, Job is utterly alone, abandoned by family, friends, men, and apparently God. Yet from this depth (as in 16:18) he achieves a ‘leap of faith.’ If God will not speak now, then he must in the future. It is to the future that Job appeals. Because he will soon die, he wants his testimony recorded, against the day when his case will come to judgment. That record must be an inscription, as permanent and indestructible as possible.” [2] “…with an iron chisel and with lead they were cut in the rock forever!”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Job 19:21-27
#458 Weekday Year II Context (Thursday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time)
Job said:
Pity me, pity me, O you my friends,
for the hand of God has struck me!
Why do you hound me as though you were divine,
and insatiably prey upon me?
Oh, would that my words were written down!
Would that they were inscribed in a record:
That with an iron chisel and with lead
they were cut in the rock forever!
But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives,
and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust;
Whom I myself shall see:
my own eyes, not another's, shall behold him,
And from my flesh I shall see God;
my inmost being is consumed with longing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jb 19:21-27
These familiar verses (“I know that my vindicator (redeemer) lives”) are taken from Job’s fifth response. Job is now utterly deserted. His family, neighbors, and even (apparently) God has deserted him. Yet, in a leap of faith, he expresses hope in the vision of God who will vindicate him and confidence that he will one day meet him, face to face. It is this salvation and consolation that Job desires above all else.
"For reasons that the poet could not have anticipated, in the history of the transmission of his text and in the history of Christian doctrine, these verses have practically never been read in their designed context, but have been excised from their setting as a testimony to an erratic leap of faith into the unknown. In their context, the primary intellectual stress is on Job’s innocence which, first, he is convinced will one day be recognized, second, he wishes for safety’s sake could be engraved on the rock, but, third, he desires above all to be acknowledged here and now." [9]
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Job 19:23-27a
#790 Ritual Mass Context (V. For the Pastoral Care of the Sick and Dying, 1. Anointing of the Sick, 5. (For the Dying))
#796 Ritual Mass Context (V. For the Pastoral Care of the Sick and Dying, 2. Viaticum, Second Option)
Oh, would that my words were written down!
Would that they were inscribed in a record:
That with an iron chisel and with lead
they were cut in the rock forever!
But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives,
and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust;
Whom I myself shall see:
my own eyes, not another's, shall behold him;
And from my flesh I shall see God;
my inmost being is consumed with longing.
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Commentary on Jb 19:23-27a
These familiar verses (“I know that my vindicator (redeemer) lives…”) are taken from Job’s fifth response. Job is now utterly deserted. His family, neighbors, and even (apparently) God has deserted him. Yet, in a leap of faith, he expresses hope in the vision of God who will vindicate him and confidence that he will one day meet him, face to face. It is this salvation and consolation that Job desires above all else.
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Job 31:16-20, 24-25, 31-32
#882 Mass for Various Needs Context (II. For Public Needs, 13. For the Country or a City or For those Who Serve in Public Office or For the Congress or For the President or For the Progress of Peoples, 7.)
#922 Mass for Various Needs Context (III. In Various Public Circumstances, 21. In time of Famine or For those Who Suffer From Famine, Second Option)
If I have denied anything to the poor,
or allowed the eyes of the widow to languish
While I ate my portion alone,
with no share in it for the fatherless,
Though like a father God has reared me from my youth,
guiding me even from my mother's womb-
If I have seen a wanderer without clothing,
or a poor man without covering,
Whose limbs have not blessed me
when warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
Had I put my trust in gold
or called fine gold my security;
Or had I rejoiced that my wealth was great,
or that my hand had acquired abundance-
Had not the men of my tent exclaimed,
"Who has not been fed with this meat!"
Because no stranger lodged in the street,
but I opened my door to wayfarers.
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Commentary on Jb 31:16-20, 24-25, 31-32
In Job’s final soliloquy, he makes a formal statement of his innocence from sins against God’s Law. In this selection he offers himself up to God’s verdict if he has neglected his duty as a faithful follower of the Lord. He has not shirked his duty to share with the poor – charity. He has clothed the naked, he has avoided avarice and has shared with those less fortunate. All these proofs he offers up as signs of his righteousness.
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Job 38:1, 8-11
#95B Solemnities B Context (12th Sunday in Ordinary Time B)
The Lord addressed Job out of the storm and said:
Who shut within doors the sea,
when it burst forth from the womb;
when I made the clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling bands?
When I set limits for it
and fastened the bar of its door,
and said: Thus far shall you come but no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stilled!
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Commentary on Jb 38:1, 8-11
The exchanges between Job and the “three friends” have concluded. Now God himself speaks to Job. God reminds Job of his great power in creation. God is speaking out of the storm, frequently the background of the appearances of the Lord in the Old Testament, cf. Psalm 18; 50; Nahum 1:3; Hebrews 3. He recalls the creation of the sea and how its bounds were set. All of this backdrops the question God asks of Job – can he understand God who is omnipotent and above all creation?
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Job 19:23-27a
#790 Ritual Mass Context (V. For the Pastoral Care of the Sick and Dying, 1. Anointing of the Sick, 5. (For the Dying))
#796 Ritual Mass Context (V. For the Pastoral Care of the Sick and Dying, 2. Viaticum, Second Option)
Oh, would that my words were written down!
Would that they were inscribed in a record:
That with an iron chisel and with lead
they were cut in the rock forever!
But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives,
and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust;
Whom I myself shall see:
my own eyes, not another's, shall behold him;
And from my flesh I shall see God;
my inmost being is consumed with longing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jb 19:23-27a
These familiar verses (“I know that my vindicator (redeemer) lives…”) are taken from Job’s fifth response. Job is now utterly deserted. His family, neighbors, and even (apparently) God has deserted him. Yet, in a leap of faith, he expresses hope in the vision of God who will vindicate him and confidence that he will one day meet him, face to face. It is this salvation and consolation that Job desires above all else.
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Job 31:16-20, 24-25, 31-32
#882 Mass for Various Needs Context (II. For Public Needs, 13. For the Country or a City or For those Who Serve in Public Office or For the Congress or For the President or For the Progress of Peoples, 7.)
#922 Mass for Various Needs Context (III. In Various Public Circumstances, 21. In time of Famine or For those Who Suffer From Famine, Second Option)
If I have denied anything to the poor,
or allowed the eyes of the widow to languish
While I ate my portion alone,
with no share in it for the fatherless,
Though like a father God has reared me from my youth,
guiding me even from my mother's womb-
If I have seen a wanderer without clothing,
or a poor man without covering,
Whose limbs have not blessed me
when warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
Had I put my trust in gold
or called fine gold my security;
Or had I rejoiced that my wealth was great,
or that my hand had acquired abundance-
Had not the men of my tent exclaimed,
"Who has not been fed with this meat!"
Because no stranger lodged in the street,
but I opened my door to wayfarers.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jb 31:16-20, 24-25, 31-32
In Job’s final soliloquy, he makes a formal statement of his innocence from sins against God’s Law. In this selection he offers himself up to God’s verdict if he has neglected his duty as a faithful follower of the Lord. He has not shirked his duty to share with the poor – charity. He has clothed the naked, he has avoided avarice and has shared with those less fortunate. All these proofs he offers up as signs of his righteousness.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Job 38:1, 8-11
#95B Solemnities B Context (12th Sunday in Ordinary Time B)
The Lord addressed Job out of the storm and said:
Who shut within doors the sea,
when it burst forth from the womb;
when I made the clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling bands?
When I set limits for it
and fastened the bar of its door,
and said: Thus far shall you come but no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stilled!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jb 38:1, 8-11
The exchanges between Job and the “three friends” have concluded. Now God himself speaks to Job. God reminds Job of his great power in creation. God is speaking out of the storm, frequently the background of the appearances of the Lord in the Old Testament, cf. Psalm 18; 50; Nahum 1:3; Hebrews 3. He recalls the creation of the sea and how its bounds were set. All of this backdrops the question God asks of Job – can he understand God who is omnipotent and above all creation?
"In this speech, Yahweh presents himself as the master architect of a world order that is astonishing in its profusion. In two sets of strophes, one of ten and one of seven, no two of them alike, he sketches features of the world—its mysterious physical structure and its strange life forms—that lie beyond human comprehension. The scope is vast, but it is not in the least comprehensive, for everything here is impressionistic and suggestive: everything Yahweh depicts carries with it hints of an untold variety in the grand design." [8]
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Job 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5
#459 Weekday Year II Context (Friday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time)
The Lord addressed Job out of the storm and said:
Have you ever in your lifetime commanded the morning
and shown the dawn its place
For taking hold of the ends of the earth,
till the wicked are shaken from its surface?
The earth is changed as is clay by the seal,
and dyed as though it were a garment;
But from the wicked the light is withheld,
and the arm of pride is shattered.
Have you entered into the sources of the sea,
or walked about in the depths of the abyss?
Have the gates of death been shown to you,
or have you seen the gates of darkness?
Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all:
Which is the way to the dwelling place of light,
and where is the abode of darkness,
That you may take them to their boundaries
and set them on their homeward paths?
You know, because you were born before them,
and the number of your years is great!
Then Job answered the Lord and said:
Behold, I am of little account; what can I answer you?
I put my hand over my mouth.
Though I have spoken once, I will not do so again;
though twice, I will do so no more.
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Commentary on Jb 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5
The exchanges between Job and the “three friends” have concluded. Now God himself speaks to Job: “He speaks of his wisdom and power, which are altogether beyond the capacity of Job, who therefore should never dare to demand a reason for the divine actions. Out of the storm: frequently the background of the appearances of the Lord in the Old Testament; cf Psalm 18; 50; Nahum 1:3; Hebrews 3.”[3]
Other versions of scripture translate the word as “whirlwind.” "The theophany 'out of the whirlwind' would alone have made this plain; it was a whirlwind that took Elijah up to heaven (2 Kings 2:1,11) and it figures in the eschatological appearances of the Lord (cf. Ezekiel 1:1-3; 15; Zechariah 9:14); even if God had made himself silently present, Job would have had his desire fulfilled: he would have met the Lord. But by responding to Job with words, God is bestowing on him the same sign of favor as he gave to the patriarchs and to Moses, with whom he spoke face to face. In this way the sacred writer shows how very worthy a person Job is.“[4]
Job’s response to God (in Job 40:3-5) is his final admission that he is incapable of understanding God’s ways.
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Job 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17
#460 Weekday Year II Context (Saturday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time)
Job answered the Lord and said:
I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be hindered.
I have dealt with great things that I do not understand;
things too wonderful for me, which I cannot know.
I had heard of you by word of mouth,
but now my eye has seen you.
Therefore I disown what I have said,
and repent in dust and ashes.
Thus the Lord blessed the latter days of Job
more than his earlier ones.
For he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels,
a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses.
And he had seven sons and three daughters,
of whom he called the first Jemimah,
the second Keziah, and the third Kerenhappuch.
In all the land no other women were as beautiful
as the daughters of Job;
and their father gave them an inheritance
along with their brothers.
After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years;
and he saw his children, his grandchildren,
and even his great-grandchildren.
Then Job died, old and full of years.
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Commentary on Jb 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17
In these verses we find Job’s final repentance and salvation from the burden placed upon him. In reward for his faithfulness, he is given twice what was taken away in property, in family, and in lifespan.
He first answers two challenges. “To the first (v. 3) Job replies by confessing that he did speak without knowing all the facts, that is, without appreciating the harmony with which creation is imbued, the awesome fact that even seemingly useless and destructive things have their part to play. This is a sort of 'sapiential' response. To God's second appeal (v. 4). Job's reply is full of faith: he acknowledges that God has manifested himself in person: now he has seen him with his eyes (v. 5), as Moses and the prophets saw him, Job feels consoled, and he is moved to repentance now that he has actually met God.”[5]
In the final blessing (v.12-17), Job has all he had lost returned to him and more. “The Fathers see Job as prefiguring Jesus; this applies also to the restoration of his fortunes: 'Job recovered both his health and his wealth. In the same way, the Lord, through his resurrection, brings not only good health to those who believe in him, but immortality; and he restores the whole kingdom of nature, as he himself assured us when he said: Everything has been given to me by my Father. New children are born of Job to replace those who died. Similarly, the holy apostles are sons of the Lord in the same line as were the prophets of old. Job is filled with happiness and in the end rests in peace. And the Lord is blessed forever, as he was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be' (St Zeno of Verona, Tractatus, 1, 15).”[6]
CCC: Jb 42:2 275; Jb 42:3 299
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fin
[1] The Navarre Bible: “Wisdom Books”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, pp 31
[2] Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 31:68, pp.522
[3]See NAB footnote on Job 38:1
[4] The Navarre Bible: “Wisdom Books”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, pp 139-140
[5] The Navarre Bible: “Wisdom Books”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, pp 152
[6] ibid
[7] Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 31:39, pp. 518
[8] David J. A. Clines, Job 38–42, vol. 18B, Word Biblical Commentary (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2011), 1135.
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Job 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5
#459 Weekday Year II Context (Friday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time)
The Lord addressed Job out of the storm and said:
Have you ever in your lifetime commanded the morning
and shown the dawn its place
For taking hold of the ends of the earth,
till the wicked are shaken from its surface?
The earth is changed as is clay by the seal,
and dyed as though it were a garment;
But from the wicked the light is withheld,
and the arm of pride is shattered.
Have you entered into the sources of the sea,
or walked about in the depths of the abyss?
Have the gates of death been shown to you,
or have you seen the gates of darkness?
Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all:
Which is the way to the dwelling place of light,
and where is the abode of darkness,
That you may take them to their boundaries
and set them on their homeward paths?
You know, because you were born before them,
and the number of your years is great!
Then Job answered the Lord and said:
Behold, I am of little account; what can I answer you?
I put my hand over my mouth.
Though I have spoken once, I will not do so again;
though twice, I will do so no more.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jb 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5
The exchanges between Job and the “three friends” have concluded. Now God himself speaks to Job: “He speaks of his wisdom and power, which are altogether beyond the capacity of Job, who therefore should never dare to demand a reason for the divine actions. Out of the storm: frequently the background of the appearances of the Lord in the Old Testament; cf Psalm 18; 50; Nahum 1:3; Hebrews 3.”[3]
Other versions of scripture translate the word as “whirlwind.” "The theophany 'out of the whirlwind' would alone have made this plain; it was a whirlwind that took Elijah up to heaven (2 Kings 2:1,11) and it figures in the eschatological appearances of the Lord (cf. Ezekiel 1:1-3; 15; Zechariah 9:14); even if God had made himself silently present, Job would have had his desire fulfilled: he would have met the Lord. But by responding to Job with words, God is bestowing on him the same sign of favor as he gave to the patriarchs and to Moses, with whom he spoke face to face. In this way the sacred writer shows how very worthy a person Job is.“[4]
Job’s response to God (in Job 40:3-5) is his final admission that he is incapable of understanding God’s ways.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Job 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17
#460 Weekday Year II Context (Saturday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time)
Job answered the Lord and said:
I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be hindered.
I have dealt with great things that I do not understand;
things too wonderful for me, which I cannot know.
I had heard of you by word of mouth,
but now my eye has seen you.
Therefore I disown what I have said,
and repent in dust and ashes.
Thus the Lord blessed the latter days of Job
more than his earlier ones.
For he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels,
a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses.
And he had seven sons and three daughters,
of whom he called the first Jemimah,
the second Keziah, and the third Kerenhappuch.
In all the land no other women were as beautiful
as the daughters of Job;
and their father gave them an inheritance
along with their brothers.
After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years;
and he saw his children, his grandchildren,
and even his great-grandchildren.
Then Job died, old and full of years.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jb 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17
In these verses we find Job’s final repentance and salvation from the burden placed upon him. In reward for his faithfulness, he is given twice what was taken away in property, in family, and in lifespan.
He first answers two challenges. “To the first (v. 3) Job replies by confessing that he did speak without knowing all the facts, that is, without appreciating the harmony with which creation is imbued, the awesome fact that even seemingly useless and destructive things have their part to play. This is a sort of 'sapiential' response. To God's second appeal (v. 4). Job's reply is full of faith: he acknowledges that God has manifested himself in person: now he has seen him with his eyes (v. 5), as Moses and the prophets saw him, Job feels consoled, and he is moved to repentance now that he has actually met God.”[5]
In the final blessing (v.12-17), Job has all he had lost returned to him and more. “The Fathers see Job as prefiguring Jesus; this applies also to the restoration of his fortunes: 'Job recovered both his health and his wealth. In the same way, the Lord, through his resurrection, brings not only good health to those who believe in him, but immortality; and he restores the whole kingdom of nature, as he himself assured us when he said: Everything has been given to me by my Father. New children are born of Job to replace those who died. Similarly, the holy apostles are sons of the Lord in the same line as were the prophets of old. Job is filled with happiness and in the end rests in peace. And the Lord is blessed forever, as he was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be' (St Zeno of Verona, Tractatus, 1, 15).”[6]
CCC: Jb 42:2 275; Jb 42:3 299
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Fin
[1] The Navarre Bible: “Wisdom Books”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, pp 31
[2] Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 31:68, pp.522
[3]See NAB footnote on Job 38:1
[4] The Navarre Bible: “Wisdom Books”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, pp 139-140
[5] The Navarre Bible: “Wisdom Books”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, pp 152
[6] ibid
[7] Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 31:39, pp. 518
[8] David J. A. Clines, Job 38–42, vol. 18B, Word Biblical Commentary (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2011), 1135.
[9] David J. A. Clines, Job 1–20, vol. 17, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1989), 469.
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