it. That is how it is. Listen to it and you will know something.
Since we are at the conclusion of the chapter, Gersonides seizes the opportunity for Eliphaz to offer a lesson in philosophy to Job and through Job to the reader. His lesson contains two elements: the improvement of society and the improvement of the individual. Society is improved—even maintained—by the belief that sin is punished and virtue is rewarded. The individual is improved by receiving philosophical insights.
Good Inclination and Evil Inclination
The Rabbis identified two complementary sets of drives that coexist in each person. One set of drives, which may be classified as libidinal drives or urges—including sex, hunger and the like—are grouped under the term yetzer hara (the inclination to do evil). While these drives are not evil in and of themselves, left unchecked, they may lead the individual to evil. For example, while the sexual drive may lead an individual to procreate, it can also lead to lust and illicit sexual behavior. Similarly, the hunger drive can lead an individual to nourishing his or her body with food, but it can also lead to obesity. The yetzer hara is kept in balance by the yetzer tov (the inclination to do good). But this inclination also needs to be kept in balance. Both the yetzer hara and the yetzer tov serve a purpose. For example, an individual who gives tzedakah (charitable giving)—driven by an inclination to do good—runs the risk of placing himself or his family in jeopardy should he or she give all his or her money to charitable causes.3
Lashon Hara (Deceitful Speech)
The Rabbis were so concerned with the potential harm inherent in speech that, employing a word game, they suggested that harmful speech is equivalent to what the Bible calls m’tzora (a kind of serious skin affliction, like leprosy). They used the root of the word (m-tz-r) as an acronym for motzei shem ra (the emergence of an evil reputation) and argued that gossip and slander were equivalent to murder. They then classified gossip as a kind of deceitful speech. Even when the details of the conversation were truthful, they were not to be spoken. Because the Rabbis felt that mostly women engaged in such gossip, they were particularly restrictive about communications between men and women. However, they did not understand what has been argued by modern social scientists, that women often communicate with one another and establish relationships by sharing intimate details about themselves and others without any intent for harm.4
Amidah
The core prayer of Jewish worship said while standing. Originally containing eighteen blessings, it now contains nineteen. The first three and last three blessings are constant, while the middle section changes depending on the holiday and sacred time during which it is recited.
3. Kravitz and Olitzky, Kohelet, 41.
4. Adapted from Kravitz and Olitzky, Mishlei, 106.
Chapter 6
6:1 Then Job answered:
This verse introduces a series of connected verses in which the meaning of each one is dependent on the understanding of the one that follows. The formula “answered and said” (without the latter word in the translation for the sake of English) often presents a formal declaration. (See Genesis 31:43.)
6:2 Would that my grief might be weighed out and my suffering placed together on a scale.
As part of Job’s response to Eliphaz, he tries to communicate the depth of his suffering. However one understands his statement, it is clear that he is trying to demonstrate the unbearable extent of his pain.
6:3 Surely it would weigh more than all the sand of the sea! That’s why my words make no sense.
Any words would be inadequate to express Job’s pain. And he finds any measurement unsatisfactory. Rashi notes that it is common for a drunkard to mumble his words. Although he is not suggesting that Job is drunk, Rashi does seem to indicate that what Job is trying to express is as hard to understand as the “mumblings” of someone in a drunken stupor.
6:4 The arrows of the Almighty are indeed into me. My spirit sucks up their poison. The terrors of God are set in array against me.
Job presents himself as if shot through with poison arrows. As a result, his death is both imminent and certain. In the throes of death, Job is portrayed as beset with all kinds of frightening visions.
6:5 Does the wild ass bray when it has grass? Does an ox bellow when it has fodder?
The author is trying to explain what is a natural reaction coming from Job. The use of the uncommon verbs yenhak (bray) and yegeh (bellow) are onomatopoeic words whose sounds indicate their meanings. Rashi explains that Job asks: “Do I cry out for no reason? If a dumb animal is silent when its needs are met, an ass does not bray when it has grass to eat nor does an ox bellow when it has mash, so would I be still were my needs to be met.”
6:6 Can something that is tasteless be eaten without salt? Does the juice of a mallow have any flavor?
While the meaning of chalamut (mallow) is not clear, it complements what was said in the previous verse. The sense of both verses is simply to state the obvious.
6:7 I refuse to touch it. Such food makes me sick.
If the prior sentence is a metaphor for tasteless food standing for meaningless arguments, as the former provides little nourishment and the latter little sense, then in this sentence Job refuses to touch the food or respond to any kind of arguments that Eliphaz has provided.
6:8 Would that I would get what I ask. Would that God would give me what I hope for,
6:9 That God would decide to crush me, to let loose the divine hand and finish me off.
This comment comes as no surprise. Job doesn’t ask that he be spared the pain and suffering that he experienced. At this point, he only wishes that God would end his life which is the substance of his request. Ironically, this is precisely what God required Satan to refrain from doing if God allowed Satan to proceed with his experiment with Job.
6:10 This would be my consolation. I would jump for joy even in my pain. Although God has no compassion [on me], I have not denied the word of the Holy One.
This verse presents a surprisingly profound expression of faith, especially when it is read in conjunction with the previous verse. Job is disgusted with his life. He asks God to take his life. At the same time, Job’s faith in God remains steadfast.
The classic commentators struggle with Job’s expression of faith in the midst of his pain and are looking for a realistic way for its expression in the text. Even as pious scholars, they find his faith unsettling and disturbing. Lashing out at God would be a natural and expected response from someone who has suffered as has Job. Had Job lashed out at God, the book would not have been published. Critical to the book of Job is the notion that Job, in some manner, has accepted what has happened to him.
6:11 What strength have I that I should hope? What future have I that I should hold out?
The sense of this verse is clear. Job’s strength is diminished by his suffering and he lacks any sense of hope or optimism for the future. So his question is really a self-reflective thought. He thinks to himself, “Why should I bother? I have nothing left to hope for.”
6:12 Had I the strength of stones, were my flesh bronze.
While this verse appears incomplete, it is really Job’s own response to the question he posed in the previous verse. It is as if he said, “Had I the strength of stones or were my flesh bronze, then [maybe] I would be able to be hopeful or anticipate the future.”
6:13 Is it not that I have no help and that success is driven away from me?
Job’s sentiment is that because he cannot turn to God, since God has not been willing to take his life, he has nowhere else