Putting God on Trial: The Biblical Book of Job

[Robert Sutherla]

(d) The swearing of the claim is service of that claim on the alleged wrongdoer; in this case, God. Job has identified God as the wrongdoer in the opening sentence: “God…who has taken away my right”. (Job 27:2)

However, Job deepens that identification. The answers he seeks are the answers only God has. So Job incorporates a traditional hymn to God into his oath. It is a hymn to wisdom. In Job’s mouth, the wisdom in question becomes the answer to why there is evil in the world.

“Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold to be refined. Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from ore. Miners put an end to darkness, and search out to the farthest bound the ore in gloom and deep darkness. They open shafts in a valley away from human habitation; they are forgotten by travelers, they sway suspended, remote from people. As for the earth, out of it comes bread; but underneath it is turned up as by fire. Its stones are the place of sapphires, and its dust contains gold. "That path no bird of prey knows, and the falcon's eye has not seen it. The proud wild animals have not trodden it; the lion has not passed over it. "They put their hand to the flinty rock, and overturn mountains by the roots. They cut out channels in the rocks, and their eyes see every precious thing. The sources of the rivers they probe; hidden things they bring to light. "But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Mortals do not know the way to it, and it is not found in the land of the living. The deep says, 'It is not in me,' and the sea says, 'It is not with me.' It cannot be gotten for gold, and silver cannot be weighed out as its price. It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire. Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal; the price of wisdom is above pearls. The chrysolite of Ethiopia cannot compare with it, nor can it be valued in pure gold. "Where then does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding? It is hidden from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the birds of the air. Abaddon and Death say, 'We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.' "God understands the way to it, and he knows its place. For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees everything under the heavens. When he gave to the wind its weight, and apportioned out the waters by measure; when he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the thunderbolt; then he saw it and declared it; he established it, and searched it out. And he said to humankind, 'Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. '" (Job 28:1-28 Italics added for emphasis)

In Job’s mouth, this hymn to wisdom becomes a poetic style of cause. It identifies the wrongdoer God as the object of the lawsuit. Only God has the answer. And only God can give it. Job “fears God and turns from evil”. (Job 1:1,8; 2:3) This wise and understanding servant demands an answer from his master.

In adopting this hymn to wisdom, Job may be ironically playing off Eliphaz’s earlier jibe.

“If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored, if you remove unrighteousness from your tents, if you treat gold like dust, and gold of Ophir like the stones of the torrent-bed, and if the Almighty is your gold and your precious silver, then you will delight yourself in the Almighty, and lift up your face to God. You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will pay your vows. You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways.” (Job 22:24-27)

Eliphaz had unknowingly tempted Job to manipulate God into restoring his former position by falsely repenting. This Satan had claimed was the essence of sin. In his Oath of Innocence, Job turns to God not in repentance, but in the integrity of his ways. This hymn and Eliphaz’s earlier comments link precious stones and metals with a plea to God. Eliphaz had contemplated a successful plea. The “matter” “will be established for you.” (Job 22:27) At this point, Job seems to be goading both Eliphaz and God. Ultimately, the matter will be “established” in Job’s favour, though not in the way Eliphaz intended. Job will be declared by God to have spoken rightly about God. (Job 42:7-8) The Hebrew word “kuwn” there means “established with certainty”. It will be established that Job has a right to know the reason behind evil.

(e) In any event, Job drives home his service of the Oath of Innocence on God with his next to last words in the oath.

“Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary! Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me like a crown; I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him.” (Job 31:35-37)

Job’s three friends are left speechless. It is a formal indictment of God for crimes against humanity.

Job signs his signature to the Oath of Innocence with a mark in the air. The Hebrew word here for “signature” is “tau” meaning a “mark”. In the ancient Hebrew language, that mark was made through the sign of the cross: “+”. With his right hand, Job makes the sign of the cross in the air and swears by it.

Within a canonical perspective, Job’s action reverberates down through the halls of scripture. Job is a suffering servant, a Christ figure. This moment is his garden of Gethsemane. But rather than saying “not my will but thy will be done”, Job is saying the opposite: “let my will, not thy will, be done”. Time will tell if his will is God’s will. The Book of Job rewrites what will become an important part of The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The righteous man of God may be a suffering servant, but he need not be a lamb that goes silent to the slaughter.

[Robert Sutherla]

2. Proof of Claim

The proof of that claim is accomplished by a series of self-imposed curses in the Oath of Innocence by which Job puts his temporal life and eternal salvation on the line. Ancient legal codes are very unclear as to whether the normal civil standard of proof was proof on a balance of probability and whether the normal criminal standard of proof was proof beyond a reasonable doubt. In any event, it did not matter. The swearing of the Oath of Innocence established proof beyond all possible doubt. It converted a summary trial into a summary default proceeding.

(a) Job’s positive confession surfaces early in the Oath of Innocence. Job stands on his personal integrity.

“As long as breath is in me and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, my lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit…Until I die I will not put away integrity from me. I hold fast my righteousness, and will not let it go; my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.” (Job 27:2-6 Italics added for emphasis.)

The raising of the oath is an expression of the integrity that God has already declared in heaven to be beyond reproach. (Job 1:8; 2:3)

Job deepens that positive confession with a recounting of his former life. Job was once a judge who did justice in both his personal and professional lives.

"Oh, that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me; when his lamp shone over my head, and by his light I walked through darkness; when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God was upon my tent; when the Almighty was still with me, when my children were around me; when my steps were washed with milk, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil! When I went out to the gate of the city, when I took my seat in the square, the young men saw me and withdrew, and the aged rose up and stood; the nobles refrained from talking, and laid their hands on their mouths; the voices of princes were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths. When the ear heard, it commended me, and when the eye saw, it approved; because I delivered the poor who cried, and the orphan who had no helper. The blessing of the wretched came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I championed the cause of the stranger. I broke the fangs of the unrighteous, and made them drop their prey from their teeth. Then I thought, 'I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days like the phoenix; my roots spread out to the waters, with the dew all night on my branches; my glory was fresh with me, and my bow ever new in my hand.' "They listened to me, and waited, and kept silence for my counsel. After I spoke they did not speak again, and my word dropped upon them like dew. They waited for me as for the rain; they opened their mouths as for the spring rain. I smiled on them when they had no confidence; and the light of my countenance they did not extinguish. I chose their way, and sat as chief, and I lived like a king among his troops, like one who comforts mourners.” (Job 29:2-25 Italics added for emphasis.)

Job consistently met the needs of those in need. He perfectly fulfilled the demands of justice and love. He now calls on God to do the same.

It is worth noting Job’s allusion to the phoenix. (Job 29:18) In Ancient Near Eastern mythologies, the phoenix was a symbol of moral righteousness. Through its righteousness, it earned the right to a long life and the right to resurrection and eternal life. Every 500 to 1500 years depending on the myth, the phoenix would die in its nest, be renewed and reborn by a fire from God. Job claims the moral righteousness that is the right to resurrection and eternal life.

[Robert Sutherla]

(b) Job’s negative confession occurs near the end of his Oath of Innocence. It consists of sixteen self-imposed curses. The gist of these curses is two-fold. It is as if Job is saying:

“If I have sinned in thought, word or deed, then let me be cursed forever. But if I have not sinned in thought, word or deed, then I reserve to myself the right to curse my enemy for what he has done to me.”

Job is putting his temporal and eternal life on the line. Job has already indicated he would suffer the “unrelenting pain” of a hell to get that answer. (Job 6:10) And now he is preparing to condemn or damn God to such a metaphorical hell should he not get his answer.

1. [If] I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I look upon a virgin? What would be my portion from God above, and my heritage from the Almighty on high? Does not calamity befall the unrighteous, and disaster the workers of iniquity? Does he not see my ways, and number all my steps? (Job 31:1-4)

2. "If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hurried to deceit-- let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!— (Job 31:5-6)

3. if my step has turned aside from the way, and my heart has followed my eyes, and if any spot has clung to my hands; then let me sow, and another eat; and let what grows for me be rooted out. (Job 31:7-8)

4. "If my heart has been enticed by a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door; then let my wife grind for another, and let other men kneel over her. For that would be a heinous crime; that would be a criminal offense; for that would be a fire consuming down to Abaddon, and it would burn to the root all my harvest. (Job 31:9-12)

5. "If I have rejected the cause of my male or female slaves, when they brought a complaint against me; what then shall I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him? Did not he who made me in the womb make them? And did not one fashion us in the womb?” (Job 31:13-15)

6. "If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel alone, and the orphan has not eaten from it-- for from my youth I reared the orphan like a father, and from my mother's womb I guided the widow— (Job 31:16-18)

7. if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or a poor person without covering, whose loins have not blessed me, and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; (Job 31:21:19-20)

8. if I have raised my hand against the orphan, because I saw I had supporters at the gate; then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket. For I was in terror of calamity from God, and I could not have faced his majesty. (Job 31:21-23)

9. "If I have made gold my trust, or called fine gold my confidence; (Job 31:24)

10. if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, or because my hand had gotten much; (Job 31:25)

11. if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor, and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand; this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I should have been false to God above.” (Job 31:26-28)

12.: "If I have rejoiced at the ruin of those who hated me, or exulted when evil overtook them-- I have not let my mouth sin by asking for their lives with a curse—(Job 31:29-30)

13. if those of my tent ever said, 'O that we might be sated with his flesh!'-- the stranger has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveler—(Job 31:31-32)

14. if I have concealed my transgressions as others do, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom, because I stood in great fear of the multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—(Job 31:33-34)

15. "If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept together; (Job 31:38)

16. if I have eaten its yield without payment, and caused the death of its owners; let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley." (Job 31:39-40 Italics and paragraphing added for emphasis.)

A number of items here merit comment. The standard of social justice Job claims to have met is centuries, perhaps even millennia, ahead of its time. All human beings are created equal by God. Every person, regardless of rank or wealth, is entitled to the equal benefit and protection of the law. (Job 31:13-15) The standard of personal righteousness Job claims to have met is very high. The sins denied are not merely deeds, but words and thoughts. This standard greatly exceeds the accepted Old Testament norm of morality.

Perhaps, the most interesting passage is Job’s denial that he has “concealed transgressions as others do.” (Job 31:34) The actual Hebrew text reads “as Adam did”. This is clearly a reference to original sin. The essence of Adam’s sin was that he failed to take personal responsibility for his actions and be forgiven on the spot by God. Job claims he does not do as Adam did and would not have done what Adam did. Within a canonical perspective, this is a profound rewriting of The Book of Genesis and a rejection of most formulations of the doctrine of original sin. Human beings can be perfect, both in terms of righteousness and justice. Job claims to be such a man.

[Robert Sutherla]

Job’s negative confession has remarkable parallels to the Egyptian Oath of Innocence and notable differences.

In Egyptian mythology, the Oath of Innocence is found in the Egyptian Book of the Dead, dated to between 1500 and 1350 BC. The Oath of Innocence occurs in the context of the Final Judgment. The soul is ushered into the Halls of Maat. “Maat” means “order, truth, and justice” and it describes the natural moral order that underlies all of creation. The soul appears before the high God Osiris, the Lord of the Underworld and the Judge of the dead. Here the soul is asked to swear a formal Oath of Innocence. The oath is a negative one. It describes the sins a person has not committed. It is sworn in the presence of Osiris himself and the forty-two divine jurors that represent the forty-two districts in the land of Egypt.

“Usekh-nemmt from Anu - I haven't committed sin.
Hept-khet from Kher-aha - I haven't committed robbery with violence.
Fenti from Kemenu- I haven't stolen.
Am-khaibit from Qernet - I haven't slain men and women.
Neha-her from Rasta - I haven't stolen grain.
Ruruti from heaven - I haven't purloined offerings.
Arfi-em-khet from Suat - I haven't stolen the property of God.
Neba, who comes and goest - I haven't uttered lies.
Set-qesu from Hensu - I haven't carried away food.
Utu-nesert from Het-ka-Ptah - I haven't uttered curses.
Qerrti from Amentet - I haven't committed adultery - I haven't lain with men.
Her-f-ha-f from thy cavern - I have made none to weep.
Basti from Bast - I haven't eaten the heart.
Ta-retiu from the night - I haven't attacked any man.
Unem-snef from the execution chamber - I am not a man of deceit.
Unem-besek from Mabit - I haven't stolen cultivated land.
Neb-Maat from Maati - I haven't been an eavesdropper.
Tenemiu from Bast - I haven't slandered no man.
Sertiu from Anu - I haven't been angry without just cause.
Tutu from Ati (the Busirite Nome) - I haven't debauched the wife of any man.
Uamenti from the Khebt chamber - I haven't debauched the wife of any man.
Maa-antuf from Per-Menu - I haven't polluted myself.
Her-uru from Nehatu - I have terrorized none.
Khemiu from Kaui - I haven't transgressed the law.
Shet-kheru from Urit - I haven't been wroth.
Nekhenu from Heqat - I haven't shut my ears to the words of truth.
Kenemti from Kenmet - I haven't blasphemed.
An-hetep-f from Sau - I am not a man of violence.
Sera-kheru from Unaset - I haven't been a stirrer up of strife.
Neb-heru from Netchfet - I haven't acted with undue haste.
Sekhriu from Uten - I haven't pried into matters.
Neb-abui from Sauti - I haven't multiplied my words in speaking.
Nefer-Tem from Het-ka-Ptah - I have wronged none - I have done no evil.
Tem-Sepu from Tetu - I haven't worked witchcraft against the king.
Ari-em-ab-f from Tebu - I have never stopped the flow of water.
Ahi from Nu - I have never raised my voice.
Uatch-rekhit from Sau - I haven't cursed God.
Neheb-ka from thy cavern - I haven't acted with arrogance.
Neheb-nefert from thy cavern - I haven't stolen the bread of the gods.
Tcheser-tep from the shrine - I haven't carried away the khenfu cakes from the Spirits of the dead.
An-af from Maati - I haven't snatched away the bread of a child, nor treated with contempt the city god.
Hetch-abhu from Ta-she (the Fayyum) - I haven't slain the cattle belonging to the god.”

The sins denied are both ceremonial and moral. The ceremonial sins are about ten in number, constituting almost a quarter of the entire oath. The moral sins are almost exclusively sins of deed. There is perhaps one sin of word, the cursing of God. It is a stark contrast to Job’s Oath of Innocence which consists entirely of moral sins. By this oath, the soul puts its eternal life on the line. If the oath is false in any respect, the person swearing the oath is eternally damned.

Once the Oath of Innocence is sworn, the heart of the person is placed on the scales of justice and weighed against a feather of truth. In Egyptian thinking, the heart represents the person. The feather of truth represents Maat, the natural moral order. If the two balance equally on the scales of justice, then the soul is vindicated. Its life has been in accordance with the natural moral order. And it may proceed into the halls of the righteous for a favourable afterlife. Interestingly enough, Job has previously claimed “my heart does not reproach me for any of my days” (Job 27:6) and asked in his negative confession for the scales of justice: “let me be weighed in a just balance and let God know my integrity!” (Job 31:6)

In Egyptian mythology, those who swear falsely and whose lives are not in accordance with the moral order await a gruesome fate. If the heart and the feather of truth do not balance equally on the scales of justice, then the soul is condemned. Osiris sends it to a chaos monster, Ammit, seated beside him. “Ammit” means the “gobbler”. Ammit is part crocodile, part lion and part hippopotamus, representing the destructive powers of chaos. Ammit is seated beside a lake of burning fire. The condemned soul is consumed by the chaos monster and passes into non-existence. This aspect of the Egyptian Oath of Innocence sets an ominous backdrop to Job’s Oath of Innocence. When God examines him in his second speech, the chaos monster Leviathan is there beside God to devour Job if Job has in any way sworn falsely in any aspect of his Oath of Innocence.

Egyptian theology never reached the height of ethical monotheism because of the corrupting power of magic. The essence of magic is power. The power in question is the power to overpower the gods and the demonic. Over time, magic corrupted the use of the Oath of Innocence in the Final Judgment and deprived it of its moral quality. Charms and spells were used to supplement the oath and overpower the gods, especially Osiris. A special heart scarab was always buried with the deceased. It “was thought to prevent the heart from owning up to any crimes the person had committed in life.” This was important because the oath was sworn before the heart is weighed. The testimony of the heart might contradict the testimony of the lips. A correct recitation of the Oath of Innocence, using the proper pronunciation and tone, coupled with the possession of a heart scarab was deemed magically sufficient to guarantee the soul a favourable judgment on the scales of justice. Through magic, things always balanced out. Osiris, the god of judgment, became a rubber stamp. Morality was reduced to magical ritual. Job’s Oath of Innocence is grounded in morality not magic. When God appears to answer Job, God is bound only by morality not magic.

[Robert Sutherla]

3. Enforcement of claim

The enforcement of that claim is through a summary default procedure. When the actual wrongdoer, in this case God, did not show up and enter a defense to the Oath of Innocence, a two-fold summary default judgment would immediately issue.

The first judgment was automatic. The person swearing the Oath of Innocence Job would be immediately vindicated of any suspected wrongdoing and the actual wrongdoer God would be immediately convicted of the alleged wrongdoing. That first judgment of vindication or justification was a finding of causal responsibility.

The second judgment was almost as automatic, but it issued differently. The person swearing the Oath of Innocence Job was legally entitled to proceed further and condemn the actual wrongdoer God. The condemnation was a curse separate from oath itself. The person swearing the Oath of Innocence Job would then formally curse the wrongdoer God. That second judgment of condemnation was the actual imposition of blame, shame and guilt on the one causally responsible. Both were summary default judgments in absentia.

It should be remembered that God himself in giving the Oath of Innocence had promised that he would execute those summary default judgments. (1 Kings 8:31-32; 2 Chronicles 6:22-23)

That curse is foreshadowed early in the Oath of Innocence.

"May my enemy be like the wicked, and may my opponent be like the unrighteous. For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts them off, when God takes away their lives? Will God hear their cry when trouble comes upon them? Will they take delight in the Almighty? Will they call upon God at all times? I will teach you concerning the hand of God; that which is with the Almighty I will not conceal. All of you have seen it yourselves; why then have you become altogether vain?”(Job 27:7-12)

"This is the portion of the wicked with God, and the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty: If their children are multiplied, it is for the sword; and their offspring have not enough to eat. Those who survive them the pestilence buries, and their widows make no lamentation. Though they heap up silver like dust, and pile up clothing like clay-- they may pile it up, but the just will wear it, and the innocent will divide the silver. They build their houses like nests, like booths made by sentinels of the vineyard. They go to bed with wealth, but will do so no more; they open their eyes, and it is gone. Terrors overtake them like a flood; in the night a whirlwind carries them off. The east wind lifts them up and they are gone; it sweeps them out of their place. It hurls at them without pity; they flee from its power in headlong flight. It claps its hands at them, and hisses at them from its place.” (Job 27:13-23 Italics added for emphasis)

If God fails to answer Job’s claim, then Job can activate that curse. That is the nature of a trial in absentia and a summary default judgment. He does so by speaking the curse a second time. “Let the one who has wronged me be cursed now and forever.” This was something Satan had prophesized Job would do; namely, curse God to his face. God would then execute that judgment by cursing himself. And Job has put in place the legal machinery to activate that curse.

[Miranda]

Robert, This is an awful lot to read, but I will read it when I have more time. I have never heard of this 'Oath of Innocence' before but am interested to find out about it. Thank you for posting this,
Miranda

[Robert Sutherla]

Miranda:

I think the ancient Oath of Innocence was really helpful for Job. He was complaining he couldn't serve God with a legal summons. The Oath of Innocence is a lawsuit that doesn't require a summons.

How do like that Satan figure: Ammit the gobbler. He probably lives in the lake of fire and comes out of it to grab the damned, drag them back into the lake of fire and eat them.

[Carrie]

Robert (and Miranda):

I hopped into this discussion because I am teaching a class on the book of Job, and thought it would be interesting to see what you have to say.

Robert, it seems that you have lots of knowledge, but to the average person, your knowledge is too much. I have read lots of what you've posted, but I am getting lost as to what your point is because you have too much material. Also, in your conversations with Miranda, you have not acknowledged her viewpoints in a good way. I would suggest that you use the forum with a little more "grace", if I may be so bold.

I would welcome any comments from you.

Carrie

[Robert Sutherla]

Carrie:

You write: "I am getting lost as to what your point is because you have too much material. Also, in your conversations with Miranda."

I think the Book of Job is a theodicy.

1. God has no duty to create the best of all possible worlds. God is the author of some evil in the world. (Job 1:21; 2:3,10; 40:19; 42:11) That evil is undeserved. That evil is morally necessary for the production of a particular type of faith or love: a completely selfless love of man for God. (Job 1:9-11)

2. Man has a right to know the reason behind evil in the world. That is the gist of Job's virtual sinlessness, his launching the Oath of Innocence and God's approval of Job's actions and words.

3. God has a duty to give an answer to that question. That is the gist of God's being the defendant in an Oath of Innocence. But that duty is nuanced; he doesn't have to give it here and now. The right to the truth is not inalienable and indefeasible. It can be deferred, if its deferral is necessary to prevent the production of a higher good; here, a completely selfless love of man for God.

4. Job grants God that time adjourning his lawsuit to the Day of the Final Judgment.

[Robert Sutherla]

Miranda:

You asked privately what I thought Leviathan was. Here is my response. It is lengthy and should cover several posts.

In his second speech to Job, God picks up on Job’s hesitation to “proceed…further” in his Oath of Innocence to a “condemnation” of God. Having suggested a purpose in creation in his first speech, God now suggests a moral purpose in the creation and control of evil. That purpose is expressed through the cross-cultural myth of Leviathan where Leviathan is the embodiment of evil in the world. And that purpose finds its completion in the Jewish reworking of the myth.

1. The mythological world: Behemoth- Leviathan

Leviathan is a cross-cultural symbol of evil incarnate. The image is found in the Babylonian myth of creation, the Canaanite myth of recreation and the Jewish myth of apocalypse.

“Leviathan” is a proper name. It means “twisting one” as befits a serpent. And Leviathan is a supernatural serpent, much like Satan. Leviathan is the Jewish chaos monster Rahab by another name. Leviathan is the Canaanite chaos monsters Litan, Yam and Mot by another name. Most scholars believe that the Leviathan gets his name from this Canaanite chaos monster Litan. Litan is Yam by another name. The Ugaritic word for Litan “ltn” and the Hebrew word for Leviathan “liwyatan” are almost identical linguistically. And the Ugaritic word for “writhing” or “fleeing” “brh” and the Hebrew word for “writhing” or “fleeing” “bariah” are almost identical linguistically. Leviathan is the Babylonian chaos monsters Tiamat, Qingu and their offspring by another name.

Leviathan is “behemoth”, because “behemoth” is a common not a proper noun. It is not a personal name and is never mentioned anywhere else in the Old Testament or outside it. The Hebrew word “behemoth” means “the great beast”, “the beast par excellence”. It is a plural noun used with singular verbs as the verses which follow indicate. It is the “plural of majesty” or the “plural of fullness”. Such plurals were regularly used to describe the one true God and their usage here indicates an intentional contrast. The plural of majesty suggests that Leviathan claims a kingship that is God’s alone. The plural of fullness suggests that Leviathan embodies all the attributes of evil in their perfection. It may even suggest a plurality of modalities or persons within the one evil. If so, all the predators of the earth, human and otherwise, are but the incarnations or manifestations of this one beast.

Some scholars believe Behemoth is a chaos monster separate from Leviathan. If so, then Behemoth is probably the Jewish reworking of the Canaanite chaos monster Atik. In the Canaanite myth of recreation, the high God Baal’s sister claims to have defeated both Yam and Atik.

“Surely I smote the Beloved of El, Yam?
Surely I exterminated Nahar, the mighty god?
Surely I lifted up the dragon
I overpowered him?
I smote the writhing serpent,
Encircler - with-seven heads!
I smote the Behoved of El, Arsh,
I finished off El’s calf, Atik,
I smote El’s *****, Fire,
I exterminated El’s daughter, Flame.
I fought for the silver,
I took possession of the gold
of those who drove Baal from the heights of Saphon,
knocking him like a bird from his perch,
(who) drove him the throne of his kingship,
from the back-rest,
from the siege of his dominion.”

The chaos monster Yam is a “dragon”, a “writhing serpent”, an “Encircler with seven heads”. This seven headed dragon is the chaos water that encircles the earth. Yam is the Canaanite Leviathan. Atik is a mythological bull calf. From other Canaanite myths, Atik appears to be the chaos monster that ravages the land as a wild bull might. If Yam is Leviathan, then presumably Atik is Behemoth.

If so, Satan, Behemoth and Leviathan form a kind of unholy trinity in The Book of Job. Three persons, one chaos monster. Within a canonical perspective, they foreshadow the three chaos monsters of The Book of Revelation. There, the sky dragon is Satan. (Revelation 12:1-18) The composite monster from the sea is the Antichrist. (Revelation 13:1-10) And the composite monster from the earth is the False Prophet. (Revelation 13:11-17) Three persons, one evil.

[Robert Sutherla]

The Ancient Near Eastern chaos monster was always pictured as a supernatural dragon. This fire-breathing dragon has many heads, many eyes, many teeth, a huge mouth and many horns. The exact number varies from culture to culture. The many eyes and the many heads represent knowledge. The knowledge in question is the “intention” to bring about evil. The many teeth represent appetite. The appetite in question is the “desire” to bring about evil. The many horns and the fire represent power. The power in question is the “ability” to bring about evil. While it normally lives in the sea and represents it, this dragon has wings and can fly. It rules the sea, the land and the air. This power of flight represents a certain kind of omnipresence. The omnipresence in question is the “pervasiveness” of evil. It can strike anywhere and at anytime. This dragon is heavily armored with many scales on its body and rows of back plates and spines along its undulating back and tail. The many scales and back plates represent a certain kind of invincibility. The invincibility in question is the “difficulty” in subduing and ultimately destroying evil. This dragon is a supernatural twisting serpent. The twisting or crooked body represents the “twisted” and forever “twisting” nature of evil.

Leviathan is clearly a primordial chaos monster, a dragon. It is a fire-breathing dragon. “Its sneezes flash forth light, and its eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn. From its mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap out. Out of its nostrils comes smoke, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes. Its breath kindles coals, and a flame comes out of its mouth.” (Job 41:9-21) It is a heavily armored dragon with impenetrable scales on its body and rows of back plates and spines along its undulating back and tail. “I will not keep silence concerning its limbs, or its mighty strength or its splendid frame? Who can strip off its outer garment? Who can penetrate its double coat of mail….Its back is made of shields in rows, shut closely together as with a seal. One is so near to another that no air can come between them. They are joined one to another; they clasp each other and cannot be separated.” (Job 41:12-17) The fire and the armor suggest invincibility. “On earth it has no equal, a creature without fear. It surveys everything that is lofty; it is king over all that are proud.” (Job 41:33-34) This proud chaos monster is a king, a king ever ready to expand his kingdom. He continually surveys the “lofty” heavens looking for a chance to do evil and overturn the rule of God. “Its heart is as hard as stone, as hard as the lower millstone.” (Job 41:25) It will never change.

[Robert Sutherla]

2. Creating the dragon

Leviathan is “the first of the great acts of God.” (Job 40:19) He is a created being, like Job. (Job 40:15) The evil he represents is created evil, evil created by God. Evil is “the first of the great acts of God”. In fact, the Hebrew here “re sit darke el” may very well mean this evil is “the finest demonstration of God’s power” since the Ugaritic root “drkt” can mean “dominion” or “power”. That would mean God’s creation and control of evil is “the finest demonstration of his power”, a clear indication of purpose. His purpose is the creation of good in the midst of evil. This description of Leviathan as “the first of the ways of God” is a deliberate reworking of Proverbs 8:22 which posits wisdom, not evil, as the “first of his acts of long ago.” In the eyes of the author, God’s shrewd and considered plan or purpose in the world (Job 42:2b) involves a deep, even dark, wisdom that is the mystery of evil and its role in the world. In terms of mythic image and its reference, I had often thought Leviathan a good metaphor for, among other things, the beauty and ugliness of the evolutionary process which produced the human body, as opposed to the human mind. Life feeds on life and death is in the world long before Adam.

The author of The Book of Job is rewriting both the Babylonian myth of creation and The Book of Genesis on two points. Evil is created by God. Evil is in the world before the fall of man. It is worth looking at those two other myths for similarities and differences.

In the Babylonian myth of creation, evil is pre-existent.

In that myth, the world was created out of the body of a slain chaos monster. When the high God Marduk divided Tiamat,

“Half of her he set up and made as a cover, heaven.
He stretched out the hide and assigned watchmen,
And ordered them not to let her waters escape.
He crossed heaven, he inspected (its) firmament.

He made the position(s) for the great gods,
He established (in) constellations the stars, their likenesses.
He marked the year, described its boundaries,
He set up twelve months of three stars each.
After he had patterned the days of the year,
He fixed the position of Neberu to make the (star’) relationships.
Lest any make an error or go astray,
He established the position(s) of Enlil and Ea in relation to it.
He opened up gates on both (side of her) ribs,
He made strong bolts to left and right.
In her liver he established the zenith.
He made the moon appear, entrusted (to him) the night.
….
He set down her head and piled [ ] upon it,
He opened underground springs, a flood was let flow(?).
From her eyes he undammed the Euphr[ates] and Tigris,
He stopped up her nostrils, he left…
He heaped up high-peaked mo[unt]tains from (?) her dregs.
He drilled through her waterholes to carry off the catchwater.
He coiled up her tail and tied it as(?) ‘The Great Bond.’
…
He set her crotch as the brace of heaven,
Spreading [half of] her as a cover, he established the earth.
[After] he had completed his task inside Tiamat,
[He spre]ad his net, let all (within) escape,
He formed (/?) the…[ ] of heaven and netherworld.”

In Ancient Near Eastern thinking, the universe was tri-partite: heaven, earth and the underworld. The earth was a disk sitting on water, surrounded by water. The earth is created out of Tiamat. The remains of Tiamat are confined to three places: the heavens, the oceans surrounding and encircling the earth and the underworld below. The reference to heaven is direct here: “half of her he set up and made as a cover, heaven.” The reference to the surrounding and encircling oceans is direct as well though some readers might miss it: “He coiled up her tail and tied it as(?) ‘The Great Bond.’” The surrounding waters are the bond that holds the heavens, the earth and the underworld together. The reference to the underworld is found in the eyes that are the springs of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. From the underworld, water comes forth onto the earth.

Echoes of this creation of the world might be heard early in The Book of Genesis.

“And God said, ‘Let there be a dome in the midst of the water, and let it separate the waters from the waters.’ So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and morning, the second day. And God said, ‘Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place and it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:6-10)

And echoes of this creation of the world might even be heard in God’s first speech to Job, with its references to “establishing” the heavens and setting “boundaries” therein.

“"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements--surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy? Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?-- when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, and said, 'Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped'? Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?... Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loose the cords of Orion? Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children? Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth? Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that a flood of waters may cover you? Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go and say to you, 'Here we are'?”” (Job 38:4-13, 31-35)

Such intimations foreshadow the appearance of Leviathan in God’s second speech to Job.

The poetic point being made by the Babylonian poet is a very simple one. Chaos is evil. Evil is all around us. Evil is above us, beside us and beneath us, just as the waters of chaos are. Evil is part of the very fabric of creation. Evil is a part of the high God Marduk’s plan in the creation of the world.

[Robert Sutherla]

In that Babylonian myth, man was created out of the blood of a slain chaos monster. In Ancient Near Eastern thinking, the blood is the life. The life is the character of a man. Man takes his life, his character from his parents. Qingu is man’s father. Tiamat is man’s mother. The blood of the evil ones flows in man’s veins. The poetic point being made by the Babylonian poet is a very simple one. Chaos is evil. Evil is deep within us. Evil flows within our veins. Evil shapes our life and our character. Evil is part of the very fabric of our being. Evil is part of the high God Marduk’s plan in the creation of man.

In The Book of Genesis, evil comes into the world with the fall of man. Man is created out of the “dust of the earth” and the spirit or “breath” of God. (Genesis 2:7) He is awakened to a truly human life through a kiss from God. It is God’s love that animates man. His parents are mother earth and father God. He takes his body from the earth. But he takes his mind, his intellect and free will, from God himself. That is what it is to be made in the “image” and “likeness” of God. (Genesis 1:26) Unlike any other animal, man is capable of apprehending the immaterial concepts of good and evil and choosing accordingly. Man is created neither good nor evil. His natural orientation is towards the good, for that is what makes for a truly and fully human life. But man becomes good or evil through his choices. He is evil not by nature, but by nurture.

In The Book of Genesis, the evil of the chaos monster is not put into the heart of man by God. Man takes the chaos monster into himself through his choices. In the story of Adam and Eve, the chaos monster appears in a diminutive form, a serpent in the grass. The serpent tempts man to do evil and when man falls, he acquires a second parent, that serpent. He becomes the offspring of Satan. He becomes evil by nurture. With the repeated choice of evil, he becomes less and less human, more and more bestial. And for all appearance sake, he acquires a second nature. Chaos now reigns in his being. His passions are no longer subordinate to his reason and life becomes a struggle to impose order on chaos. That is the meaning of original sin. It is the loss of the original justice that was the subordination of the passions to reason. The moral point of the Babylonian poet remains. Evil is deep within us. Evil is part of who and what we have become. We are all little monsters at heart.

The moral point being made by the author of The Book of Job is similar yet different. While evil is part of the fabric of creation, man is not corrupted to the point he cannot choose good over evil. In fact, he is capable of the perfect goodness that is the completely selfless love of man for God.

[Robert Sutherla]

The ancient Jewish poets adopted the Babylonian and Canaanite myths of a cosmic conflict between the high God and the chaos monster to a monotheistic framework. The imagery is retained but transformed. Creation ceases to be a struggle with the divine and the demonic. Creation is now understood as creation through fiat command. And in time, that creation through fiat command will deepen to be understood as creation out of nothing. In the meantime, the imagery of a primordial sea monster is retained and demythologized to various degrees. Creation is no longer a life and death struggle between a high God and a chaos monster. Creation is the creation and control of that monster and the evil it represents by an all-powerful, all-present, all-knowing and all-good God. Re-creation is the continuing control of that monster by that one true God. Any challenge to the civilized order, whether it is a force of nature or a human force, is always regarded as a re-emergence of that primordial chaos. The threat may be economic as seen in the annual death of vegetation. Or the threat may be political as seen in the frequent wars and rebellions. The defeated chaos monster is behind all these threats to civilization. The chaos monster has escaped his prison and seeks to destroy the human world.

The ancient Jewish conception of time was linear, not cyclical. God was beyond space and time and the author of both. God was not an expression of Mother Nature, as were the pagan gods of Babylonia and Canaan, and was not subject to the recurring cycles of nature. In the Canaanite myth of recreation, the high God Baal’s victories over the chaos monsters Yam, Litan and Mot are only temporary. The high God is a fertility god closely chained the cycles of the nature. As the vegetation dies every year, the high God is annually defeated by the chaos monster and descends into the underworld. But as the vegetation returns each New Year, the high God is annually reborn and overpowers that chaos monster. The pattern repeats itself for all eternity. There is no final resolution to the conflict. While a polytheistic god might be able to control a pre-existent chaos monster to a certain degree, a monotheistic God could have a purpose in creating such a thing, perfectly controlling it and ultimately destroying it.

The great Jewish genius was in the reworking of the Babylonian myth of creation and the Canaanite myth recreation into a Jewish myth of an apocalypse where God’s purpose in evil could be accomplished and explained. Redemption was pictured not only as a temporary defeat of the monster, but as its complete and utter destruction. At the end of human history, God will intervene and destroy the dragon once and for all. It and the evil it represents will never reappear to trouble the moral and natural orders.

The myth of Leviathan finds in highest development in the writings of the Jewish prophet Isaiah. In the full myth, three elements are consistently conjoined:

(1) God’s capture of the chaos dragon and his drawing it out of the water by hooks, snares or nets,

(2) a Messianic feast, and

(3) a symposium following the meal when God would answer all questions.

One follows the other sequentially in time. The presence of any one of these three elements suggests the presence of the other two and events to follow.

In Isaiah’s reworking of the myth, a Messianic banquet is thrown by God the Messiah. All the peoples of the world are invited to it. At that banquet, the body of the chaos dragon that has been captured and drawn from the water is served as the main course. All the people of the world consume the roast beast. The animals of the world feed on the scraps from the table. This Messianic banquet will mark the end of time. It will usher in a new creation, a new heavens and a new earth whether there is neither pain nor suffering. Part and parcel of that removal of all suffering is an explanation of all things by God the Teacher immediately following the meal.

It was a poetic way of saying there will come a time when the evil around us, the evil within us will be finally purged and destroyed. The dragon represents that evil, all sorts of evil. In its most horrific form, the dragon is a personification of death. The dragon is the person Death. The death of Death is the creation of new life, now and forever. The communal eating of the dragon at the Messianic feast is a kind of sacramental acceptance of the new life God offers at the end of time, an eternal life in a completely transformed world. The ancient Jews transformed the Ancient Near Eastern myths of creation and re-creation into a myth of the coming apocalypse. The communal eating of the chaos dragon by the animals and people of the world is the symbol of that new creation, that new heavens and new earth.

The author of The Book of Job expects the discerning reader to see these suggestions of a final resolution to the moral problem for they are embedded in the myth of Leviathan itself. God expects Job to see the very same suggestions with his description of Leviathan in his second speech to Job. Leviathan implies the Isaian apocalypse. And the Isaian apocalypse implies the existence of a defense through a symposium where God answers all questions, though the nature of the defense is never articulated.

[Robert Sutherla]

This legitimacy of this interpretation requires a date of composition for The Book of Job subsequent to 1 Isaiah, probably sometime within the 7th or 5th centuries B.C. Since most conventional scholars opt for a date of final redaction within between the 7th and 5th centuries B.C., this interpretation seems possible.

(a) Job is presented as a non-Israelite, but not necessarily a pre-Israelite. While it is often assumed Job lives in a patriarchal age more or less contemporaneously with Abraham in the 19th-17th centuries B.C., it is important to remember that the “patriarchal world” continued well into the mid-1st millennium B.C. in lands to the east and south of Israel. Uz may have been such a land. Uz would be to Israel as a third world country would be to a first world country. Both Uz and Israel could have existed contemporaneously, but not necessarily contiguously. Thus, the real life setting of Job could be within the timeframe of the 6th-5th centuries B.C.

(b) The Book of Job is profoundly counter-cultural and the absence of any reference to Jewish ritual may merely reflect a counter-cultural preference for myth over ritual and not an early date. Similarly, the absence of any reference to the Exile may merely reflect a counter-cultural preference for myth over history and not an early date.

(c) Job is clearly aware of all the mythologies of the Ancient Near East including those of Israel, without regarding any particular mythology as special revelation for him. In that respect, Job is in the position of many a modern reader. Myth is an embodiment of the hopes and dreams of all mankind and the occasion for insight for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. God inspires all great poets. God presents Job and the reader with 1 Isaiah's reworking of the Leviathan myth and invites both to explore the "redemptive analogies" found therein. The redemption is not merely the redemption of man, but the redemption of God. That redemption is a time for the destruction, explanation and justification of evil.