Job 1:21: Edit history

Context

Chapter 1 of the Book of Job opens by portraying Job, a righteous man of the East, enjoying great blessing. In the heavenly council, Satan claims that Job serves God because of the blessings he has received, and God places Job's possessions in Satan's hands (1:6-12). In a single day, raids by the Sabeans and the Chaldeans, fire falling from heaven, and a great wind destroy Job's livestock and servants and kill all ten of his children (1:13-19). Job tears his mantle, shaves his head, falls to the ground, and worships, speaking the words of verses 20-21. Verse 22 renders this verdict: "In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly."

Interpretation

• As a confession of God's sovereignty: This reading takes the verse as a confession of faith that everything has been received from God and that taking it away is also God's prerogative. The Reformed tradition cites the verse as evidence that God's providence extends even to suffering. Job 2:10, "shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?", is understood in the same vein.
• As emphasizing the role of Satan: This reading stresses that it was Satan who actually brought about the calamities, while God permitted them. It seeks to avoid regarding God as the direct cause of evil.
• The minority view that Job was wrong: Some within the Word of Faith movement argue that Job erred in attributing the calamities to God. Most interpreters reject this view, pointing out that verse 22 states explicitly that Job did not sin and that at the book's conclusion God declares that Job had spoken what was right (42:7).

Questions of Application

Within the Book of Job as a whole, this confession is a beginning rather than an end. From chapter 3 onward, Job curses the day of his birth and vehemently questions and protests before God. On this basis, some pastors point out that requiring sufferers to offer only the calm confession of this verse does not reflect the message of the book as a whole. In addition, the question posed in chapter 1 ("Doth Job fear God for nought?" 1:9), which raises the point that faith is not a transaction for obtaining blessing, is often cited in critiques of prosperity theology.

In the Korean Church

It is one of the passages most frequently read at funeral services, as well as at encoffining and committal services, and songs of praise drawing on this confession are widely sung.

Related Passages

• Job 1:20-22
• Job 2:10
• Job 42:7-10
• Ecclesiastes 5:15
• 1 Timothy 6:7