God’s Answer and Job’s Response 1 I. The Challenge There is now a near-consensus that the Book of Job teaches that the universe lacks a moral economy in which deeds are met by ap- propriate and commensurate reward and punishment 2. The purpose of the present essay is to offer an alternative interpretation. This now-dominant interpretation originated in an article by M. Tsevat in 1966 3. In Tsevat’s reading, YHWH implicitly denies the existence of divine justice. Retribution is not part of reality, but only a delusion: “[W]here the principle of retribution has no valid- The present essay builds on four of my earlier studies: (1) M.V. FOX, 1 “Job 38 and God’s Rhetoric”, Semeia 18 (1981) 53-61. I argue that God uses rhetorical questions to evoke Job’s knowledge as a way of guiding his per- ceptions. See below, VII. (2) “Job the Pious”, ZAW 117 (2005) 351-366. Here I examine the interplay of the two levels of communication: God to Job and author to reader. (3) “Reading the Tale of Job (Job 1:1-2:13 + 42:7-17)”, A Critical Engagement. Essays on the Hebrew Bible in Honour of J. Cheryl Exum (eds. D.J.A. CLINES – E.J. VAN WOLDE) (Hebrew Bible Monographs Series 38; Sheffield 2010) 162-179. I reject the interpretation of the frame tale as ironic and Job’s repentance as tongue-in-cheek. (4) “Behemoth and Leviathan”, Bib 93 (2012) 261-267. This is summarized below, in VI. Most scholars since the 1960s have accepted this view. Contrary read- 2 ings are offered by (among others) J. LÉVÊQUE, Job ou le drame de la foi (eds. M. GILBERT – F. MIES) (Paris 2007); B.L. NEWELL, “Job: Repentant or Re- bellious?”, WTJ 46 (1984) 298-316; D.C. TIMMER, “God’s Speeches, Job’s Responses, and the Problem of Coherence in the Book of Job: Sapiential Ped- agogy Revisited”, CBQ 71 (2009) 286-305; S.A. GELLER, “Nature’s Answer: The Meaning of the Book of Job in Its Intellectual Context”, Judaism and Ecology. Created World and Revealed Word (ed. H. TIROSH-SAMUELSON) (Cambridge, MA 2002) 109-132. Geller rightly judges the prevailing inter- pretation, described earlier, to be “grossly anachronistic in its modern sepa- ration of nature and morality, creation and piety” (132). M. TSEVAT, “The Meaning of the Book of Job”, HUCA 37 (1966) 73- 3 106. I dedicate my essay to the memory of my esteemed teacher, Professor Tsevat, who inspired me to engage with the book of Job. BIBLICA 94.1 (2013) 1-23 © Gregorian Biblical Press 2012 - Tutti i diritti riservati