23 GOD’S ANSWER AND JOB’S RESPONSE None of this is to say that this resolution is satisfactory, only that it is the one the Book of Job offers. Faith, though often held in es- teem as a value in itself, is only as admirable as its object, and many readers have wondered whether the God of Job has earned such trust. Some readers have found Job’s submission unsatisfactory, be- cause it is not really warranted 76. Though it is true that he spoke in ignorance, he still had full knowledge in the most relevant matters: his own suffering and his innocence. But whether Job should have repented or not, that is what he does. He is as his author made him. Job and his friends agreed on human wretchedness, but they were, ironically, wrong. Humans have in their power the ability to give God something he deeply desires: unbought human loyalty, a stance of unconditional faith, even in the face of divine injustice. It may be, as Eliphaz says, that God does not place trust even in his angels (4,18; 15,15), but he does trust humans. He has no choice. University of Wisconsin, Madison Michael V. FOX 1220 Linden Drive Madison, WI 53706, USA SUMMARY The current understanding of the Book of Job, put forth by M. Tsevat in 1966 and widely accepted, is that YHWH implicitly denies the existence of divine justice. Retribution is not part of reality, but only a delusion. The present article argues that the book teaches the need for fidelity in the face of divine injustice. The Theophany shows a God whose care for the world of nature hints at his care for humans. The reader, unlike Job, knows that Job’s suffering is important to God, as establishing the possi- bility of true human loyalty. been called “a polyphonic response to suffering” (Louis STULMAN, “Jeremiah as a Polyphonic Response to Suffering”, Inspired Speech [London 2004] 302- 318). This response which puts forward three dissonant strategies for inter- preting Jerusalem’s suffering: moral order amid the chaos; Jeremiah’s suffering and moral chaos; and divine silence and divine absence. The Book of Job has deep affinities to these strategies, and not only to the second. See above, notes 60, 61. 76 © Gregorian Biblical Press 2012 - Tutti i diritti riservati