Re-reading the Role of Mrs.

Job through the Lens of Feminist Scholarship

There is a long history of interpretation in which Job’s wife has been severely battered. 1
Scholarship had not been generally not so kind to her. Augustine, John Chrysostom, John
Calvin and many others considered her the second Eve, one of Satan’s handmaidens. Even
modern interpreters like Habel agrees with Augustine that Mrs. Job is Satan’s handmaiden
stating that, she “serves as the earthly mouthpiece for a hidden Satan.” 2 Many commentators
simply ignore Mrs. Job. However, a number of contemporary scholars have been more
sympathetic towards her. Alden acknowledges Mrs. Job’s pain and suggests that the readers
should “not be too hard on her.”3 Brenner considers her to be part of a great satire 4 on the
religious conventions of the day.5 According to Ellen Wolde, the character of Job experiences
a development which can be understood by comparing the prologue (job 1-2) and the
epilogue (Job 42) and Job’s wife undeniably contributes to Job’s development. 6 Clines sees
the gesture as of Mrs. Job as human and entirely for Job’s benefit, a theological method of
committing euthanasia.7

Before entering in to the detailed discussion of the above interpretation of the wife of Job, I
would like to state some of the questions that arises in our minds with regard to the insertion
of the role of this nameless woman in the book of Job.

1. If the narrative could have easily proceeded without the intervention of Job’s wife,
what then is her role in the story?
2. Is it simply to elicit a response or to heighten the sense of suspense or her role a more
significant one?
3. Given the loss of the rest of the family members, why her life is been preserved?
4. And why did she had to utter these words?

West in his work, “Hearing Job’s Wife,” lays down an open challenge regarding Mrs. Job
demanding that we offer readings that hear completely and sensitively Mrs. Job’s experience
of suffering:

1
G. West, “Hearing of Job’s Wife: Towards a Feminist Reading of Job,” 107.
2
Habel, Book of Job, 96.
3
R.L. Alden, Job, 66.
4
The use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticise people’s stupidity or vices.
5
Job, the pious of the frame narrative (chs 1-2; 42;7-17) is ironically presented as a satire on the ‘true believer
figure.’ According to Brenner, the role of Mrs. Job is to help rework the garden of Eden story.
6
Wolde, “The Development of Job: Mrs Job as Catalyst,” 201.
7
However, there are dissenting voice against this interpretation saying, Mrs. Job’s actions do not amount to
euthanasia. Because euthanasia in the Hebrew bible is requested in very specific instances. See for the details,
Judg 9:54; 1 Sam 31:4-5; 1 Chron 10:4-5.

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 Such a reading might begin to try to hear the cry of despair of a woman who has toiled to
provide food and a home for her family and who has seen these destroyed. It might begin
to articulate the cry of agony of a woman who has labored to give birth to ten children and
who has seen them murdered. Such a reading might begin to uncover the cry of pain of a
woman who has been a faithful companion to her husband but who is debased by him. It
might begin to understand the cry of frustration of a woman who fully understands the
intellectual issues involved but who is not taken seriously. Such a reading might begin to
feel the cry of rejection of a woman who is made in the image of God but who remains
unanswered by God. It might begin to recognize the cry of confusion of a woman who is
expected to rebuild her home and to produce more children with no hope of a future for
them. Such a reading might begin to speak forth the cry of outrage of a woman who sees
her daughters treated in a different way to her sons. Such a reading would begin to
embrace this woman's untold story.8

Mrs. Job to rework the Garden of Eden Story

According to Brenner, Job’s wife is given the unfortunate task of suggesting that he end his
misfortune by cursing (or blessing) God and then dying. Job's retort is aggressively
vehement: he rejects her suggestion on ideo-religious grounds. She appears, therefore, a
foolish and negative foil to her husband in his total trust in God. Her earthly, materialistic,
common sense attitude is diametrically opposed to Job's spirituality. She emblematizes
impatience and emotion; he is an embodiment of pure idealism. In that sense, their
confrontation is a repeat performance of the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2-3) with a 'therapeutic'
twist introduced into it. Contrary to the 'original' scene, here the male is not convinced by the
female's initiative"9 Brenner views that the book of Job has strong comic elements that
challenged the religious conventions of its day.
The Role of Mrs. Job as a Catalyst in the Life of Job
According to Wolde, the character of Job experiences an evolvement: the Job with whom the
book opens is not the person whom he gradually becomes. From the first verse onwards the
book of Job portrays Job as an honest, upright and God-fearing man who keeps away from
evil. He has ten children, a large herd of cattle and a great deal of riches. His wife is neither
mentioned as a member of his family nor as part of his property. Apparently, she is irrelevant.
After the second scene (However, in the middle of the second chapter), all of a sudden Job’s
wife appears and says (Job 2:9)

^t<+M'tuB. qyzIåx]m; ^ßd>[o You still keep your integrity

8
G. West, “Hearing of Job’s Wife: Towards a Feminist Reading of Job,” 119.
9
For Details, see Brenner, “Some Observations on the Figurations of Women in Wisdom Literature,”56-57.

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~yhiÞl{a/ %rEïB' %rEïB' God

tmu(w" and die

The first part of her apparently brief speech (2:9a) is a literal repetition of what God himself
stated earlier in 2:3; and the second part (2:9b) resembles Satan’s words in 1:11 and 2:5b.

God: AtêM'tuB. qyzIåx]m; ‘WNd<’[ow> …and he still

keeps his integrity

Job’s wife: ^t<+M'tuB. qyzIåx]m; ^ßd>[ You still keep your

integrity

The Satan: &'k<)r]b'y> ^yn<ßP'-l[;> He will %rEïB' you

to your face

Job’s wife: ~yhiÞl{a/ %rEïB' %rEïB' God

From the above verses, we can see that the Job’s wife repeats the words of both God and the
Satan and adds a new element to them, ie., “die.” In order to understand Mrs. Job better it is

imperative to analyze the root $rb which in normal sense means “to bless”. However, it also
takes the meaning “to curse.”

The Root $rb

In the prologue the word $rb functions in different and contradictory senses: In Job 1:5, it
means “to curse.” Job is afraid that his sons may have cursed God in their hearts. In Job 1:10,
Satan uses the word twice, once to express that Yahweh has always “blessed” and protected
Job and once he expects Job to curse God. Two contradictory meanings of the one and the

same word used in one sentence. The double force of $rb shows the nature of the double
choice Job faces: the choice between blessing God or cursing him. Mrs. Job confronts her
husband with this choice. She represents absolute confrontation, as if saying, “consider what
you are doing, make a decision and do not just undergo everything passively.” The literary
function of this woman in the story is intriguing. On the one hand she is completely
overshadowed by her husband, and seems irrelevant to the story. On the other hand, she sets
Job thinking, although he dismisses her words as foolish.10 Her speech has its effect By

10
Wolde, “The Development of Job: Mrs Job as Catalyst,” 203-205.

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confronting Job with his own death and pointing out to him the choice between $rb
blessing and $rb cursing, she forces him to react. She introduces death and awakens doubt
in him helping him to ask himself questions. Instead of blind faith he is introduced to a
mature faith. Thus, she plays an important role in the development of the story. The word
“catalyst” may not fully encompass all that Mrs. Job accomplishes for him. She actually
offers him rebirth from the violent extinguishing of his identity. The woman who once bore
10 children who were succumbed to an early and unnatural death, and who will bear yet
another 10 children in recompense for that loss is a channel of Job’s rebirth.
Mrs. Job’s angry words help Job to express his anger
Mrs. Job is not given much words to speak. Probably, she too is tortured and can manage to
speak only a few words under the pain. Another feature of the woman is that she is a
marginalized person in the ancient society. She is even marginalized in her suffering. Her
suffering did not receive the attention of the author and even the attention of the
commentators. However, she offers her concern for Job in her few words apparently
expresses her emotions of anger and protest and her words are effective. According to
Beverly Harrison, anger is often a feeling-signal, arising out of love, expressing moral
outrage over sin or evil.11 The advice of Job’s wife expresses this kind of anger. It signals that
something is wrong with the understanding of suffering as a deserved punishment. In light of
God’s capacity to save, Job’s suffering is a failure on God’s part. Job should affirm his
innocence and protest God’s injustice. Previous to his wife’s outburst, Job received the news
of his sons’ and daughters’ deaths without question. It is only after her angry words that he
expresses his own anger, and asserts the injustice of his suffering. The anger of Job’s wife
seems to empower him in his search for a truer understanding of God.12
Mrs. Job as a Wise and Counselling woman for Job
Because the book of Job is a piece of wisdom literature it is obvious to expect the story to
have characters that are either wise or foolish. Most commentators have considered Job to be
wise (Job 1:3) and his wife as among the foolish (Job 2:10). However, scholarship maintains
that Israelite wisdom recognizes the importance of women as participants in and dispensers
of wisdom.13 According to West, if we look at the social configurations of ancient Israel, we
11
B.W. Harrison, Making the Connections: Essays in Feminist Social Ethics, 14-15.
12
Schweitzer, “Curse God,” 33.
13
Cfr. C. Camp, Wisdom and the Feminine in the Book of Proverbs (Sheffield: Almond Press, 1985); C.R.
Fontaine, "The Social Roles of Women in the World of Wisdom," in Brenner (ed.), Feminist Companion to
Wisdom Literature, pp. 24-49; and S. Schroer, "Wise and Counselling Women in Ancient Israel: Literary and
Historical Ideals of the Personified hokmâ," in Brenner (ed.), Feminist Companion to Wisdom Literature, pp.

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can expect Mrs. Job to be theologically forward in her assertions. 14 In that sense, Job’s wife
can be considered as extremely wise as she understands that job is suffering from theocratic
violence. Consequently, she invites Job to resist the violence of God in a radical manner. She
becomes the first human to identify the issue in the Divine Council.
Conclusion
Seems to be insignificant character, the ole of Job’s wife elicits ample reasons for her
placement in the story. She moves Job from compliance to resistance, she helps rebirth Job’s
identity. She does not offer many words, but their effect is great. Her words make the rest of
the story possible.

67-84
14
West, “Hearing Job’s Wife,” 111-112.