Biblical Hebrew Forum

[John Ronning <ronning AT nis.za>]

Dear Doug,

I suspect the point that Dr. Gordis meant to make is that
one reading Job 42 notices that Job received double of all
of the animals that he lost, but did not receive double the
children - only the same amount as he had before.  Why?  One
answer is, that he didn't permanently lose his children as
he had his animals, so in fact he ended up with double the
children that he started with.

Whether Job himself believed in the resurrection has no
bearing on how God (who does) blessed him.  One of Job's
wishes during his suffering was that he would be hidden in
the grave until a new age when he could be at peace with
God, and his sins would not be counted against him (Job
14:13-15).  Are we to understand that Job's wish is to be
granted?  We're not told explicitly in Job, but if we note
how many of Job's other wishes were granted, I'd say there's
a pretty good probability.

1. He desired that things would be as in days gone by, when
he was at peace with God, and blessed by him - this was
fulfilled two-fold.

2. Job desired to speak to God face to face to present his
case before God, to show him how unfairly he was being
treated.

3. Job desired that his words be written down; "Oh that my
words were written! / Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
/ That with an iron stylus and lead / they were engraved in
a rock forever!" (Job 19:23-24)

Regards,

John