Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Jim West <jwest AT highland.net>]

At 09:19 AM 7/31/03 -0700, you wrote:

>Maybe I'm not making any sense whatsoever, but from a 'laymans''view, it
>seems as almost God is saying that he sends the deceiver or the deceiver is
>under God's protection/provision. I'm just looking for a little explanation
>on the verse and it's context. 
>

Your translation is correct- and there is a great stream of OT thought that
places weal and woe smackly on the doorstep of God.  Recall the Psalm, "I
make weal and woe, says the Lord".  There are a number of examples of this
kind of text.

But I think what you are really asking about is the problem of Theodicy, or,
the goodness of God in an apparently bad world.  There have been thousands
of books and articles on this subject.  I would recommend starting with a
good commentary on Job (and the one in the Word Biblical Commentary is
brilliant- though it remains incomplete.  (Ch 1-20 are out).  David JA
Clines knows his stuff and you can trust him.

Or, take a look at Gerhard von Rad's OT Theology vol 2 (I only have the
German edition so I cant give you a page number- check the index under
"theodicy".  You should also be able to find something in the Anchor Bible
Dictionary.

This has always been a fascinating topic- and James Crenshaw has reams of
material on it- so see if Amazon has anything that tickles your fancy.

Best

Jim

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Jim West
Quartz Hill School of Theology
Adjunct Professor of Biblical Studies

Biblical Studies Resources
http://web.infoave.net/~jwest