Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Harold Holmyard <hholmyard3 AT earthlink.net>]

John,

You write:

I'm not quite following what you are saying. What did Satan mean by "to 
> your face"?

The Hebrew words "if not" are part of an idiomatic development from a oath formula to the idea of "surely." The idea is, "May God do so-and-so to me if he does not . . . ." So Satan was saying that Job would surely "bless" God to his face. This is the tip off that the words have been adjusted by the scribes to avoid the offensive thought of "cursing" God. But the rewrite with "bless" is so obvious that readers would know the change was made for reverential reasons. That is why the scribes could afford to make such a change; it is so obviously a doctoring. 

The idea of blessing someone to their face seems pretty meaningless. If one blessed 
them behind their back, it would still be a blessing and in that sense would not differ 
much from blessing them to their face. Usually the temptation is to speak better of 
someone in their presence than away from them, so blessing God to his face seems 
"easier" than blessing him behind his back. On the other hand, there are 
plenty of people who might curse someone behind their back but would not curse them to 
their face. If you curse someone to their face, you are really angry and rejecting. 
Just as improbable as Job's wife telling Job to bless God and die is the idea of 
blessing here.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard