The Biblical book of Job probably has few, if any, fans. Many of us find its theme of Job’s unmerited suffering too disquieting to linger in its chapters. I am one of those ‘many’ … but, as you may know, the Holy Spirit freely directs the attention of HIS ‘fans’ where He wills, when He wills – even toward the shadowy chapters of Job. That’s what happened to me recently. I spent so much time digging around the book of Job that I discovered the existence of an inter-testamental book called the Testament of Job. This non-canonical book apparently bestows a name on Job’s wife – Sitidos. I have only read the Biblical book of Job, but it’s nice to think of ‘Job’s wife’ having a name.

At first it was the contrasts that spoke to me… Job was a man, I am a woman. Job had 10 children alive; I only had six, one of whom never saw the light of day. Job had more sons than daughters; I have more surviving daughters than sons. Job was, in divinely inspired words, “blameless and upright” – a man that God considered as exemplary as Noah and Daniel (Ezekiel 14:14).  I, on the other hand, am not blameless and upright (except in Messiah – thank God for Yeshua who took my blame and in Whom I can stand upright).  Job – again by divine testimony – “feared God and shunned evil.” The same divine testimony would confirm that I have not consistently feared God (above other fears), nor have I consistently managed to shun what I believe is evil (precisely because of those ‘other fears’).  

As to the further description of this man’s greatness at Job 1:3, I can hardly relate to any of that. In the Concordant Literal Version, which I was led to consult, the description reads, “His acquisitions came to be seven thousand small cattle, + three thousand camels, + five hundred pair of oxen and five hundred jennies, + beside very many servants, so + that this man came to be the greatest of all the sons of the east.” (Don’t let the pluses confuse you as they initially did to me, till I decided to just regard them as emphasizing all that God had added to Job over time. A learnéd scholar would perhaps explain them differently.)

So I scratched my head, thinking, how can I even attempt to relate to all of that? Then, by really stretching for an analogy I came up with this: Mike and I did raise a comparatively large household, while temporarily shepherding a large ‘flock’ of other lambs in a corner of God’s pasture, and now we have a comparatively large number of grandchildren, children-in-law, and young ‘sheep’ honoring their connection to us. That’s gratifying, but it definitely pales in comparison to Job’s résumé above.

Finally, the family banqueting habits of Job’s adult children (verse 1:4) and the apparent proximity of their homes to each other is in sharp contrast to my experience, and to the experience of many transnational 21^st century families of the West, but so much for the ‘contrast’ side of my comparison with Job. The following verses showed me some similarities between us, along with further differences over which I can truly rejoice.

Verse 1:5 – Like Job, I have tried to maintain contact with my children, adult though they be. In our culture, of course, I can’t just “send for them” – but I developed the habit of suggesting timely, mutually convenient family gatherings as geography and finances permitted, which always involved praying for each other. And then (behold!) others began to take turns with that initiative, and much of the prayer that Mike and I had seeded came full circle, in full bloom, multiplied by praying children-in-law, back toward us and toward others in the circle.  Then came Covid, and – by the grace of God – then came Zoom to the rescue, proving that as long as there’s a will, a way can be found.

Still in 1:5…  Yes, like Job, Mike and I pray for our grown children early every morning, covering all eventualities that come to mind, but relying on the efficacy of Yeshua’s sacrifice and His “ever living to make intercession for us” (Hebrews 7:25) rather than relying on burnt offerings as poor Job had to. No mention is made of Job’s prayers of thanksgiving for his children – just his prayers of precautionary repentance on their behalf; but Mike and I do thank God regularly for the children He gave us. Quite recently we have begun to adapt Isaiah’s words, calling out to God for His attention toward different ones (when He seems, for some divine purpose, to be hiding His face). My adaptation of Is. 8:17-18 says: “I will wait for Adonai, who is hiding His face from the house of …, and I will look eagerly for Him. Here I am (bearing up in prayer) the children that Adonai has given me as signs and wonders (grafted into) Israel, from Adonai-Tzva’ot who dwells on Mount Zion.”

In verse 1:5 no mention is made of Job’s prayers for his grandchildren, but perhaps he didn’t have any, or perhaps his much maligned wife took that intercessory role – who knows? But Mike and I pray for our grandchildren – sometimes even the ones we haven’t yet heard of, as we may feel led on a given morning. Because of the Biblically prophesied ‘signs’ we see around us, we know that if the Lord tarries, our descendants will face much more “perilous times” than we or their parents have had to. (2 Timothy 3:1-8, NKJV)

Verses 1:6 –12. Even if you have read this before, please read it again with me, in this version (TLV with the Hebrew ‘satan’ given its actual meaning, ‘adversary’). 

The canonical book of Job has 42 chapters, and from 2:11 to 37:24 we read of Job receiving what could be called ‘ministry’ from, and offering responses to his three friends who – after seven days of mourning with him in silence – try to counsel him. Finally, out of ‘the whirlwind’ swirling around Job, God speaks His mind from 38:1 to 41:26.  I’m sure beautiful songs have been made out of what God said to Job. I can think of one right away – I Know My Redeemer Lives, a part of which asks, “Who taught the sun where to stand in the morning? And who told the ocean, you can only come this far? And who showed the moon where to hide ’til evening?”

So much for the poetry, but for 126 verses God threw some really ‘hard’ questions and challenges at Job, for which he had no answer. It was his turn to be speechless. But you know what I just happened to notice in comparing all the men’s speeches with God’s speech? Here is what I noticed. In the 35 chapters of man-to-man discourses, after Job gets done with rueing the day he was born, the men only mention ‘the womb’ or anything to do with birthing 3 times. God, on the other hand, just in His four chapters, brought up the ‘womb’ or birthing, or labor pains eight times! Ahhh, Jehovah sees, Jehovah knows!

Then, in His response after Job’s repentance, God said His anger was “kindled against” Job’s three friends, but He did not mention being angry against Job’s wife. God indeed has a compassionate heart! Was Sitidos even still around, we might wonder, until we get to 42:10-15, where God is restoring to Job all that he had lost and more. Without any mention of Job acquiring a more deserving wife, verse 13 says, “He also had seven (more) sons and three (more) daughters” – presumably by the same wife who had borne the first 10. And what would have blessed this mother’s heart more than the words of verse 15? “Nowhere in the land were there found women as beautiful as the daughters of Job” … and Sitidos?

There’s just one awkward detail I am compelled to share, much as I hate to spoil the lovely ending I thought we had. The ‘spoiler’ comes from the Testament of Job, which claims that Sitidos died, Job remarried, and his second wife is the one who bore the second set of 10 children. Aww, shucks!  I guess I was pinning too much on poor Sitidos. She would have had to be superhuman (or miraculously rejuvenated) to bear 10 more children in her senior years.

So, there you have it – and with yet another unanswered question I turn my gaze away from Job.