The book of Job opens by telling the reader something Job himself is never told. Before anything happens to him, there is a conversation in heaven, and Job’s name is in it.
Then the messengers start arriving, each one still speaking when the next one arrives. By the end of one day Job has lost almost everything he had, and the rest of the book is about what he says to God, what his friends say to him, and what God finally says back.
The Story of Job
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred she asses, so that he was the greatest of all the men of the east.
When the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, Satan came also among them. The LORD asked, Hast thou considered my servant Job? Satan answered, Doth Job fear God for nought? Take away all he has, and he will curse thee to thy face. The LORD put all that Job had in Satan’s power, but only upon himself put not forth thine hand.
On a day when Job’s children were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house, a messenger came: the Sabeans had taken the oxen and asses and slain the servants. While he was yet speaking, another came: the fire of God had fallen from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants. While he was yet speaking, another came: the Chaldeans had carried away the camels. While he was yet speaking, another came: a great wind from the wilderness had struck the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead. Each ended the same way: I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
Satan came before the LORD again and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. Allowed to touch Job’s body but told to save his life, he smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. Job sat down among the ashes and scraped himself with a potsherd. His wife said, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. He answered, shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? Then his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, came to comfort him. They did not recognize him at first, wept, and sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.
Then the silence breaks. Through chapters 3 to 37 Job curses the day he was born and pleads to bring his case before God, while his friends insist that suffering like his must come from his own sin; a younger man, Elihu, then speaks as well. At last the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind: Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. For four chapters God asks about the sea, the stars, the snow, the lion, the raven, the horse, behemoth and leviathan. Job answers, I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
Then the LORD turned to Eliphaz: My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. They offered seven bullocks and seven rams, and Job prayed for them. The LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends, and gave him twice as much as he had before. So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. He had seven sons and three daughters again, lived an hundred and forty years, and saw four generations.
Key Verses
“That man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil” Job 1:1
“The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” Job 1:21
“Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding” Job 38:4
“I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee” Job 42:5
“So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning” Job 42:12
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), a public-domain translation.
What the Story of Job Teaches Us
The reader knows something Job never learns: why it happened. God’s speeches out of the whirlwind never mention the conversation with Satan. Job is not given an explanation; he is given God himself, and that turns out to be enough – now mine eye seeth thee.
Job’s first response is worship, not accusation. With his children dead, he says the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD, and the text adds that in all this Job sinned not. Later he complains bitterly, and God rebukes him for words without knowledge, but God also says Job spoke of him what was right, and his friends did not.
Neat explanations can be wrong. Job’s friends did the right thing when they sat silent with him for seven days. When they started explaining his suffering as punishment for sin, God’s wrath was kindled against them, and they needed Job to pray for them.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Job in the Bible?
A man in the land of Uz, described in Job 1:1 as perfect and upright, one that feared God and eschewed evil. He was the greatest of all the men of the east before he lost his possessions, his children and his health.
What did Job lose?
In one day he lost his oxen and asses to the Sabeans, his sheep to the fire of God, his camels to the Chaldeans, his servants, and all ten of his children when a great wind struck the house where they were (Job 1:13-19). Then he was struck with sore boils (Job 2:7).
What did Job say when he lost everything?
Job 1:21: Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
Who were Job’s three friends?
Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite (Job 2:11). They sat with him seven days and seven nights without speaking, then argued with him through most of the book.
What did God say to Job?
God answered Job out of the whirlwind in Job 38-41, including the question, Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? and asking him about creation, the weather and the animals.
How did the story of Job end?
Job repented in dust and ashes, prayed for his friends, and the LORD gave him twice as much as he had before. Job 42:12 says the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning.