God's Cruelty and Book of Job

One of the interesting new books on Job is by Candler School of Theology professor Carol A. Newsom. In her inauspiciously titled book The Book of Job (Oxford, 2003), Newsom applies the literary theory of postmodernist critic Mikhail Bakhtin to the text of Job. She focuses on the Book of Job as a "polyphonic" text, meaning that there are many voices/genres within the text itself, and that listening to and comparing these genres with similar expressions from antiquity enriches our reading of Job. While academics have praised her work, I imagine that few to none of those not professionally trained in biblical studies will find the book anything other than opaque. A little postmodernism goes a very long way.

On occasion, however, her comments on the literary structure or meaning of words in Job are instructive and even arresting. I am indebted to her for her insights on the Hebrew word 'akzar,' translated "cruel," and applied to God in Job 30:17-- "You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me."

Job's Humiliation

In chapter 30 Job complains of the humiliation he has experienced from people he once would have disdained to "set with the dogs of my flock" (30:1)The result of the terrors he feels, both from his friends and God, is that "now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold of me" (30:16). He says plaintively, "I cry to you and you do not answer me; I stand and you merely look at me" (30:20).

In saying these words Job is indebted to a Psalmic tradition of apparent useless crying out to God (Ps. 22; 28). But in the Psalms, the Psalmist prays these words at the beginning of his prayer (Ps.22:1-2; Ps.28:1) and by the end of the Psalm has had his faith restored because of his renewed confidence in God (Ps.22:25; Ps.28:6-8). Instead of following up his prayer of complaint with an expression of confidence, however, Job mentions God's cruelty.

God's 'Akzar'

Newsom points out that the word "cruelty" is used sparingly in the Hebrew Bible and appears as a word descriptive of actions either by those outside of the Covenant community or by the "wicked." Those from the North who will ravish the Judean people are called cruel (Jer. 6:23; 50:42). The wicked, in Proverbs, can be characterized as cruel (Prov. 12:10; 17:11). What Job is doing, then, in using this rather rare word is to highlight that God's attack on him is as barbaric as an attack by a foreign enemy, as wicked as if it was done by those who ignored the wisdom tradition's advice.

Instead of turning his heart to sing God's praise or express confidence in God's deliverance, as the Psalmist does, Job ratchets up his rhetoric of confrontation and isolation by attributing to God the trait reserved for most baneful foes. Just as it is the goal of the enemy to kill and maim, so Job says, "I know that you will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living" (30:23).

Conclusion--Cruelty and the Ostrich

In another book of sadness, Lamentations, the author speaks of the desolation felt by the people of God: "Even the jackals offer the breast and nurse their young, but my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness (Lam.4:3)." As Job thinks through the reality of God's cruelty, he utters a similar phrase, "I am a brother of jackals, and a companion of ostriches" (30:29). The ostriches are cruel ('akzar'); Job now lives with them. He has a constant reminder of the character of God by living with the most cruel of God's creatures.

Whereas the Psalmist was restored psychically through his being received in the fellowship of the people of God (the "congregation" of Ps. 22:25), Job is alone with the cruel ostriches. This most pessimistic assessment then provides the context for Job's most defiant and confident expression of his personal righteousness in chapter 31.