Job (Hebrew origin: Howler)
(Job 1:1)
Job, the father of seven sons and three daughters, was the wealthiest man in the east, but was morally upstanding. One day, God told Satan that there was no one on earth like Job, a God-fearing man who shunned evil. The Devil answered cynically that it was easy for a rich man to be God fearing, but if he lost his possessions, he would readily curse God. God agreed that Satan should put Job to the test. Shortly afterward, thieves stole Job's oxen, donkeys, and camels; his sheep died in a fire; and all his children were crushed to death when the house collapsed on them. Job arose, tore his clothes, cut off his hair, and prostrated himself on the ground, saying "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21). God, seeing that Job did not reproach him, told Satan that Job had been destroyed for no good reason.
Satan departed from the presence of God and inflicted severe sores all over Job's body. Three friends—Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar—heard of the tragedies that had happened to Job and came to mourn with him and to comfort him. Job finally broke his silence with a bitter diatribe against his life, cursing the day on which he was born. Eliphaz told Job that he must have sinned, as there was no other way to explain God's treatment. Bildad ascribed the death of Job's children to their sins. Zophar told him that God's punishment was less than what he deserved. God then said that they were all wrong, because they were not God to know it all. He rebuked Job's friends for their presumptuous words and ordered them to go to Job, make a sacrifice, and ask Job to pray for them, so that God would not punish them. God restored Job's fortune, and he was comforted and consoled; he became wealthier than before and was the father of another seven sons and three daughters.
Read more biographies from Who's Who in the Jewish Bible.
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