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Jacob Chanikuzhy
We do not know the name of Job’s wife in the Book of Job. However, we have her words. The only words she tells are: “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die” (Job 2,9).
In common parlance, Satan appears to employ two primary strategies: temptation and torment. For most people, temptation proves sufficient. Once fainthearted individuals succumb to evil allurements, second phase begins—torment. Sinners are then crushed under the weight of their own sinful nature and actions. With some rigorously righteous individuals, however, temptation alone is ineffective. In their case, Satan first assaults them with torment, and only when they are driven to the lowest limits of endurance does he approach them with temptation. This macabre strategy is vividly portrayed by the sacred author of the Book of Job.
When Job remained unshaken in his loyalty to God despite the catastrophic losses excruciating physical pain and mental anguish, Satan resorted to a final tactic: tempting him to abandon God altogether. It is at this critical juncture that Job’s wife speaks, urging him to “curse God and die.”
The first thing Lady Job insinuates is that her husband should curse God. This is particularly striking, since God Himself had proudly testified to Job’s righteousness. Yet Job’s wife provokes him to commit what would be the gravest of sins—blasphemy. In the story line, it is not clear whether she was a gentile woman. But, in the eyes of the author she has a gentile attitude. In the Israelite perspective, it is the typical gentile attitude to praise their gods when all is well and to curse when things take a wrong turn.
The second element of her statement suggests an invitation to suicide. God had explicitly commanded Satan not to take Job’s life, yet here Job’s wife urges him to take his own. Seen in this light, Lady Job appears to function as an effective instrument through which Satan attempts to frustrate God’s designs and fulfill his own destructive aims. It is therefore understandable that St. Augustine referred to her as “the accomplice of the Devil.”
Mrs. Job is often portrayed as a woman with a callous heart, devoid of sympathy for her suffering husband and lacking reverence for God. Yet it would be unjust to judge her entire character based on a single statement uttered at the most desperate moment of her life. Significantly, she is never reproved by God at the conclusion of the narrative, whereas Job and his friends are. Moreover, when Job is restored to prosperity, she too is blessed with ten children. Such details suggest that the biblical author did not intend to present her as an irredeemably wicked figure.
When we consider her personality more carefully, she may be seen as the woman behind the “successful” man, Job. He was a highly respected and influential figure in society. It is unlikely that he could have enjoyed such esteem had his wife been a woman of questionable character. Furthermore, the fact that a man of Job’s stature, power, and position did not have other women in his life speaks volumes about how deeply he cherished her. Beyond being a faithful wife, she was also a noble mother. The unity and joy evident in the gatherings of Job’s children point to a warm-hearted woman who served as the bond of harmony within the family.
Finally, we must not overlook the crushing blow she herself endured. All that Job lost were her losses as well. While Job still had a healthy spouse, she lost even that comfort. In those dire circumstances, the burden of sustaining him fell heavily upon her shoulders. How long can a woman endure such overwhelming despair without glimpsing even the faintest ray of hope? Perhaps, in a moment of feminine fury and utter exhaustion, she simply broke down. Her outburst reveals the vulnerability of those we often assume to be unshakable. It also highlights the profound honesty of the Bible, which portrays its characters in their true humanity, unafraid to expose weakness and fragility.
When people experience unexpected losses, accumulating struggles, vanishing solutions, intensifying pain and anguish, and a sense that life has become meaningless and unbearable, even individuals of admirable character may deteriorate into the mindset of Mrs. Job, entertaining thoughts of ending their own lives. Those who choose an “exit” from life today may well be seen as modern embodiments of Lady Job.
