To question God or not

In this piece I discuss two vastly different conclusions one reaches from the final chapter of the book of Job depending on whether s/he reads the Hebrew/Aramaic based translations or the Septuagint.

The last chapter of the book of Job in the Old Testament reads more or less as follows in most English translations.

Job 42 (ESV)
1 Then Job answered the Lord and said:
2 "I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? '
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4 ' Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you make it known to me. '
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
6 therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes."

According to the above reading Job appears to be repenting (c.f., verse 6b) of his earlier questioning of God. In verses 3 and 4 Job appears to be quoting questions that God asked of him [Job] some chapters back (c.f., 38:2, 3). With this reading the conclusion the reader might come to is that it isn’t right to question God about things that we don’t understand, that God considers such questions meaningless and offensive.

But is this reading the only one?

Let’s take a look at the Septuagint (LXX) reading. History reveals that the LXX is the scripture text that Jesus, the Apostles, the Jews, and the early Christians had in front of them. The Old Testament text that we English readers have is a much later discovery. How would they have read this passage?

Iob 40^a (NETS)
1 Now Iob said in reply to the Lord: 2 "I know that you can do anything,
and nothing is impossible for you.
3 For who is it that hides counsel from you,
and being sparing with words thinks to hide them from you as well?
But who will tell me what I did not know,
great and marvelous things that I did not understand?
4 Now hear me, Lord, that I too may speak;
then I will question you, and you, teach me!
5 Whereas before I would hear an aural report of you,
now, however, my eye has seen you;
6 therefore I disparaged myself and wasted away,
and I regard myself as dust and ashes."

When comparing the LXX to our English, we may notice the following:

1. Verses 1 and 2 remain the same
2. Divergence begins with verse 3. Instead of a statement that Job has uttered words in ignorance (EN), it is a series of questions that Job poses to God (LXX): Who is able to hide knowledge from you? Who then, is best able to reveal them to me?
3. In verse 4, rather than a quote of God from earlier (EN), it is another question that Job poses to God (LXX): You’ve been speaking and asking of me for a while now. Let me now speak and ask you questions so that you can teach me and I can learn from you.
4. Verse 5 remains the same.
5. Verse 6 is profoundly different. Rather than the interpretation “repent in dust and ashes” (EN) the LXX interprets this phrase as “I regard myself as dust and ashes.” What Job appears to be expressing is the the surprise and astonishment that God has actually responded to his [Job’s] earlier demands that he be granted an audience with God. It is not a sense of remorse, that he has somehow done wrong or spoken out of place, but a sense of awe. I think it is best to interpret verses 5 and 6 together as using poetic parallelism:

a: Whereas before I would hear an aural report of you,
b: Now, however, my eye has seen you;

a’: Therefore I disparaged myself and wasted away,
b’: And I regard myself as dust and ashes.

What Job appears to be saying is that when all he had were second-hand reports about God, he [Job] thought he was just a pawn being tossed about in the winds of fate. But now that Job has seen (experienced in-person) God’s presence, Job no longer belittles himself, but he understands how little he knows and understands. Job sees himself in a position where he has much to learn from God.

The conclusion of this comparison is that the interpretation that we get from reading the translations from the Septuagint is vastly different from what we get from the Hebrew/Aramaic. One seems to imply that excessive questioning of God’s mysteries is wrong. The other implies we should and must.

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^a Chapter numbering differs between LXX and modern translations. NETS employs the phonetic translation of Job—Iob [ey-ob].