Key events of today’s reading:

• Job maintains his innocence (26-31)
• God responds (Job 38-41)

Verse that stood out: My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes – Job 42:5-6

True to form, Job ends in a bit of ambiguity. Job admits that in the past he has spoken as one who only knew about God, but now he has seen God face to face. As such, he repents. He wants to take something he said or did back. The problem is, we aren’t told from what he repents. Does he repent of challenging God’s fairness? Does he repent of seeing his misery as a reason for despair? Does he repent of viewing life and obedience as meaningless?

As you can see below, there are different ways to translate 42:5-6 into English.

• I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes (NASB).
• I had heard rumors about You, but now my eyes have seen You. Therefore I take back my words and repent in dust and ashes (HCSB).
• I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes (NRSV)
• I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears! I’m sorry—forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise! I’ll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor (The Message).

Some translations make it sound as if Job is taking all his words back. Others leave it unclear of what he repents, only that he does.

The epilogue doesn’t help things much. The LORD critiques Job’s friends for speaking falsely about him and says that Job has spoken rightly of God. But what part of Job’s speech is God praising. Is he praising the protest itself? He might be. Job’s protest stands in contrast with the friends’ speeches. Or is God praising Job’s repentance? Again, the Bible doesn’t say. I’ve read a few commentaries on the subject, and let me just say, every and any answer is given at some point in church history.

Which leaves me with a very Job-like question: Why is the Bible so ambiguous sometimes? Why doesn’t God spell it out a little more clearly? I don’t know that I have a good answer to that question except to think such questions encourage us to be humble as we explore issues of justice and rightness. The answers to what (or better yet, who) is just or right is not always as simple as we might like or think them to be.

Job’s friends thought they had everything figured out and they proved to be in the wrong. Job had nothing but questions, but in the end was the only one who had a genuine encounter with God.

For tomorrow: Day 39

• Cover to Cover: Job 40:19-Psalm 22:27
• Key Passage: Psalm 1
• Verse of the Day: Psalm 1:1-2