Restoring Job’s Humanity: A Trauma-Informed Reading of the Book of Job

Abstract

The book of Job is often read as an abstract, intellectual debate over the problem of innocent suffering. Likewise, the book has been critiqued as one that does not recognize the importance of human relationships for recovery from overwhelming experiences of pain and loss due to its predominantly non-narrative genre and lack of restorative relationships throughout. Relegating the book’s treatment of suffering to intellectual queries results in several significant losses, however, including the loss of an understanding of the way suffering affects persons in holistic ways and a loss of relevancy for audiences who may find intellectual debates interesting but far-removed from the “real” experience of suffering. Drawing upon Samuel E. Balentine’s identification of Job as “the quintessential text in the biblical lexicon of trauma,” this essay will explore how a trauma-informed reading opens up new perspectives on the book, restoring a level of humanity to Job that has been lost in certain circles.