Stretching the Covenant: Job and Judaism

Abstract

This article examines the suggestion that the Book of Job is “unrelated” to Judaism. To address that question, it explores the relationship of the Book of Job to three essential components of Judaism: monotheism, covenant, and cult. It suggests that although the book rejects a simplistic covenantal model of reward and punishment, it expands the covenantal framework to include a rich and challenging conception of God. Job appears to draw the notion of suffering without punishment into the covenantal framework and thus to provide a rationale for persistent Israelite loyalty to God in the face of unexpected disappointments.