What Happened to Job’s Wife in the Bible?
Job’s wife is not explicitly mentioned in the bible
Job’s wife is not explicitly mentioned in scripture, but her existence is implied in the story. Among other things, she is not Jewish. The bible does not identify her as a person, but it notes that she was blameless and upright, feared God, and shunned evil.
We know little about Job’s wife in the bible, but she was a significant part of Job’s life. She bore all of Job’s children and was probably the primary caregiver for Job. Despite this, she did not suffer the punishment and censure of God. Instead, she shared in the beautiful restoration that Job experienced.
She has economic leverage
The biblical account of Job’s wife has two facets. One is her economic leverage. In ancient hierarchical societies, the weaker partner is forced to share in good times and bad. But Job’s wife had an advantage because she sympathized with her husband and helped him strengthen his weaknesses.
Job’s wife had the ability to use her economic leverage in a number of ways. She spurred her husband to question the use of God’s divine powers. She mastered tools and material, which helped her in the end.
She has intrinsic autonomy
In the Bible, Job’s wife is not a mere adjunct to her husband. Instead, she speaks out of anger and piety. She stays with her husband during the midst of his ruin and asks him a question that starts Job’s journey into deeper introspection.
She encourages her husband to die by suicide
The Bible says that Job’s wife encouraged her husband to commit suicide because she felt there was nothing left for him in life. She felt that life had nothing more to offer Job and that she, too, had nothing left to offer herself. She questioned God’s integrity and challenged Him.
However, her actions and words were not entirely evil. Many commentaries, particularly Christian commentaries, view her as evil. While she may have cursed God to kill her husband, she was traumatized by the events, and perhaps even had a hard time listening to her husband’s arguments that God was in the wrong. Ultimately, God restores Job and gives him ten more children.
She finds a good thing
A traditional interpretation of this story holds that Job’s wife urges her husband to curse G-d, or Baruch Elokim, in response to Job’s recent loss of ten children and the family fortune. Her reaction is deemed foolish by Job. After all, she has seen Job’s life crumble around her. Not only has her husband lost his health, she has seen her life completely collapse around him. But despite all these difficulties, she remains faithful to him, even despite his halitosis.
In her provocative speech, Job’s wife gives the reader an opportunity to consider the possibility of God’s power, and to question Job’s belief in God. This is a step toward a more open interpretation of the story, one that would open Job’s eyes to new possibilities.
She obtains favour of the Lord
The biblical story of Job’s wife shows that she is more sympathetic to her husband than God. She sympathized with Job’s weaknesses and acted as a source of strength for him. In the end, she obtains favour from God. The story of Job’s wife may have been more sympathetic if it didn’t contain the blasphemy of God’s wife.
Job’s wife is a complex character who has evoked numerous interpretations over the centuries. Although she is only given two lines in the original text, the Testament of Job offers a much more complex portrayal of her. She may also be a window into Job’s spiritual world.