Job 42:10

THE TURNING OF JOB'S CAPTIVITY

"And Jehovah turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends: and Jehovah gave Job twice as much as he had before."

The "turning of Job's captivity," is an idiomatic expression having nothing whatever to do with one's having been in prison or in captivity. The RSV should be followed here. It reads: "And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends." Some have criticized the epilogue as "spoiling the whole book," seeing in it nothing but a reaffirmation of the evil doctrine that everyone gets exactly what he deserves in this life. Does not Job wind up getting twice as much as he ever had before? Such a viewpoint misses the whole point of the Book of Job.

"And Jehovah turned the captivity of Job ... and gave Job twice as much as he had before" (Job 42:10). Why did God do this? Let it be remembered that Satan had challenged Job's integrity; and Job successfully withstood every test, proving that he served God for his own sake, not merely for the prosperity that resulted; and, after Job had turned back Satan's evil charge, it would not have been right for God to have left Job in perpetual suffering and poverty. God increased Job's wealth, not because Job was His loyal servant, but because he was wealthy when the test started. Furthermore the vast increase of Job's riches is here said to have taken place, "When he prayed for his friends."

As we have meditated upon the Book of Job, striving to unlock the mysteries that are undoubtedly in it, a thought has come to us again and again, although we have sought a similar view in vain among the authors and scholars we have consulted. That thought is simply this: Job's life, although not perfect in the infinite sense, nevertheless established the principle that the mortal flesh of man was not in itself incompatible with the truth that a sinless life could indeed be lived in it. And that, in some unknown way, might have been a contribution to the Eternal Truth that The Man, even the Christ, did indeed live a sinless life in mortal flesh.