Job in Literature

This classic counsel of despair is uttered by Job’s wife in the wake of all the evils which befall him (Job 2:9). It is preceded by the question, ‘Dost thou still retain thine integrity?’ Her words may have been motivated by bitterness over what she and Job had endured (the Septuagint and the apocryphal Testament of Job both give her a lengthy speech in which she catalogues their degradation). Possibly she felt that blasphemy would have sudden death as a consequence, and that this would put Job out of his misery. In any case, the import of her words is to question the value of ‘righteousness’ (cf. Tobit 2:11–14).