When Yhwh Tests People: General Considerations and Particular Observations Regarding the Books of Chronicles and Job

Abstract

The King said to the appointed commissar1 for examining the loyalty of his servants, “Where have you come from?” The commissar answered the King, “From touring and walking about your kingdom in official business.” The King said to the commissar, “Did you notice my servant Job? There is no one like him on my kingdom, a blameless and upright man who is fully loyal to me and turns away from treason.” Then the commissar answered the King, “Is Job loyal to you for nothing? Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”