The story of Job, as amplified in Jewish legend, takes us to some truly harrowing depths. We know the basic outline from the Book of Job in the Bible, but the aggadah, the body of Jewish storytelling, really fleshes out the details in ways that are both terrifying and, ultimately, inspiring.
According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, Satan wasn't content with simply taking away Job's possessions. He went all out. Part of Job's cattle was burnt, and the rest was stolen, a devastating blow made even worse by the fact that those who had once benefited from Job's generosity were now among his tormentors. Talk about adding insult to injury!
But the attacks didn't stop there. One particularly striking detail involves Lilith, the queen of Sheba. Yes, that Lilith! She lived far from Job's home – Ginzberg tells us it took her and her army three years to travel to him. She slaughtered Job's men and seized his oxen and asses, leaving only one wounded survivor to deliver the dreadful news before collapsing dead.
Then came the Chaldeans, who made off with Job's sheep. Job initially considered fighting back, but when he learned that fire from heaven had destroyed some of his property, he resigned himself, saying, "If the heavens turn against me, I can do nothing."
Dissatisfied with these results, Satan took things to an even more personal level. He disguised himself as the king of Persia and besieged Job's city, telling the inhabitants that Job had hoarded all the world's goods and even torn down their god's temple (quite the accusation!). He incited them to pillage Job's house. At first, they hesitated, fearing retribution from Job's children. So, in a truly devastating move, Satan pulled down the very house where Job's children were gathered, killing them all. Only then did the people sack Job's house.
Seeing that neither material loss nor the death of his children had broken Job's spirit, Satan returned to God and requested permission to attack Job's body itself. God granted this request, but with one crucial limitation: Satan could not touch Job's soul.
And here's where things get really intense.
The Zohar tells us that Satan was, in a way, worse off than Job. He was like a slave ordered to break the pitcher but not spill the wine. He unleashed a terrible storm upon Job's house. Then, he struck Job with a horrific case of leprosy "from the sole of his foot unto his crown." Job was forced to leave the city and sit on an ash heap, covered in oozing boils. He used a potsherd – a broken piece of pottery – to scrape himself, trying to relieve the unbearable itching. His body was infested with vermin, and even then, he refused to let them leave, saying, "Remain on the place whither thou wast sent, until God assigns another unto thee."
Even Job's wife, who had once been his partner and support, was struggling under the weight of their misfortune. She became a water-carrier, and when her master discovered she was sharing her bread with Job, he fired her. Desperate to feed her husband, she cut off her hair and sold it for bread. But the bread merchant was none other than Satan himself, testing her. He taunted her, saying, "Hadst thou not deserved this great misery of thine, it had not come upon thee." This was too much for her to bear. She urged Job to curse God and die, hoping to end their suffering.
But Job, recognizing Satan's influence, rebuked her. He saw through the deception, turning to the tempter and asking, "Why dost thou not meet me frankly? Give up thy underhand ways, thou wretch." At that, Satan appeared before Job, admitted defeat, and vanished in shame.
What are we to make of all this? The story of Job, especially as embellished by the aggadah, is a powerful exploration of faith, suffering, and the limits of evil. It shows us the incredible lengths to which evil will go to break the human spirit. But it also shows the incredible strength and resilience that can be found even in the face of unimaginable hardship. Job's story reminds us that even when everything seems lost, even when we are at our lowest point, the choice to remain steadfast in our faith is always ours.
Equipped with unlimited power, Satan endeavored to deprive Job of all he owned. He burnt part of his cattle, and the other part was carried off by enemies. What pained Job more than this was that recipients of his bounty turned against him, and took of his belongings. Among the adversaries that assailed him was Lilith, the queen of Sheba. She lived at a great distance from his residence, it took her and her army three years to travel from her home to his. She fell upon his oxen and his asses, and took possession of them, after slaying the men to whose care Job had entrusted them. One man escaped alone. Wounded and bruised, he had only enough life in him to tell Job the tale of his losses, and then he fell down dead. The sheep, which had been left unmolested by the queen of Sheba, were taken away by the Chaldeans. Job's first intention was to go to war against these marauders, but when he was told that some of his property had been consumed by fire from heaven, he desisted, and said, "If the heavens turn against me, I can do nothing." Dissatisfied with the result, Satan disguised himself as the king of Persia, besieged the city of Job's residence, took it, and spoke to the inhabitants, saying: "This man Job hath appropriated all the goods in the world, leaving naught for others, and he hath also torn down the temple of our god, and now I will pay him back for his wicked deeds. Come with me and let us pillage his house." At first the people refused to hearken to the words of Satan. They feared that the sons and daughters of Job might rise up against them later, and avenge their father's wrongs. But after Satan had pulled down the house wherein the children of Job were assembled, and they lay dead in the ruins, the people did as he bade them, and sacked the house of Job. Seeing that neither the loss of all he had nor the death of his children could change his pious heart, Satan appeared before God a second time, and requested that Job himself, his very person, be put into his hand. God granted Satan's plea, but he limited his power to Job's body, his soul he could not touch. In a sense Satan was worse off than Job. He was in the position of the slave that has been ordered by his master to break the pitcher and not spill the wine. Satan now caused a terrific storm to burst over the house of Job. He was cast from his throne by the reverberations, and he lay upon the floor for three hours. Then Satan smote his body with leprosy from the sole of his foot unto his crown. This plague forced Job to leave the city, and sit down outside upon an ash-heap, for his lower limbs were covered with oozing boils, and the issue flowed out upon the ashes. The upper part of his body was encrusted with dry boils, and to ease the itching they caused him, he used his nails, until they dropped off together with his fingertips, and he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal. His body swarmed with vermin, but if one of the little creatures attempted to crawl away from him, he forced it back, saying, "Remain on the place whither thou wast sent, until God assigns another unto thee." His wife, fearful that he would not bear his horrible suffering with steadfastness, advised him to pray to God for death, that lie might be sure of going hence an upright man. But he rejected her counsel, saying, "If in the days of good fortune, which usually tempts men to deny God, I stood firm, and did not rebel against Him, surely I shall be able to remain steadfast under misfortune, which compels men to be obedient to God." And Job stuck to his resolve in spite of all suffering, while his wife was not strong enough to bear her fate with resignation to the will of God. Her lot was bitter, indeed, for she had had to take service as a water-carrier with a common churl, and when her master learnt that she shared her bread with Job, he dismissed her. To keep her husband from starving, she cut off her hair, and purchased bread with it. It was all she had to pay the price charged by the bread merchant, none other than Satan himself, who wanted to put her to the test. He said to her, "Hadst thou not deserved this great misery of thine, it had not come upon thee." This speech was more than the poor woman could bear. Then it was that she came to her husband, and amid tears and groans urged him to renounce God and die. Job, however, was not perturbed by her words, because he divined at once that Satan stood behind his wife, and seduced her to speak thus. Turning to the tempter, he said: "Why dost thou not meet me frankly? Give up thy underhand ways, thou wretch." Thereupon Satan appeared before Job, admitted that he had been vanquished, and went away abashed.
