Job is among my favorite chapters in Holy Bible. I have read it for several times. I like its dramatic plot and lively main characters, but I do not agree with its theme. However, it is a characteristic of great classics that any readers can find more than the writers tried to express.

First, the plot of Job is simple but dramatic. Long time ago, a man named Job lived in northwest Arabia. He worshiped the Lord and was nice to all people, and therefore he was rich and happy. In the beginning of the story, Satan pursued the Lord to test Job to see if Job would still serve the Lord when the Lord did not bless him. The lord, somehow, agreed to let Satan take away all form Job, including his wealth, his children, and finally, his health. As a result, Job lost everything. At first, Job felt easy because he believed, “If we accept blessings from God, we must accept trouble as well.” Then three of Job’s friends came to comfort, actually to disturb, him, because they insisted that the Lord must be punishing Job for his sin. Job answered that he was innocent, and argued with the friends back and forth, until the friends gave up without any agreement. During the argument, Job asked the Lord to appear and to explain why he was suffering, but finally he realized that human beings are lack of such wisdom to answer the deep questions of the life. At this point, a young bystander began to criticize both sides. Actually, he suggested that Job should ask the Lord for help rather than claim his innocent. The Lord, at last, appeared to them, but he did not explain anything. He just showed that humans could not understand many things he did, and criticized Job for talking so much while knowing so little. He also criticized the three friends for not telling the truth, as Job had said about the Lord is true. At the end, the Lord blessed Job and made him twice as wealthy as he had been.

Second, main characters in Job are vivid. Job was a nice man and faithful to the Lord, but he became rather exciting in the argument. Facing the Lord, Job awed him so much that he forgot all his questions. The Lord was powerful and willful. He blessed his people in the way beyond the understanding of modern men. He allowed Satan to kill all Job’s children, 7 sons and 3 daughters, and then let Job have other 7 sons and 3 daughters. The Lord thought it was a happy end, but I doubt if Job have ever mourned his dead children. Acutally, the Lord in Old Testament is different from the Lord in New Testament. He was powerful, but not beneficent. He might bless his people, but did not love them. As for other characters, Satan was clever. He took advantage of the Lord’s arrogance to make some trouble for him. The three friends were so similar that I cannot tell any deference among them. I guess that the writer used three friends instead of one to indicate their views widely-acceptable, rather than personal. That young bystander was very shrewd. He admired the Lord a lot. Indeed, the Lord finally said nothing about him.

Third, Job addressed an important problem. Why do innocent people suffer? Unfortunately, the writer failed to give an acceptable answer. He tried to pursue readers to believe that human being could not understand such problem. I have not been convinced. Anyway, an insightful problem is significant enough.

Last but not least, anyone can find something interesting in Job, which may be beyond the writer’s intention. For example, I inferred that, in the writer’s view, the property is much important than the life, because all Job’s oaths were about his property, and “the happy ending” only meant more property, regardless all lives lost, his dead children and servants. Besides, in the biblical world, there is no destiny beyond the Lord’s control. The Lord can do what he wants. On contrary, in the Greek pantheon, even Zeus could not change certain destiny.  

In conclusions, Job deserves to be perused. It has impressive plot and picturesque characters. It raises a noteworthy problem, though it dose not present a satisfactory answer. What is more, it makes its readers think a lot.