Job's Wife's Fate and Role After Her Lapse
Job's wife is presented in the biblical narrative as a figure who, in a moment of profound suffering, urges her husband to "curse God and die" (Job 2:9). This counsel occurs after Job has lost his children, his possessions, and his health, leaving his wife as his sole remaining family member [3, 5]. Despite this pivotal role in the narrative, the Bible offers limited information about her fate or her ongoing role after this incident.
The biblical text itself does not explicitly state what became of Job's wife after her outburst. The book of Job concludes with Job's restoration, including the birth of new children (Job 42:13) and a long life (Job 42:16-17). The absence of any mention of her death or replacement has led some interpreters to assume she remained with Job and was the mother of his subsequent children [2]. John Gill, for instance, notes that polygamy was not common in Job's time and that Job had only one wife. He suggests that she "very probably" bore Job his ten new children, as her death is never recorded, nor is Job said to have taken another wife [2]. This perspective implies that despite her momentary lapse, she was ultimately a "good woman" who remained with Job [2].
However, her words in Job 2:9 are consistently highlighted by commentators as a significant moment of temptation for Job. She echoes God's earlier assessment of Job's integrity (Job 2:3) but then, in her anguish, advises him to curse God, which would have fulfilled Satan's prediction (Job 1:11; 2:5) [5]. John Chrysostom, an Eastern Orthodox father, views her as an instrument of Satan, preserved by the devil precisely to tempt and ensnare Job after all else had been destroyed [3]. Chrysostom emphasizes the "wickedness of his wife" in her counsel, noting that she began her temptation by focusing on the length of Job's suffering and the loss of their children [4].
Rabbinic tradition also addresses Job's wife, often drawing parallels between her and Eve. The Midrash Rabbah, for example, contrasts Job's refusal to heed his wife's advice with Adam's decision to listen to Eve. Job is portrayed as saying, "I am unlike the one who said: 'The woman whom You gave to me...'" (referring to Adam's words in Genesis 3:12), implying that Job did not take his wife's counsel to "Blaspheme God and die" [6]. This interpretation underscores the severity of her advice and Job's righteousness in rejecting it. Some Jewish traditions identify Job's wife as Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, though this is considered unlikely by some scholars [2, 6]. The Midrash also places Job's life in the days of Abraham, suggesting he was a contemporary of Terah, Abraham's father [7, 8].
The phrase "thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh" (Job 2:10) is interpreted by John Gill to mean that Job did not consider her inherently foolish or wicked, but rather that her words were out of character for her. He suggests she spoke "not like herself, and one of her profession, but like carnal persons," implying she was generally considered a good woman who was momentarily overcome by grief and spoke like "wicked and profane women" [1]. Sanctius, cited by Gill, even speculates that Job might have been referring to Idumean women who would reproach their gods when their desires were not met [1].
The suffering endured by Job's wife is also a point of consideration. She lost all her children and possessions alongside Job, and her husband was afflicted with a terrible disease [3]. Her counsel to Job can be seen as an expression of her own profound grief and despair, rather than inherent malice. She had endured the same catastrophic losses as Job, including the "throes and labors of my womb" for whom she had "wearied myself in vain with toils," as the Septuagint version of her speech highlights [4]. This perspective acknowledges her shared suffering as a context for her desperate words.
Despite the harshness of Job's rebuke, the text does not depict a divorce or separation. The narrative's focus shifts to Job's dialogue with his friends and then with God. When Job's fortunes are restored, the text states, "The Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning" (Job 42:12). This blessing includes "seven sons and three daughters" (Job 42:13). The lack of any mention of a new wife strongly suggests that his original wife remained with him and was the mother of these new children. This implies a reconciliation and a continuation of their marital relationship, even after her moment of doubt and despair.
The silence of the biblical text regarding her subsequent actions or fate leaves room for interpretation. The emphasis is placed on Job's unwavering integrity in the face of extreme adversity, even when tempted by his closest companion. Her role serves primarily to highlight Job's steadfastness. However, the common interpretation among various traditions that she remained with Job and bore him more children suggests a redemption of her character, or at least a continuation of her life within the restored family unit, rather than a permanent condemnation or separation [2]. Her story, therefore, becomes a testament to the complexities of human faith and despair in suffering, and the possibility of enduring relationships even after moments of profound weakness.
Sources
- Job (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Job 2:9: But he said unto her, thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh,.... The wicked and profane women of that age; he does not say she was one of them, but spake like them; which intimates that she was a good woman, and had always been thought to be so; but now spake not like herself, and one of her profession, but like carnal persons: Sanctius thinks Job refers to the Idumean women, who, like other Heathens, when their god did not please them, or they could not obtain of them what they desired, would reproach them, and cast them away from there, throw them into the ”
- Job (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Job 2:8: Then said his wife to him,.... The Jews (g), who affect to know everything, say, that Job's wife was Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, as the Targum, but this is not very likely; however, we may observe that polygamy had not obtained in these early times; Job had but one wife, and very probably she is the same that after all this bore him ten children more; since we never read of her death, nor of his having any other wife, and might be a good woman for anything that appears to the contrary; and Job himself seems to intimate the same, though she was in the dark about this pro”
- CCEL/NPNF (Eastern Orthodox) “John Chrysostom, Homilies on 1 & 2 Corinthians: “If we have received good at the hand of the Lord, shall we not endure evil?” ( Job ii. 10 .) For in fact his wife was by this time the only one left, all his having been clean destroyed, both his children and his possessions and his very body, and she reserved to tempt and to ensnare him. And this indeed was the reason why the devil did not destroy her with the children, nor asked her death, because he expected that she would contribute much towards the ensnaring of that holy man. Therefore he left her as a kind of implement, and a formidable on”
- CCEL/NPNF (Eastern Orthodox) “John Chrysostom, Homilies on 1 & 2 Corinthians: should do it for me;” And observe, I pray, the wickedness of his wife, from what topic she at once begins: namely, from the length of time, saying, “How long wilt thou hold out 161 161 Job ii. 9 . where, according to the LXX, the speech of Job’s wife stands as follows: “How long wilt thou be patient, saying, Lo, let me endure yet a little while, awaiting the hope of my salvation? For behold, thy memorial is vanished from the earth, even sons and daughters, the throes and labors of my womb, for whom I have wearied myself in vain with toils: and th”
- Job (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Job 2:9: 2:9 Job’s wife first summarized the essence of Job’s temptation by echoing God’s words (2:3); Job was trying to maintain his integrity. In her frustration and anguish, however, she then counseled Job to curse God and thus unknowingly fulfill Satan’s prediction (1:11; 2:5).”
- Midrash Rabbah (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Midrash Rabbah, Bereishit Rabbah 19:12: “The man said: The woman whom You gave…” – that is what is written: “I would speak, and I would not fear Him; for it is not so that I am, with myself [ imadi ]” (Job 9:35) – I am unlike the one who said: “The woman whom You gave to me [ imadi ]…” He heeded his wife’s words, but I did not heed my wife’s words. 51 Job’s wife told him, “Blaspheme God and die” (Job 2:9). Unlike Adam, Job didn’t take his wife’s advice. This is why Job said that he was unlike imadi , a word that alludes to Adam. Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: Dina 52 Jacob’s daughter. was Job’s w”
- Job (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Job 42:16: The Septuagint makes Job live a hundred seventy years after his calamity, and two hundred forty in all. This would make him seventy at the time of his calamity, which added to a hundred forty in Hebrew text makes up two hundred ten; a little more than the age (two hundred five) of Terah, father of Abraham, perhaps his contemporary. Man's length of life gradually shortened, till it reached threescore and ten in Moses' time (Psa 90:10). sons' sons--a proof of divine favor (Gen 50:23; Psa 128:6; Pro 17:6).”
- Midrash Rabbah (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Midrash Rabbah, Bereishit Rabbah 57:4: “Utz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel, father of Aram” (Genesis 22:21). Another interpretation, he [Abraham] feared experiencing suffering. 8 He feared that God would test him yet again, this time with physical suffering. The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘You need not [fear], the one who will experience it [suffering] has already been born. “Utz his firstborn, and Buz his brother.”’ 9 Utz refers to Job, as the Midrash goes on to explain. When did Job live? Reish Lakish said in the name of bar Kappara: He lived in the days of Abraham, ”