Editorial

The cover of this issue is a photograph of a sculpture from Carl Milles, “The Existential Man.” This was Milles’s last work, and it depicts a man looking to the heavens as he contemplates his existence. The unnamed figure stands on a mysterious palm with his feet spread apart in a posture of uncertainty and perhaps supplication. Samuel Balentine describes the evocative scene:

Milles envisions both the precariousness and promise of any person who struggles to comprehend his or her place in the vast scheme of the cosmos. It is instructive to consider what this person might be thinking if his name were Job. Job knows that the hand of God has touched him, but whether it is for good or for ill is not at all clear (cf. 10:3, 7; 12:9-10; 19:21). If the hand depicted here is the hand of God, then will the fingers remain spread in support of the one vulnerable to the world’s assaults? Or will the fingers close and squash this one who has no visible means of escape? Job fears the latter (13:14-15), but he hopes for the former (23:1-7). ¹

The current issue of Interpretation examines the book of Job in its timeless complexity, with an eye towards understanding the relationship between the prologue, dialogues, and epilogue, and how this enigmatic and profound work can speak to us today.

First is the reprint of a seminal essay from Sam Balentine, where he considers the nature of Job’s prayer on behalf of his interlocutors in Job 42:7–10. Balentine astutely asks if Job might be praying as much for God as he is for the friends. In conversation with illuminating and varied artwork, Balentine convincingly demonstrates that the prayer not only delivers the friends (and Job himself) from anguish, but also transforms the heavenly realm from a place of angry retribution and brokenness.

Ethan Schwartz looks at the concept of sophistry, with particular attention to the use of rhetoric in Plato’s Gorgias and the book of Job. The sophist is not interested in the truth, but in making their speeches sound true, and Schwartz explores this dynamic by examining Harry Frankfurt’s understanding of “bullshit.” The problem with the interlocutors in Job is that they privilege the formulaic maxims of the wisdom tradition over the immense and undeserved suffering of Job that their eyes are plainly seeing. Schwartz’s study of Plato and Job is highly relevant for our solipsistic age of alternative facts.

Patricia Vesely’s essay makes insightful use of trauma theory to explicate the message of Job. This biblical book is not an abstract philosophical treatise on theodicy but a fully informed exploration of inexplicable suffering and the impact it can have on health and human relationships. In critical conversation with the pioneering work of Balentine, Vesely provides a useful definitional framework before examining the vocabulary of trauma in Job. She persuasively claims that Job is far more attuned to human relationships than is commonly assumed and that solidarity is recovered at the conclusion of the book, even if the marks of anguish always remain with trauma survivors.

The ending of Job (42:7–17) also receives careful attention in an intricate and creative essay from C. L. Seow. He provides a careful analysis of the Hebrew terminology in this section and how best to translate the consequential language in the epilogue. Has Job spoken “rightly” (nәkônâ) about God and the friends? In his detailed exploration of divine wrath and petitionary prayer in the epilogue, Seow claims that the fundamental mistake of the friends “is not for everything they have said but for their failure to address the theological problem of unjust suffering.”

Finally, Brennan Breed provides a creative lens through which to examine the timeless message of Job. He utilizes Simone Weil’s notion of humble receptivity to clarify some of the central ideas in the book. Weil’s emphasis (and that of C. Thi Nguyen) on attention is not about the frantic busyness (“muscular attention”) that characterizes the friends’ response, but attunement to and humble, playful engagement with the entirety of creation. Breed’s innovative study provides a fresh template for understanding the divine speeches, encouraging “intellectual playfulness,” and steering away from the destructive “busyness” of the digital age.

All of these essays interact with the lucid, creative, and inspiring work of Sam Balentine on the book of Job. Former students and colleagues draw upon Balentine’s career of probing every aspect of Job to elucidate its meaning. In his many publications on the book, Balentine utilized art, literature, the reflections of diverse interpreters, and his own penetrating analysis to help others understand the plaintive cries of Job, the platitudes of the interlocutors, and God’s mysterious response. His careful exegesis and memorable turns of phrase are clearly a model for those writing for this issue and countless others.

Sam Balentine edited this journal for many years and spent the final portion of his distinguished career at Union Presbyterian Seminary, where he pressed students to ask foundational questions about God, world, and humankind. During this period, he was blessed with grandchildren and the promise of a lengthy retirement, where he could enjoy his family and continue to write. Yet he developed a terminal respiratory illness that led to his untimely death.

His lifelong engagement with Job reflects Sam’s awareness of mystery and inexplicable tragedy and his enthusiasm for passing his wisdom to others. The editors of Interpretation dedicate this issue to Sam Balentine with deep appreciation and respect for the enduring work of this good and faithful servant of God.

Samuel L. Adams