Bava Batra 15b (טו:) — the Talmud in English

The Gemara resolves this:

Say:

The intention of the beraita is not that he was born when they entered Egypt and died when they left, but rather that the beraita means to say that the number of years of Job's life was

like

the number of years that elapsed

from the time Israel entered Egypt until [

the time ]

they left.

Those years numbered 210. And in fact, Job was one of those who returned from the Exile.

This matter—that Job lived 210 years—is explicitly explained in the Book of Job. For in chapter 42, verse 10, it says: “And the Lord restored all that belonged to Job, double,” meaning that Job received from the Holy One, blessed be He, double of all the good that he had possessed before his afflictions came upon him.

For example, the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him fourteen sons in place of the seven he had previously had [as explained by Rashi, chapter 42, verse 13].

Included in this was that Job was also given double the number of years that he had lived before he received his afflictions. Thus, when it subsequently says [verse 16], “And Job lived after this 140 years,” we learn that when his afflictions came upon him, he was seventy years old. And the Holy One, blessed be He, doubled this for him, and he received another 140 years. It follows that all the years of Job's life numbered 210 years [seventy before the afflictions and 140 afterward].

Meytivi: Seven prophets prophesied to the nations of the world, and these are they: Balaam and his father

Beor,

and Job,

as well as Job's four companions:

Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, Zophar the Naamathite, and Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite.

This beraita proves that Job was a gentile, which is difficult for Rabbi Yohanan and Rabbi Elazar, who said that Job was one of those who returned from the Exile and that his beit-midrash was in Tiberias.

The Gemara resolves this:

And according to your reasoning,

if you maintain that all the prophets listed in the beraita were from the nations of the world, it follows that

Elihu son of Barachel was not an Israelite

but was a gentile.

But

this is impossible, for

it is written: “

From the family of Ram,”

and from the fact that the prophet identified him by his father's name and by his family name, we must learn that he was a Jew.

It is difficult, then, how he could be listed in the beraita together with the prophets of the nations of the world.

Rather,

it must be that the beraita means that Elihu

prophesied,

he prophesied

to the nations of the world,

although he himself was a Jew.

Here too

one can say that

Job prophesied [

to the nations of the world ],

but he himself was a Jew.

The Gemara asks: According to your view, that not all seven prophets in the beraita were from the nations of the world, but rather that they prophesied to the nations of the world, this is difficult:

Did not all the prophets prophesy to the nations of the world?

Surely the other prophets, too, prophesied to the nations of the world. What, then, was distinctive about these prophets more than about the other prophets?

The Gemara resolves:

There,

the other prophets,

their principal prophecy was for Israel,

whereas

here,

the seven prophets listed in the beraita,

their principal prophecy was for the nations of the world!

Meytivi,

another difficulty against those who maintain that Job was an Israelite:

We learned in a beraita:

There was a pious man among the nations of the world, and his name was Job,

and he came into the world only to receive his reward.

The Holy One, blessed be He, brought upon him

afflictions, and he began to blaspheme and curse

against Heaven. Therefore,

the Holy One, blessed be He, doubled his reward in this world

that was due to him for his piety, [

in order ]

to drive him from the World to Come

because he blasphemed and cursed. It is explicitly stated in the beraita, then, that Job was from the nations of the world.

The Gemara resolves:

The question of whether Job was an Israelite or from the nations of the world

is a dispute between tanna'im.

The tanna'im disagreed about this, and although the beraitot cited above indicate that Job was from the nations of the world, other tanna'im nevertheless maintain that Job was an Israelite—

as it was taught: Rabbi Elazar says: Job was in the days of

the period of

“when the judges judged,”

as it is stated

in Job, chapter 27, verse 12, where Job said to his companions: “

Indeed, all of you have seen

what happens to the wicked,

and

since that is so,

why do you act so vainly,”

by being wicked. Rabbi Elazar derives from the expression “you act so vainly” that Job lived in the days of “when the judges judged,” for

which generation was entirely vain,

so that even the best of the generation were “vain” and amounted to nothing?

You must say: This was the generation of “when the judges judged”!

As will be explained below, the one being judged would rebuke his judge, since the judge too was burdened with many sins.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korha says: Job was in the days of Ahasuerus,

as it is stated

in Job, chapter 42, verse 15: “

And there were not found

women as beautiful as Job's daughters throughout the land.”

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korha derives:

Which generation sought beautiful women? You must say: This was the generation of Ahasuerus!

And if

he says to him

the judge:

Remove the splinter from between your eyes,

withdraw and separate yourself from the minor transgression in your possession [a minor transgression is likened to a thin splinter],

he says to him—

the litigant answers his judge: Before you rebuke me to withdraw from the minor transgression in my possession,

remove

you

the beam from between your eyes

—you should withdraw from the grave transgression in your possession [a major transgression is likened to a beam].

And likewise, if

he says to him

the judge: ‘

Your silver has become dross’

[which is the wording of the verse in Isaiah 1:22, meaning that they would make copper coins and cover them with silver in order to deceive people]. And if the judge said to the litigant, ‘Your silver has become dross,’

he said to him,

the litigant answered with the second half of the verse: ‘

Your wine is diluted with water.’

You too engage in deception, for your wine is mixed with water, and you sell it to people deceptively.

Rav Shmuel bar Nahmani said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan:

Anyone who says that the Queen of Sheba was a woman is merely mistaken.

Rather,

what is the meaning of “Queen of Sheba”?

The kingdom of Sheba!

The Gemara now begins to explain the verses at the beginning of the Book of Job.

It is stated in Job [1:6–7]: ‘

And it came to pass one day,

that the sons of God came to stand before the Lord, and the Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to the Satan: From where do you come? And the Satan answered: From roaming throughout the earth and walking about in it’

The Gemara explains the verses:

The Satan said

the Satan

before Him,

before the Holy One, blessed be He:

Master of the Universe, I have roamed throughout the entire world and have not found anyone as trustworthy as Your servant Abraham, to whom You said: ‘

Rise, walk through the land, through its length and breadth, for I will give it to you.’

And even so,

despite Your promise of the land to him,

when he found no place to bury Sarah

until he purchased it for four hundred shekels of silver],

until he purchased it for four hundred shekels of silver,

he did not question Your attributes

And this is what the Satan said to the Holy One, blessed be He: ‘and walking about in it’—I have come from the one to whom You said, ‘Walk through the land’ .

The Gemara continues to explain the subsequent verses [verse 8]: ‘

And the Lord said to the Satan: Have you taken note of My servant Job, for there is none like him on earth’

—a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil.’

Rabbi Yohanan said: What is stated about Job is greater than what is stated about Abraham.

For concerning Abraham it is written: ‘

For now I know that you fear God,’

whereas

whereas

concerning Job it is written: ‘

a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil.

Thus, more is stated about Job than about Abraham .

The Gemara now explains what is stated about Job: ‘and turns away from evil’:

What is the meaning of “and turns away from evil”?

Rabbi Abba bar Shmuel said: Job was generous with his money,

for

the custom of the world

is that when one hires a laborer for a small task and wishes to give him half a peruta as his wage, the custom of the world is to

give half a peruta to the shopkeeper,

from whom the householder purchases a loaf or eggs for a peruta, sharing it with the laborer. But

Job would forgo

the half-peruta and give the laborer

from his own,

for he considered it distasteful to be exacting over a trivial matter that was not considered ‘money’ .

The Gemara continues to explain the subsequent verses [verse 9]: ‘

And the Satan answered the Lord and said,

Is it for nothing that

Job fears God? Have You not protected him

—shielded him —

and his household

and everything he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock has spread throughout the land’—

according to the Metzudot; see also Rashi there. What is the meaning of ‘

You have blessed the work of his hands’?

Rabbi Shmuel bar Rav Yitzhak said: Anyone who took a peruta from Job was blessed!

What is the meaning of ‘

and his livestock has spread throughout the land’?

Rabbi Yosei bar Hanina said:

The meaning of what is written, ‘livestock throughout the land,’ is

Job’s livestock breached the established order of the world: the custom of the world is that wolves kill goats,

whereas among

Job’s livestock, the goats killed the wolves.

The Gemara continues to explain the verses:

The Satan said to the Holy One, blessed be He [verse 11]: ‘

But now, stretch out Your hand and touch everything he has,

touching Job, and then we shall see whether

if

then

he will not bless You to Your face—

whether he will not blaspheme and revile Heaven .