Bava Batra 16a (טז.) — the Talmud in English

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: This teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave Job a taste !(pamud.bmp "")

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of the nature of the World to Come.

For concerning the World to Come it is stated in Jeremiah: “The pregnant woman and the woman giving birth together,” meaning that conception and birth will take place on the same day, as explained in tractate Shabbat [30b]. Something similar occurred in Job’s fields, for at the very moment that the oxen plowed, the she-donkeys immediately followed them and ate what had grown at once, as the plowing was taking place.

The Gemara now brings the verses at the beginning of the Book of Job and expounds them.

It is stated in Job, chapter 1, verses 16–22: “

While he was still speaking and another came and said”

the messenger to Job, “

A fire of God”

fell from the heavens and burned among the sheep and the servants and consumed them … “

While he was still speaking and another came and said”

the messenger to Job: A troop of

Chaldeans formed three divisions”

and divided into three battalions, “

and they fell upon the camels and took them,”

and they struck the servants with the sword … “

Still”

“while he was still speaking and another came and said: Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their firstborn brother, and behold, a great wind came from beyond the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell”

the house

“upon the young men”

and they died. “

And Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, etc., and he said: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord has given and the Lord has taken; may the Name of the Lord be blessed.”

Despite all this

in spite of the suffering that had come upon him,

Job did not sin,

and he did not utter a word of folly against God.”

He did not speak words of folly and denigration concerning the Holy One, blessed be He.

The Gemara continues to bring the verses in the Book of Job [chapter 2, verses 1–2].

“And it came to pass one day, that the sons of God”

the heavenly host close to the Divine Presence

“came to stand”

before the Lord, and the Satan also came among them to stand before the Lord. “

And the Lord said to the Satan: From where do you come,”

from where have you come? “

And the Satan answered the Lord and said: From roaming throughout the earth”

and walking about in it.”

The Gemara explains the Satan’s words:

He said

the Satan

before Him,

before the Holy One, blessed be He: “

Master of the Universe! I have roamed throughout the entire world, and I have found none like Your servant Abraham, to whom You said”

‘Arise, walk through the land, throughout its length and breadth, for I shall give it to you,’

and

even so,

when he sought to bury Sarah, he could not find a place in which to bury her, yet he did not question Your ways.” [

Above, on 15a, the Gemara brought this exposition from another verse, in chapter 1, verse 7, whereas here it derives it from the verse in chapter 2, verse 2. See the note. ]

The Gemara adds further verses from the Book of Job [chapter 2, verse 3]. “

And the Lord said to the Satan: Have you set your heart upon My servant Job, for there is none like him in the land,”

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

and

despite the suffering that had come upon him,

he still maintains his integrity, although you incited Me against him to destroy him”

to afflict him

“for no reason.”

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Were it not written in Scripture, it would be impossible to say this!

For the verse explicitly states that the Holy One, blessed be He, was, as it were, incited by the Satan,

like a person who is incited and is incited successfully.

In a metanita,

in a beraita,

it was taught:

This is the Satan’s way:

he descends

into the world

and leads people astray

to sin,

and

after causing them to sin, he

ascends

to Heaven

and arouses

the anger of the Holy One, blessed be He, and

takes

from the Holy One, blessed be He,

permission

to kill the sinners,

and takes

the

soul

of the sinner. And this is as we find concerning Job, for the Satan prosecuted him and was given permission to afflict him.

It is stated in Job [chapter 2, verses 4–6]: “

And the Satan answered the Lord”

after the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “And you incited Me against him to destroy him for no reason,”

and he said:

Is it not the way of people, when a person sees that a blow is about to befall him, to give

“skin for skin,”

one limb in exchange for protecting the head, because a person protects his head with his hand? And if this is so with a person’s limbs, all the more so:

“And all”

his property

“that a man has he will give for his life!”

Therefore, argued the Satan, Job did not deny the Lord after all that had happened to him because he thought that a death sentence had been decreed against him, and that in exchange for his life everything he possessed had been lost; therefore he accepted it graciously. “

But send forth Your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh,”

Job’s, and then You will see

“whether he will not curse You to Your face!”

whether he will not revile and blaspheme Heaven, because bodily pain is more severe than the loss of property and children.

And the Lord said to the Satan: Behold, he is in your hand,

and you are permitted to bring bodily suffering upon him,

“but preserve his soul,”

so that he does not die.

And the Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job

with a terrible inflammation, from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.”

Rabbi Yitzḥak said: The Satan’s

was

suffering

for he had to take care that Job’s soul not depart because of the severity of the suffering,

more than

Job’s

suffering.

This is analogous to a servant whose master said to him: Break the barrel, but preserve its wine,

so that it does not spill. So the Holy One, blessed be He, said to the Satan concerning Job: Strike Job, but take care that his soul does not depart.

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: He is the Satan, he is the evil inclination, and he is the Angel of Death!

The proof is as follows:

He is the Satan:

The one who prosecuted Job was the Satan,

as it is written, “

And the Satan went out from the presence of the Lord,”

and if so, this proves that

he

is also

the evil inclination,

for

it is written there,

in Genesis, chapter 6, verse 5, concerning the evil inclination: “And every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was

only evil all day long,”

and it is written here

that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to the Satan: “

Only

preserve his soul.”

And Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish derived a gezerah shavah from the word “only” stated concerning the evil inclination and the word “only” stated concerning the Satan, and from this he learned that the Satan is the evil inclination.

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish explains his proof that the Satan

is the Angel of Death, as it is written:

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to the Satan: “

But his soul”

Job’s

“preserve,”

therefore

from this we learn that

it lay within his power

to take the soul, but the Holy One, blessed be He, warned him not to do so.

Rabbi Levi said:

The

Satan

who prosecuted Job

and Peninnah,

who provoked Hannah over the fact that she had no children,

both acted for the sake of Heaven!

The Gemara explains:

The Satan, once he saw

that he saw

the Holy One, blessed be He, that His mind was inclined

of the Holy One, blessed be He

toward

after

Job, said

the Satan:

“Heaven forbid that the merit of Abraham’s compassion should be forgotten by Him,”

that the merit of Abraham should be forgotten before the Holy One, blessed be He. Therefore the Satan prosecuted Job; it follows that his prosecution of Job was for the sake of Heaven, so that Abraham’s merit would not be forgotten.

Likewise,

Peninnah

acted for the sake of Heaven.

As it is written

in I Samuel [chapter 1, verses 2–6]: “And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children …

and her rival provoked her”

Peninnah caused Hannah distress,

“even provoking her”

distress upon distress over the fact that she had no children, and her intention was

“in order to make her thunder,”

so that Hannah would pray to the Holy One, blessed be He. It follows that Peninnah’s action was for the sake of Heaven.

Rav Aḥa bar Yaakov expounded

this teaching, that the Satan and Peninnah acted for the sake of Heaven,

in Paphunya,

the place where he lived .

The Satan came and kissed him

and kissed

his feet,

Rav Aḥa bar Yaakov’s feet, because he had taught that the Satan’s intention was for the sake of Heaven.

It is further stated in Job, chapter 2, verse 10: “

Despite all this,”

despite the suffering that had come upon him,

“Job did not sin with his lips.”

Rava said:

Although

he did not sin with his lips,

as is explained in the verse, nevertheless

he sinned in his heart!

What did he say?

What did Job say from which Rava learned that he had sinned in his heart? “

The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; he covers the faces of its judges. If it is not so,”

“who is it?”

Job, chapter 9, verse 24.

Rava said

concerning this verse:

“Job sought to turn the bowl upside down.”

That is, to uproot the honor of the Holy One, blessed be He. For this verse contains words of reviling and blasphemy directed toward the Holy One, blessed be He. From this Rava learned that Job sinned in his heart. [

The words of the Gemara require explanation, for if Job said this, it follows that he also sinned with his lips, since he uttered this verse with his mouth. See the note. ]

Abaye said to him: Job was not speaking

concerning this verse

except against the Satan.

He said this verse concerning the Satan, but did not intend to revile Heaven.

This dispute between Abaye and Rava in explaining the verse is

like

a dispute

between tannaim,

who disagreed concerning this verse.

And so we learned in a beraita: “

The earth is given into the hand of the wicked.”

Rabbi Eliezer says: Job sought to turn the bowl upside down.

For this verse contains words of reviling and blasphemy.

Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: Job was speaking only against the Satan!

It is further stated in Job, chapter 10, verse 7:

Job said to the Holy One, blessed be He: “

You know that I am not wicked, and there is none who can deliver from Your hand!”

The Gemara explains the verse:

Rava said: Job sought to exempt the entire world from judgment,

claiming that the entire world is compelled by the evil inclination. This is what he said to the Holy One, blessed be He: “You know that I would not be wicked.” Had You desired it, I would not have become wicked!

And so

Job

said

before Him: Master of the Universe, You created an ox, whose hooves are split. This is the sign of its purity, and it is permitted to eat it. But, on the other hand,

For this is the sign of its purity, and it is permitted to eat it. And conversely,

You created a donkey,

and

its hooves are closed. Therefore, it is forbidden to eat it.

And therefore it is forbidden to eat it.

If so, You created all this, and there is no possibility of changing it.

Likewise,

You created the Garden of Eden,

and

You created Gehenna. You created the righteous through the good inclination, and

through the good inclination, and

You created the wicked through the evil inclination.

through the evil inclination.

Who prevents You from inclining the heart of the wicked to become righteous? Is it not You who decide in whom the good inclination will prevail and in whom the evil inclination will prevail? If so, since You are the One who inclines the hearts of the righteous and the wicked, a person has no free choice. Just as a donkey has no choice to become pure, so too the wicked have no choice to escape the evil inclination.

If the evil inclination prevails over him, he is coerced .

And what did they answer him?

What did

his companions [

of Job ]

answer his claim? ‘

You too,

by saying these things,

undermine fear!

You undermine the fear of human beings.

And you diminish prayer before God.’

As a result of these words of yours, people will not pray to the Almighty.

The answer to your claim is this: indeed,

the Almighty created the evil inclination,

but opposite it,

He created the Torah as its antidote.

The Torah is the antidote, the power that nullifies the evil inclination.

It follows that free choice still remains in a person's hands, and he is not coerced to sin, for even if the evil inclination prevails over him, he can defeat it through the Torah.

Rava expounded: What is the meaning of that which is written [

in Job, chapter 29, verse 13 ]: ‘

The blessing of the lost would come upon me, and I would gladden the heart of the widow’?

Rava explains this verse: ‘

The blessing of the lost would come upon me’—

this teaches that

Job

would seize a field from orphans, and

after the seizure he would

improve it and return it to them

the field in a more improved state than when he had taken it. This is what Job said: “The blessing of the lost”—that is, the blessing of one who thought that his field had been lost but received it back improved—“would come upon me.”’—

The Gemara interprets the continuation of the verse. ‘

And I would gladden the heart of the widow.’

For wherever there was

a place where there was

a widow whom no one would marry,

who could not find someone to marry her,

he would go

Job would go and

put his name upon her,

saying publicly that she was his relative, or he would take care to speak about her in order to arrange a marriage for her.

And they would come and marry her,

and they would come to marry her.

It is further stated concerning Job, chapter 6, verse 2:’ ‘

If only my anger were weighed

if they were to weigh

my suffering and my ruin

my evil deeds against the punishments I received [see note], and

they were placed together on scales’ , ‘

then it would outweigh the sand of the seas.’

The meaning of this verse is that Job complained that he had received a punishment greater than that warranted by his sins.

Rav said:

It would be fitting to cast

dust into the mouth

of

Job,

who spoke before the Almighty like

a companion before Heaven.

He spoke like a person arguing with his fellow and saying, “Let us see who owes what to whom.”

It is further stated concerning Job, chapter 9, verse 33—

Job said to the Almighty: ‘

If only

there were between us

if only there were between us

an arbiter,

someone able to clarify the matters between us, who

would place his hand upon us both.’

Rav said:

It would be fitting to cast

dust into the mouth

of

Job.

Can it be

that

there is a servant who rebukes his master?!

It is further stated concerning Job, chapter 31, verse 1. Job was praising himself and saying: ‘

I made a covenant with my eyes

not to gaze at a married woman,

and how could I contemplate a virgin?

I do not even look at a virgin.

Rava said:

He,

Job, did not look

at other women,

at unrelated women, but

Abraham, even at his own wife

did not look at

her.

As it is written that Abraham said to Sarah, ‘

Now I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance.’

By inference

you learn

that initially,

before he said this to her,

he did not know her.

He had not looked at her and did not recognize her.

It is stated concerning Job, chapter 7, verse 9:’

Job said: Just as

a cloud vanishes and goes away, so

the dead who

descends to Sheol

to the grave

will not ascend.’

Rava said: From here it follows that Job denied the resurrection of the dead .

It is stated concerning Job, chapter 9, verse 17: ‘

Who crushes me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause,’

and the Gemara interprets the verse:

Rabba said: Job blasphemed during a tempest, and he was answered during a tempest.

He blasphemed during a tempest, as it is written: ‘

Who crushes me with a tempest.’

He said before Him: Master of the Universe, perhaps a tempest passed before You, and You confused Job with an enemy,

and

He answered him during a tempest, as it is written [

in Job, chapter 38, verse 1 ]: ‘

And the Lord answered Job from the tempest

and said ...

Gird your loins now like a man,

rouse yourself from your suffering and illnesses, and

I will ask you [

the following questions ]

and you will inform Me.—

He said to him

the Almighty said to Job:

I created many hairs

hair

on a person, and for each and every hair I created a separate follicle,

from which that hair grows,

so that two

hairs

should not draw nourishment from one follicle, for if two hairs drew nourishment from one follicle, they would darken a person's eyesight. [

And this is the meaning of “from the tempest,” referring to hair ]— And so the Almighty said to Job: If

I was not confused between one follicle and another,

do you think

I was confused between Job and an enemy?!

The Almighty further said to Job: ‘

Who has divided a channel for the flood, etc.’

And the Gemara interprets this verse:

I created many drops in the clouds,

in the clouds,

and for each and every drop I created a mold

like a channel through which the drop descends,

separately, so that two drops should not emerge from one mold, for if two drops emerged from one mold, they would muddy the earth

making the soil like mud,

and it would not produce fruit.—

And this is the meaning of the verse: “Who has divided a channel for the flood [for rain],” a mold —

And the Almighty said to Job: If

I was not confused between one drop and another,

how could it be that

I was confused between Job and an enemy?!

And we challenge this:

From where is it understood that this

the word

“channel”

written in the verse

is a term for a mold?

Rabba bar Sheila said: As it is written

in Kings I, chapter 18, verse 32, concerning Elijah:

“And he made a channel [

around the altar ]

as large as the area for sowing two se'ah.”’

The Almighty further said to Job: ‘

“And a path for the lightning of voices.”’—

And the Gemara interprets the verse:

I created many voices in the clouds, and for each and every voice I created a separate path, so that two voices should not emerge from one path, for if two voices emerged from one path, they would destroy the entire world .

And the Almighty said to Job: If

I was not confused between one voice and another,

how could you think

I was confused between Job and an enemy?!

The Almighty further said to Job—

“Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch over the calving of the does?” [

Job 39:1 ].

And the Gemara interprets the verse:

“This is the mountain goat,”