Job's Wife

The Biblical story of the book of Job speaks of a man who suffers without cause because of a bet made in heaven between God and the Satan. Before Job's bursts in a soliloquy in chapter 3, his wife enters the scene with the famous words, "Curse God and die." While the words she states are equivocal, they are often translated negatively and her character in ancient and modern literature is maligned. I however argue that Mrs. Job should be seen in the light of Israel's ancient Wise Women found in the books of Samuel (2 Sam 14, 20). When compared to these female sages of old, Mrs. Job' s remarks become rhetorical daggers aimed at her husband to get him to come to the right decision.