Greatly Misunderstood

She’s gotten a bad rap.   She’s been called a curse, a nag, and foolish.

But I’m beginning to think she had the characteristics of the Proverbs 31 woman.

That mystical being described in Proverbs 31 has tormented the struggles of women for centuries.  We lay out the  qualifications of a virtuous woman like a check list of things we must do to eventually be praised by our husbands and considered blessed by our children.

It’s not that I don’t believe such a woman can exists and these aren’t worthy goals or values to strive for.  It’s more that I don’t think she sits out to do the 22 things listed in these verses (Proverbs 31:10-31) as much as she just is that type of woman.  It’s her character because of her decision to follow Christ in every aspect of her life.

I’ve seen the life of a virtuous woman lived out….she was my mother.

But I also believe she was someone else you might not have ever considered before.

Job’s wife.

She’s mentioned in only a few verses of the book of Job (2:9-10, 19:17, 31:10) and I can’t remember ever hearing her described as a virtuous woman.  In most teachings that I’ve heard or studied, she was condemned for suggesting Job do exactly what Satan said Job would do if God removed the hedge of protection from around him and let bad stuff happen to him.

And bad stuff happened to him….really bad stuff.

It happened to his wife too.

I recently read through the book of Job because of my reading plan to read through the Bible this year.  I missed a couple of the chapters mainly because it really is hard to read every day at least 3 chapters! But God would not let me leave Job until I had done more than just read it.  This time, He wanted me to understand it.  So I’ve been reading it a bit more intentionally again.

The first time I read it (this year and even in other readings) I came away with the idea that Job’s wife was a foolish woman and that Satan didn’t take his wife from Job, because leaving her was curse enough.

But I changed my mind when God sent me back into the book….along with several commentaries.

To understand who she was, you first have to understand who Job was.

Three times, God describes Job as “perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil” (KJV Job 1:1, 8; 2:3)

Other translations give a bit more insight into this description.

HCSB – a man of perfect integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil

The Message – honest inside and out, a man of his word, who was totally devoted to God and heated evil with a passion

NCV –  a honest and innocent man, he honored God and stayed away from evil

I like the “man of perfect integrity” description.  Webster’s  defines integrity as:

a firm adherence to a code of especially moral values, incorruptibility

I know a few man that fit that description.  In the New Testament, 1 Timothy 3 describes leaders of the church and their qualifications…very much like the description of Job.  The thing about those men that I know personally and those described in 1 Timothy is that they have a wife and she has the character of integrity too.

In fact, I think most people would agree that a man would not be considered of perfect integrity if his wife was a foolish woman.  It would count against him if his wife was not in submission to him as the spiritual leader of his home, or if she was the town gossip, or of poor character.

Job was a great man.  The KJV version, 1:3 says that “this man was the greatest of all the men of the east”.  He (and his wife!) had 10 children, servants, and lots and lots of livestock.  He was great in his morals and his wealth.  In Job 29-31, he describes himself as a man who was respected among men of youth, the aged men, and even the princes and nobles.  When he spoke, people stopped talking to listen.  He had a place at the city gates (29:7).

Now compare that to Proverbs 31:23…a virtuous woman’s husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land (where the business of the community takes place).  In fact, many of Job’s descriptions of himself in Job 29 resemble Proverbs 31: 10-31.

So for today….would you conclude with me that Job’s wife was also a woman of integrity?  I know…verse 2:9!  I’ll get that verse in another post.

Over the next few days I’m going to be sharing more of my thoughts on Job and his wife.  I still don’t understand all of Job and I’m still surrounded by commentaries of differing opinions, still trying to understand why God allowed bad stuff to happen to good people, still reading Job.