Job 2:9-10

9 Then said ['amar] his wife ['ishshah] unto him, Dost thou still retain [chazaq] thine integrity [tummah]? curse [barak] God ['elohiym], and die [muwth].

10 But he said ['amar] unto her, Thou speakest [dabar] as one ['echad] of the foolish women [nabal] speaketh [dabar]. What [gam]? shall we receive [qabal] good [towb] at the hand of God ['elohiym], and shall we not receive [qabal] evil [ra`]? In all this did not Job ['Iyowb] sin [chata'] with his lips [saphah]. KJV-Interlinear

9 Then his wife said to him, 'Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!' 10 But he said to her, 'You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?' In all this Job did not sin with his lips. NASB

When people suffer, we can have one of several reactions or responses to them. We can sympathize with them and have some form of empathy. We can judge them and presume that they deserve their trouble. We can look condescendingly down on them with contempt and just know that they are getting what they deserve. Of course we can simply ignore their plight, too. After all, why should we get involved.

These will be among the arguments to come in the remainder of the book.

Job's wife is the first to speak her mind. Does she have any form of concern for Job's suffering? No. Instead she judges Job. Job's wife is not going to contribute to his comfort but to his misery. And to what purpose? Her comments will not solve anything, nor help the situation.

Job has trusted in God. Job has been blessed probably all of his life. Job was the target of his blessing, and of the blessing that overflowed from him, to his entire family and community.

The wife married Job. The wife did not build up the business empire, but she was blessed through association with Job, the one who was blessed.

As with any association, some bad generally comes with the good. You cannot be a recipient of a gift, and then dictate the terms of that gift, nor do you have a right to complain when the terms have changed.

All good comes from God. All bad comes from Satan, or the pattern, which Satan has initiated in history.

By condemning her husband, Job's wife has inadvertently changed her association with Satan.

Anyone who participates in gossip, in judging, in any form of condescension, in any form of sin for that matter, even in any form of do-gooder human good activities, then they align themselves with Satan and evil.

In Mark 8, Jesus rebuked Peter when Peter complained that He, Jesus, should not be made to suffer. Peter had good intensions of course, but his words were the words of a fool. He did not know doctrine, nor of the need for the Crucifixion and the completion of the requirements of salvation. Without salvation, then none of us would have any life at all. If Peter were given his do-gooder way, then salvation would never occur, and we would all end up in the Lake of Fire.

Good intentions do not make things right. More often good intentions are more na ve than wise.

Job's wife, whose name is never mentioned, has given birth to ten children. They are all dead now. And their death has been quite recent. Regardless of how much time has transpired, the loss of ten children would take a long time to recover from grieving.

What was Job's wife doing in the interim? What would you be doing? She would probably sit near a window in her home and watch the world go by. Absorbed in her memories of the children as each one grew up. From the time that they were infants and toddlers, to the time when they were young adults.

Job's wife was probably in her seventies or eighties. Just a speculation of course. But generally a woman is of child bearing age starting at around fifteen. I know females can start this process at a younger age, but fifteen is a historical statistic. A woman generally has a child every three years. So with ten children, that means some thirty years have passed as the children were being born. Giving them all time to become young adults with homes of their own, say the youngest would be maybe thirty, then the wife's age could easily be eighty. Job may be twenty years older, give or take.

Remember that Job was an upright man, so he had a reasonable and honest relationship with his wife.

Also, just a quick point, at the end of this book, Job and his wife will have an additional ten children. Job will not have lost his integrity, so no divorce, and the wife's death is not recorded, so we presume the same woman is his wife.

From bitterness to frolicking with Job again, will be her transformation. Job will live another 140 years after these events, to probably into his mid two-hundreds, and he will see four generations of grand-children.

His wife will most likely have a long life as well. She would have to be pretty tough both physically and mentally, to be able to birth twenty children. So, all will work out in the long run.

And by the way, just the names of the final three daughters will be given in chapter 42. Now here is a test, or riddle, for you. Why are just the daughter's names listed, and not the sons, and not the wife's name? For that one you are going to have to wait until we get to chapter 42. The answer will develop itself throughout the book.

But for the moment, Job's wife is not happy. She has lost her children, and she is helpless. She has lost her wealth through marriage with Job. It is all Job's fault. After all, Job is the one who is holding on to this 'ridiculous' idea of the goodness of God. Or perhaps it is all Gods fault. After all, how can a loving God allow this to happen?

So the loss is everyone's fault, and should have never happened in the first place. Job's wife is angry, to say the least.

She is angry and Job is covered in sores. A great picture of the perfect couple. That is humanity uniting with his environment. And also notice who has left the scene. Satan.

Evil is the cause of all trouble in life, and it is never around to pick up the pieces.

Exclude God from your life and you will have only your own devices to depend on, and they will never amount to anything more than misery, disappointment, frustration, helplessness, and hate.

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