August 14, 2026
Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.
After Job loses everything (including his health), but before his friends come to “comfort” him, Job’s wife offers a rare sentence of advice. No other female speaks in the Book of Job so it caught my eye. She suggests that Job should end his misery. By the end of chapter 2, Job is in a truly pitiful state. In two short and dense chapters, the reader has witnessed an avalanche of excessive loss. Then, at the end of the whirling downfall, Job’s wife watches as a disconsolate Job scrapes open sores with a potsherd. She too must be heartbroken. And in nearly every translation, she says to Job: “Curse God and die.”
I cannot decide what tone she takes with this short speech. It’s not overly warm or supportive. It may speak of her own tragedy and discomfort, of her own lack of hope and faith. But to be honest, I was mostly surprised by the fact that his wife was still alive. Why did Satan spare Job’s wife? Since she is allowed one line only, I have to assume that this quick scene is important to understanding the book. So, what happens in Job, chapter 2, verses 9 and 10?
Participants in our recent Quarterly Discussion came up with a few ideas. One person suggested that Job’s wife reinforces a common belief of the time: that women were less pious than men. Another participant believed that Job’s wife illustrates just how pitiful Job’s life had become. Her tone might be viewed as pitying and sorrowful. Not only does she pity her husband’s fall, but we must remember – she has lost all of her children too. A third person explained that her speech shows fear since she can gain nothing without the help of Job. Her wealth and status depends upon his. Another person responded that this interaction gives space for Job to exhibit the strength of his piety. His response indicates that he still believes in God, despite all of his pain. All of these answers ring true to me.
Yet despite these excellent suggestions, this short interaction between Job and his wife continues to puzzle me. So, I explored a number of translations to see if word choice could offer insight. It appears that most translations favor the word integrity. She says to Job: “Do you still retain your integrity” as if incredulous that he can believe in God after having befallen so many catastrophes.
A handful of versions use the word innocence instead of integrity, which has a very different flavor in my mind. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary suggests that integrity is a firm adherence to a moral code. Innocence, however, is a freedom from guilt. Blamelessness could be seen as naivete or even ignorance, whereas integrity intimates the possession of knowledge or values. In the Book of Job, blamelessness, innocence, and integrity are tied together, at least in the narrator’s mind.
His wife, however, just sounds tired. This is understandable because, as everyone knows, watching the suffering of loved ones is brutal. Add to that the fact that Job’s wife has also lost everything. As a subject of loss, she is more than a witness herself. However, she does not get the benefit of being blameless or innocent. And therefore, it would appear that she lacks integrity. Some of Job’s friends even indicate that Job’s family is to blame, and perhaps this reflects something of his wife’s speech.
No matter what tone you ascribe to Job’s wife, the situation is dire and pitiful. The scene tragic and heartbreaking. The universality of tragedy is set before our eyes so that we too may weep, pity, understand, commiserate, and listen.
Below are a few versions of this scene for your own comparison.
King James Version:
9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. 10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
American Standard Version:
9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still hold fast thine integrity? renounce God, and die. 10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
English Standard Version:
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 would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
International Children’s Bible:
9 Job’s wife said to him, “Are you still trying to stay innocent? You should just curse God and die! 10 Job answered, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Should we take only good things from God and not trouble?” In all of this Job did not sin in what he said.
New American Bible (Revised Edition):
9 Then his wife said to him, “Are you still holding to your innocence? Curse God and die!” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as foolish women do. We accept good things from God; should we not accept evil?” Through all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
New Oxford Annotated Edition:
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 would speak. Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition:
9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God, and die.” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Orthodox Jewish Bible:
9 Then said his isha unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse Elohim, and die. 10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the nevalot (foolish women) speaketh. What? Shall we receive hatov from Elohim, and shall we not accept harah? In all this did not Iyov sin in what he said.
Wycliffe Bible:
9 Forsooth his wife said to him, Dwellest thou yet in thy simpleness, that is, fondness? (And his wife said to him, Remaineth thou yet in thy integrity, that is, in thy foolishness?) Curse thou God, and die. 10 And Job said to her, Thou hast spoken as one of the fond women; if we have taken goods of the hand of the Lord, why forsooth suffer we not evils? In all these things Job sinned not in his lips. (And Job said to her, Thou hast spoken like the foolish woman that thou art; if we have received good from the Lord’s hand, then why should we not also suffer evil? And so in all these things Job did not sin with his lips.)
Do you believe that Job shows integrity? You can also read last week’s post on the plight of Job.
Photo credit: Shutterstock/ marekuliasz
