The following extract is taken from Robert Sutherland’s new book “Putting God on Trial: The Biblical Book of Job” (Trafford, Victoria, 2004) It is reproduced with his permission and he retains the copyright. Mr.Sutherland is a Christian Canadian criminal defense lawyer instrumental in changing the Canadian law on aggravated assault and solicitor-client privilege. He is a Senior Fellow at the Mortimer J. Adler Centre for the Study of the Great Ideas. And he is a member of St.Stephen’s Anglican, Thunder Bay. The book has received high praise from Job scholars: David Clines, Norman Habel and Gerald Janzen. Several chapters and order information are online at http://www.bookofjob.org
“Job’s Oath of Innocence
The Oath of Innocence is an ancient legal device, found in Babylonian
The Oath of Innocence was a dual procedure legal device. When a person such as Job was suspected of wrongdoing or was the victim of wrongdoing, that person could swear out an Oath of Innocence in the presence of God declaring his innocence and condemning the actual wrongdoer. The person swearing the oath would put his temporal life and his eternal salvation on the line.
The Oath of Innocence could be used by Job defensively as a shield against his friends. When a person such as Job was suspected of wrongdoing, he could raise the Oath of Innocence as a complete defense. And it would be accepted by any civil or criminal court as a final adjudication of the matter.
The Oath of Innocence could be used by Job offensively as a sword against God. When a person such as Job was the victim of wrongdoing, he could raise the Oath of Innocence as a civil or criminal prosecution of the wrongdoer. Ancient legal codes did not readily distinguish between civil wrongs and criminal offenses. A single court often dealt with both. And the Oath of Innocence would be accepted by any civil or criminal court as a final adjudication of that matter.
1. Statement of Claim
Job’s statement of claim is a simple one. God is the author of undeserved evil in the world. Job has a right to know the reason why. And God has taken away that right.
Job’s raising of the Oath of Innocence instituted civil or criminal proceedings against God. Job was the first in human history to ever raise this Oath of Innocence against God. The Oath of Innocence operated as a civil statement of claim or a criminal indictment of the actual wrongdoer. If the wrongdoer was not known or being known, could not be found, then the raising of the Oath of Innocence constituted proof of service on the wrongdoer. Job had finally found his way of summoning God. The wrongdoer was summoned by the oath to immediately appear before the court. The swearing of the Oath of Innocence instituted an immediate summary trial in absentia. The trial commenced the very moment the Oath of Innocence was sworn.
(a) Job opens his Oath of Innocence with an oath sworn in the presence of Almighty God.
“As God lives, who has taken away my right, and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter, as long as my breath is in me and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, my lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit.” (Job 27:2-4 Italics added for emphasis)
As God is omnipresent, the oath is sworn on the ash heap on which Job sits and not in any temple. Job is always in the presence of God. The oath is sworn on the very life of God himself. Paradoxically, Job swears the oath by the very God who has wronged him. This is a clear indication that Job believes God has a reason for sending the evil in the first place. It is an act of great faith.
(b) Job’s statement of claim begins with that actual act of swearing the oath, but continues beyond it.
“God.has taken away my right, the Almighty. has made my soul bitter. Far be it from me to say that you are right; until I die I will not put away my integrity from me. I hold fast my righteousness, and will not let it go; my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.” (Job 27:2-6 Italics added for emphasis)
Job is clearly put his eternal life on the line here. The expression “far be it from me” is a weak translation of the Hebrew “halilah”, which really means “I’m damned”.
(c) Later in the Oath of Innocence, he would add a very personal statement of the loss he has suffered through God’s creation of a world of undeserved and unremitted suffering.
“But now they make sport of me, those who are younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock. What could I gain from the strength of their hands? All their vigor is gone. Through want and hard hunger they gnaw the dry and desolate ground, they pick mallow and the leaves of bushes, and to warm themselves the roots of broom. They are driven out from society; people shout after them as after a thief. In the gullies of wadis they must live, in holes in the ground, and in the rocks. Among the bushes they bray; under the nettles they huddle together. A senseless, disreputable brood, they have been whipped out of the land. “And now they mock me in song; I am a byword to them. They abhor me, they keep aloof from me; they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me. Because God has loosed my bowstring and humbled me, they have cast off restraint in my presence. On my right hand the rabble rise up; they send me sprawling, and build roads for my ruin. They break up my path, they promote my calamity; no one restrains them. As through a wide breach they come; amid the crash they roll on. Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is pursued as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud. “And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold of me. The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest. With violence he seizes my garment; he grasps me by the collar of my tunic. He has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes. I cry to you and you do not answer me; I stand, and you merely look at me. You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me. You lift me up on the wind, you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in the roar of the storm. I know that you will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living. “Surely one does not turn against the needy, when in disaster they cry for help. Did I not weep for those whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the poor? But when I looked for good, evil came; and when I waited for light, darkness came. My inward parts are in turmoil, and are never still; days of affliction come to meet me. I go about in sunless gloom; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help. I am a brother of jackals, and a companion of ostriches. My skin turns black and falls from me, and my bones burn with heat. My lyre is turned to mourning, and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.” (Job 29:1- 30:31 Italics added for emphasis.)
(d) The swearing of the claim is service of that claim on the alleged wrongdoer; in this case, God. Job has identified God as the wrongdoer in the opening sentence: “God.who has taken away my right”. (Job 27:2)
However, Job deepens that identification. The answers he seeks are the answers only God has. So Job incorporates a traditional hymn to God into his oath. It is a hymn to wisdom. In Job’s mouth, the wisdom in question becomes the answer to why there is evil in the world.
“Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold to be refined. Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from ore. Miners put an end to darkness, and search out to the farthest bound the ore in gloom and deep darkness. They open shafts in a valley away from human habitation; they are forgotten by travelers, they sway suspended, remote from people. As for the earth, out of it comes bread; but underneath it is turned up as by fire. Its stones are the place of sapphires, and its dust contains gold. “That path no bird of prey knows, and the falcon’s eye has not seen it. The proud wild animals have not trodden it; the lion has not passed over it. “They put their hand to the flinty rock, and overturn mountains by the roots. They cut out channels in the rocks, and their eyes see every precious thing. The sources of the rivers they probe; hidden things they bring to light. “But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Mortals do not know the way to it, and it is not found in the land of the living. The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’ and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’ It cannot be gotten for gold, and silver cannot be weighed out as its price. It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire. Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal; the price of wisdom is above pearls. The chrysolite of Ethiopia cannot compare with it, nor can it be valued in pure gold. “Where then does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding? It is hidden from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the birds of the air. Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’ “God understands the way to it, and he knows its place. For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees everything under the heavens. When he gave to the wind its weight, and apportioned out the waters by measure; when he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the thunderbolt; then he saw it and declared it; he established it, and searched it out. And he said to humankind, ‘Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. ‘” (Job 28:1-28 Italics added for emphasis)
In Job’s mouth, this hymn to wisdom becomes a poetic style of cause. It identifies the wrongdoer God as the object of the lawsuit. Only God has the answer. And only God can give it. Job “fears God and turns from evil”. (Job 1:1,8; 2:3) This wise and understanding servant demands an answer from his master.
In adopting this hymn to wisdom, Job may be ironically playing off Eliphaz’s earlier jibe.
“If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored, if you remove unrighteousness from your tents, if you treat gold like dust, and gold of Ophir like the stones of the torrent-bed, and if the Almighty is your gold and your precious silver, then you will delight yourself in the Almighty, and lift up your face to God. You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will pay your vows. You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways.” (Job 22:24-27)
Eliphaz had unknowingly tempted Job to manipulate God into restoring his former position by falsely repenting. This Satan had claimed was the essence of sin. In his Oath of Innocence, Job turns to God not in repentance, but in the integrity of his ways. This hymn and Eliphaz’s earlier comments link precious stones and metals with a plea to God. Eliphaz had contemplated a successful plea. The “matter” “will be established for you.” (Job 22:27) At this point, Job seems to be goading both Eliphaz and God. Ultimately, the matter will be “established” in Job’s favour, though not in the way Eliphaz intended. Job will be declared by God to have spoken rightly about God. (Job 42:7-8) The Hebrew word “kuwn” there means “established with certainty”.
(e) In any event, Job drives home his service of the Oath of Innocence on God with his next to last words in the oath.
“Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary! Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me like a crown; I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him.” (Job 31:35-37)
Job’s three friends are left speechless. It is a formal indictment of God for crimes against humanity.
Job signs his signature to the Oath of Innocence with a mark in the air. The Hebrew word here for “signature” is “tau” meaning a “mark”. In the ancient Hebrew language, that mark was made through the sign of the cross: “+”.
Within a canonical perspective, Job’s action reverberates down through the halls of scripture. Job is a suffering servant, a Christ figure. This moment is his garden of Gethsemane. But rather than saying “not my will but thy will be done”, Job is saying the opposite: “let my will, not thy will, be done”. Time will tell if his will is God’s will. The Book of Job rewrites what will become an important part of The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The righteous man of God may be a suffering servant, but he need not be a lamb that goes silent to the slaughter.
2. Proof of Claim
The proof of that claim is accomplished by a series of self-imposed curses in the Oath of Innocence by which Job puts his temporal life and eternal salvation on the line. Ancient legal codes are very unclear as to whether the normal civil standard of proof was proof on a balance of probability and whether the normal criminal standard of proof was proof beyond a reasonable doubt. In any event, it did not matter. The swearing of the Oath of Innocence established proof beyond all possible doubt. It converted a summary trial into a summary default proceeding.
(a) Job’s positive confession surfaces early in the Oath of Innocence. Job stands on his personal integrity.
“As long as breath is in me and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, my lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit.Until I die I will not put away integrity from me. I hold fast my righteousness, and will not let it go; my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.” (Job 27:2-6 Italics added for emphasis.)
The raising of the oath is an expression of the integrity that God has already declared in heaven to be beyond reproach. (Job 1:8; 2:3)
Job deepens that positive confession with a recounting of his former life. Job was once a judge who did justice in both his personal and professional lives.
“Oh, that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me; when his lamp shone over my head, and by his light I walked through darkness; when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God was upon my tent; when the Almighty was still with me, when my children were around me; when my steps were washed with milk, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil! When I went out to the gate of the city, when I took my seat in the square, the young men saw me and withdrew, and the aged rose up and stood; the nobles refrained from talking, and laid their hands on their mouths; the voices of princes were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths. When the ear heard, it commended me, and when the eye saw, it approved; because I delivered the poor who cried, and the orphan who had no helper. The blessing of the wretched came upon me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I championed the cause of the stranger. I broke the fangs of the unrighteous, and made them drop their prey from their teeth. Then I thought, ‘I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days like the phoenix; my roots spread out to the waters, with the dew all night on my branches; my glory was fresh with me, and my bow ever new in my hand.’ “They listened to me, and waited, and kept silence for my counsel. After I spoke they did not speak again, and my word dropped upon them like dew. They waited for me as for the rain; they opened their mouths as for the spring rain. I smiled on them when they had no confidence; and the light of my countenance they did not extinguish. I chose their way, and sat as chief, and I lived like a king among his troops, like one who comforts mourners.” (Job 29:2-25 Italics added for emphasis.)
Job consistently met the needs of those in need. He perfectly fulfilled the demands of justice and love. He now calls on God to do the same.
It is worth noting Job’s allusion to the phoenix. (Job 29:18) In Ancient Near Eastern mythologies, the phoenix was a symbol of moral righteousness. Through its righteousness, it earned the right to a long life and the right to resurrection and eternal life. Every 500 to 1500 years depending on the myth, the phoenix would die in its nest, be renewed and reborn by a fire from God.
(b) Job’s negative confession occurs near the end of his Oath of Innocence. It consists of sixteen self-imposed curses. The gist of these curses is two-fold. It is as if Job is saying:
“If I have sinned in thought, word or deed, then let me be cursed forever. But if I have not sinned in thought, word or deed, then I reserve to myself the right to curse my enemy for what he has done to me.”
Job is putting his temporal and eternal life on the line. Job has already indicated he would suffer the “unrelenting pain” of a hell to get that answer. (Job 6:10) And now he is preparing to condemn or damn God to such a metaphorical hell should he not get his answer.
1. [If] I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I look upon a virgin? What would be my portion from God above, and my heritage from the Almighty on high? Does not calamity befall the unrighteous, and disaster the workers of iniquity? Does he not see my ways, and number all my steps? (Job 31:1-4)
2. “If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hurried to deceit– let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!- (Job 31:5-6)
3. if my step has turned aside from the way, and my heart has followed my eyes, and if any spot has clung to my hands; then let me sow, and another eat; and let what grows for me be rooted out. (Job 31:7-8)
4. “If my heart has been enticed by a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door; then let my wife grind for another, and let other men kneel over her. For that would be a heinous crime; that would be a criminal offense; for that would be a fire consuming down to Abaddon, and it would burn to the root all my harvest. (Job 31:9-12)
5. “If I have rejected the cause of my male or female slaves, when they brought a complaint against me; what then shall I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him? Did not he who made me in the womb make them? And did not one fashion us in the womb?” (Job 31:13-15)
6. “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel alone, and the orphan has not eaten from it– for from my youth I reared the orphan like a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow- (Job 31:16-18)
7. if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or a poor person without covering, whose loins have not blessed me, and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; (Job 31:21:19-20)
8. if I have raised my hand against the orphan, because I saw I had supporters at the gate; then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket. For I was in terror of calamity from God, and I could not have faced his majesty. (Job 31:21-23)
9. “If I have made gold my trust, or called fine gold my confidence; (Job 31:24)
10. if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, or because my hand had gotten much; (Job 31:25)
11. if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor, and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand; this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I should have been false to God above.” (Job 31:26-28)
12.: “If I have rejoiced at the ruin of those who hated me, or exulted when evil overtook them– I have not let my mouth sin by asking for their lives with a curse-(Job 31:29-30)
13. if those of my tent ever said, ‘O that we might be sated with his flesh!’– the stranger has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveler-(Job 31:31-32)
14. if I have concealed my transgressions as others do, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom, because I stood in great fear of the multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors-(Job 31:33-34)
15. “If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept together; (Job 31:38)
16. if I have eaten its yield without payment, and caused the death of its owners; let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley.” (Job 31:39-40 Italics and paragraphing added for emphasis.)
A number of items here merit comment. The standard of social justice Job claims to have met is centuries, perhaps even millennia, ahead of its time. All human beings are created equal by God. Every person, regardless of rank or wealth, is entitled to the equal benefit and protection of the law. (Job 31:13-15) The standard of personal righteousness Job claims to have met is very high. The sins denied are not merely deeds, but words and thoughts. This standard greatly exceeds the accepted Old Testament norm of morality.
Perhaps, the most interesting passage is Job’s denial that he has “concealed transgressions as others do.” (Job 31:34) The actual Hebrew text reads “as Adam did”.
This is clearly a reference to original sin. The essence of Adam’s sin was that he failed to take personal responsibility for his actions and be forgiven on the spot by God. Job claims he does not do as Adam did and would not have done what Adam did. Within a canonical perspective, this is a profound rewriting of The Book of Genesis and a rejection of most formulations of the doctrine of original sin. Human beings can be perfect, both in terms of righteousness and justice. Job claims to be such a man.
Job’s negative confession has remarkable parallels to the Egyptian Oath of Innocence and notable differences.
In Egyptian mythology, the Oath of Innocence is found in the Egyptian Book of the Dead, dated to between 1500 and 1350 BC. The Oath of Innocence occurs in the context of the Final Judgment. The soul is ushered into the Halls of Maat. “Maat” means “order, truth, and justice” and it describes the natural moral order that underlies all of creation.
“Usekh-nemmt from Anu – I haven’t committed sin. Hept-khet from Kher-aha – I haven’t committed robbery with violence. Fenti from Kemenu- I haven’t stolen. Am-khaibit from Qernet – I haven’t slain men and women. Neha-her from Rasta – I haven’t stolen grain. Ruruti from heaven – I haven’t purloined offerings. Arfi-em-khet from Suat – I haven’t stolen the property of God. Neba, who comes and goest – I haven’t uttered lies. Set-qesu from Hensu – I haven’t carried away food. Utu-nesert from Het-ka-Ptah – I haven’t uttered curses. Qerrti from Amentet – I haven’t committed adultery – I haven’t lain with men. Her-f-ha-f from thy cavern – I have made none to weep. Basti from Bast – I haven’t eaten the heart. Ta-retiu from the night – I haven’t attacked any man. Unem-snef from the execution chamber – I am not a man of deceit. Unem-besek from Mabit – I haven’t stolen cultivated land. Neb-Maat from Maati – I haven’t been an eavesdropper. Tenemiu from Bast – I haven’t slandered no man. Sertiu from Anu – I haven’t been angry without just cause. Tutu from Ati (the Busirite Nome) – I haven’t debauched the wife of any man. Uamenti from the Khebt chamber – I haven’t debauched the wife of any man. Maa-antuf from Per-Menu – I haven’t polluted myself. Her-uru from Nehatu – I have terrorized none. Khemiu from Kaui – I haven’t transgressed the law. Shet-kheru from Urit – I haven’t been wroth. Nekhenu from Heqat – I haven’t shut my ears to the words of truth. Kenemti from Kenmet – I haven’t blasphemed. An-hetep-f from Sau – I am not a man of violence. Sera-kheru from Unaset – I haven’t been a stirrer up of strife. Neb-heru from Netchfet – I haven’t acted with undue haste. Sekhriu from Uten – I haven’t pried into matters. Neb-abui from Sauti – I haven’t multiplied my words in speaking. Nefer-Tem from Het-ka-Ptah – I have wronged none – I have done no evil. Tem-Sepu from Tetu – I haven’t worked witchcraft against the king. Ari-em-ab-f from Tebu – I have never stopped the flow of water. Ahi from Nu – I have never raised my voice. Uatch-rekhit from Sau – I haven’t cursed God. Neheb-ka from thy cavern – I haven’t acted with arrogance. Neheb-nefert from thy cavern – I haven’t stolen the bread of the gods. Tcheser-tep from the shrine – I haven’t carried away the khenfu cakes from the Spirits of the dead. An-af from Maati – I haven’t snatched away the bread of a child, nor treated with contempt the city god. Hetch-abhu from Ta-she (the Fayyum) – I haven’t slain the cattle belonging to the god.”
The sins denied are both ceremonial and moral. The ceremonial sins are about ten in number, constituting almost a quarter of the entire oath. The moral sins are almost exclusively sins of deed. There is perhaps one sin of word, the cursing of God. It is a stark contrast to Job’s Oath of Innocence which consists entirely of moral sins. By this oath, the soul puts its eternal life on the line. If the oath is false in any respect, the person swearing the oath is eternally damned.
Once the Oath of Innocence is sworn, the heart of the person is placed on the scales of justice and weighed against a feather of truth.
In Egyptian mythology, those who swear falsely and whose lives are not in accordance with the moral order await a gruesome fate. If the heart and the feather of truth do not balance equally on the scales of justice, then the soul is condemned. Osiris sends it to a chaos monster, Ammit, seated beside him. “Ammit” means the “gobbler”. Ammit is part crocodile, part lion and part hippopotamus, representing the destructive powers of chaos. Ammit is seated beside a lake of burning fire.
Egyptian theology never reached the height of ethical monotheism because of the corrupting power of magic. The essence of magic is power. The power in question is the power to overpower the gods and the demonic. Over time, magic corrupted the use of the Oath of Innocence in the Final Judgment and deprived it of its moral quality. Charms and spells were used to supplement the oath and overpower the gods, especially Osiris. A special heart scarab was always buried with the deceased. It “was thought to prevent the heart from owning up to any crimes the person had committed in life.” This was important because the oath was sworn before the heart is weighed. The testimony of the heart might contradict the testimony of the lips. A correct recitation of the Oath of Innocence, using the proper pronunciation and tone,
3. Enforcement of claim
The enforcement of that claim is through a summary default procedure. When the actual wrongdoer, in this case God, did not show up and enter a defense to the Oath of Innocence, a two-fold summary default judgment would immediately issue.
The first judgment was automatic. The person swearing the Oath of Innocence Job would be immediately vindicated of any suspected wrongdoing and the actual wrongdoer God would be immediately convicted of the alleged wrongdoing. That first judgment of vindication or justification was a finding of causal responsibility.
The second judgment was almost as automatic, but it issued differently. The person swearing the Oath of Innocence Job was legally entitled to proceed further and condemn the actual wrongdoer God. The condemnation was a curse separate from oath itself. The person swearing the Oath of Innocence Job would then formally curse the wrongdoer God. That second judgment of condemnation was the actual imposition of blame, shame and guilt on the one causally responsible. Both were summary default judgments in absentia.
That curse is foreshadowed early in the Oath of Innocence.
“May my enemy be like the wicked, and may my opponent be like the unrighteous. For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts them off, when God takes away their lives? Will God hear their cry when trouble comes upon them? Will they take delight in the Almighty? Will they call upon God at all times? I will teach you concerning the hand of God; that which is with the Almighty I will not conceal. All of you have seen it yourselves; why then have you become altogether vain?”(Job 27:7-12)
“This is the portion of the wicked with God, and the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty: If their children are multiplied, it is for the sword; and their offspring have not enough to eat. Those who survive them the pestilence buries, and their widows make no lamentation. Though they heap up silver like dust, and pile up clothing like clay– they may pile it up, but the just will wear it, and the innocent will divide the silver. They build their houses like nests, like booths made by sentinels of the vineyard. They go to bed with wealth, but will do so no more; they open their eyes, and it is gone. Terrors overtake them like a flood; in the night a whirlwind carries them off. The east wind lifts them up and they are gone; it sweeps them out of their place. It hurls at them without pity; they flee from its power in headlong flight. It claps its hands at them, and hisses at them from its place.” (Job 27:13-23 Italics added for emphasis)
If God fails to answer Job’s claim, then Job can activate that curse. That is the nature of trial in absentia and a summary default judgment. He does so by speaking the curse a second time. “Let the one who has wronged me be cursed now and forever.” This was something Satan had prophesized Job would do; namely, curse God to his face. And now, Job has put in place the legal machinery to activate that curse.”
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Section 249. “If a seignior hired and ox and god struck it and it has died, the seignior who hired the ox shall (so) affirm by god and then he shall go free.” (p. 176.)
Section 266. “If a visitation of god has occurred in a sheepfold or a lion has made a kill the shepherd shall prove himself innocent in the presence of god, but the owner of the sheepfold shall receive from him the animal stricken in the fold.” (p. 177.)
And the Code provides several descriptions of the use of the Oath of Innocence as a sword.
Section 106. “If the trader borrowed money from a merchant, and has then disputed (the act) with his merchant, that merchant in the presence of god and witnesses shall prove that the trader borrowed the money and the trader shall pay to the merchant threefold the full amount of money that he borrowed.” (p. 170.)
Section 107. “When a merchant entrusted (something) to a trader and the trader has returned to his merchant whatever the merchant gave him, if the merchant has then disputed with him whatever the trader gave him, that trader shall prove it against the merchant in the presence of god and witnesses and the merchant shall pay to the trader sixfold whatever he received because he had a dispute with his trader.” (p. 170.)
When the wrongdoer is known, it can establish proof positive of the claim in question. And the wrongdoer must do reparation.
Section 103. “If, when he went on the road, an enemy has made him give up whatever he was carrying, the trader shall (so) affirm by god and then he shall go free.” (p. 170.)
In that case, where the wrongdoer is not known, the innocent party through the swearing of the oath is not only freed from all suspicion, he is enabled to take a further step in the Oath of Innocence and condemn his enemy, the person who has actually committed the crime, by way of a curse. However, that condemnation or cursing is only implied in the statute and not expressly stated.
Section 75. “If anyone yokes a horse, a mule (or) an ass and it dies, or a wolf devours it or it gets lost, he shall give (the value of) the respective animal. But if he contends: ‘It died by the hand of god.” he shall take an oath.” (p. 192.)
Nothing really new is to be gained from it.
When someone delivers to a neighbor money or goods for safekeeping, and they are stolen from the neighbor’s house, then the thief, if caught, shall pay double. If the thief is not caught, the owner of the house shall be brought before God, to determine whether or not the owner had laid hands on the neighbor’s goods. When someone delivers to another a donkey, ox, sheep, or any other animal for safekeeping, and it dies or is injured or is carried off, without anyone seeing it, an oath before the LORD shall decide between the two of them that the one has not laid hands on the property of the other; the owner shall accept the oath, and no restitution shall be made. (Exodus 22:7-8, 10-11)
And again, nothing really new is to be gained from it.
However, the dedication of Solomon’s temple around 1000 B.C. is the occasion for an important description of the Oath of Innocence. That description is repeated twice in slightly varying accounts. Both are worthy of analysis for they describe aspects of how the Oath of Innocence is used as a sword.
Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands to heaven. He said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart, the covenant that you kept for your servant my father David as you declared to him; you promised with your mouth and have this day fulfilled with your hand.”But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built! Regard your servant’s prayer and his plea, O LORD my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you today; that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place; heed and forgive. “If someone sins against a neighbor and is given an oath to swear, and comes and swears before your altar in this house, then hear in heaven, and act, and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing their conduct on their own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding them according to their righteousness.” (I Kings 8:22-23 Italics added for emphasis)
Therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you promised to your servant David. “But will God indeed reside with mortals on earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built! Regard your servant’s prayer and his plea, O LORD my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you. May your eyes be open day and night toward this house, the place where you promised to set your name, and may you heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. And hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place; may you hear from heaven your dwelling place; hear and forgive. “If someone sins against another and is required to take an oath and comes and swears before your altar in this house, may you hear from heaven, and act, and judge your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing their conduct on their own head, and vindicating those who are in the right by rewarding them in accordance with their righteousness.” (2 Chronicles 6:22-23 Italics added for emphasis)
Vindication is described in almost identical language in both passages. It is an implied declaration by God “vindicating the righteous by rewarding them according to their righteousness” (1 Kings 8:23) or “vindicating those who are in the right by rewarding them in accordance with their righteousness”. (2 Chronicles 6:23) As soon as the oath is sworn, the vindication is automatic.
Condemnation is described in very similar language. It is an implied declaration by God: “condemning the guilty by bringing their conduct on their own head” (1 Kings 8:23) or “repaying the guilty by bringing their conduct on their own head (2 Chronicle 6:23) The first account is the stronger of the two. As soon as the oath is sworn, the condemnation is almost automatic. The condemnation is a curse. For the curse to be activated, the person swearing the oath must speak the curse. And God will bring it to pass. The swearing of the oath results in a declaration of the innocence of the person wronged and a declaration of the causal responsibility of the wrongdoer. As yet, no blame, shame or guilt attaches to the wrongdoer. It is the pronouncement of the curse that attaches the blame, shame and guilt to the wrongdoer.
[5] The Babylonian Laws, Edit. and Trans. G.R. Driver and J.C. Miles (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1952) p. 468.
Pope, M., The Anchor Bible: Job (Doubleday, New York, 1973) p. 214-215.
Habel, N.C., The Old Testament Library: The Book of Job (Westminister Press, Philadelphia, 1985) p. 404.
Criticism of Job’s righteousness here can be excessive and is often ethnocentric and tendentious. The charge that Job was a slave holder remains unproven, because the Hebrew word for slave here may mean nothing more than servant. The Hebrew language did not have separate words for slave and servant. It certainly would be passing strange that Job has slaves yet accorded them rights equal to his own. The charge that Job was prepared to have his wife reduced to grinding poverty is again somewhat excessive. So many of the self-curses throughout his oath of innocence seem stereotypical. Job may be doing nothing more than adopting pre-existent literary or legal forms. If so, then there is no implied endorsement of their content. Certainly women in the book have a status dramatically different from others in the ancient world. God gives Satan authority to attack Job’s property and his wife is not attacked, implying that his wife is not his property. Moreover, Job wills equal shares of his estate to his daughters.
Reprinted with the permision of Robert Sutherland (the author retains copyright). More information can be found at <http://www.bookofjob.org/> http://www.bookofjob.org
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