%0 Journal Article
%T Theodicy in an ironical sense: The Joban Wager and the portrait of folly
%A Geoff John Aimers
%J Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
%@ 1476-6728
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0309089217750032
%X A case is made for the sophistication of the prose of the Job Prologue. The issue of theodicy in Job is then re-investigated by looking at paratactic elements in the Divine Wager. Three aspects of the Divine wager are probed: (1) Use of Virtual Quotations; (2) The demands on credulity of a ¡®Tall Tale¡¯, where one would have it that the system of retributive justice be suspended just so that the suffering of one extra-ordinary individual need not reflect on his punishment due to sin; and (3) Prophetic Discernment: the spectre of a false vision report where the heavenly council scene is a canard. It is concluded that the real issue in Job is not theodicy per se but the folly of raging against God so as to absolve oneself of sin (Prov. 19:3). Thus, Job and the Friends represent a composite portrait of human folly in the manner of the Wisdom Literature. Job is linked to the deterioration of the fool depicted in Proverbs
%K Canard
%K Divine Wager
%K false vision
%K folly
%K parataxis
%K prophetic discernment
%K retributive justice
%K tall tale
%K theodicy
%K virtual quotations
%K wisdom
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0309089217750032