Theodicy in an ironical sense: The Joban Wager and the portrait of folly

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