I just finished reading the book of Job again, and it made me wonder how I would have felt had I been in Job’s wife’s place. She is only mentioned three times in the book of Job. I’ll be quoting the ESV because I like its translation of Job better than the other translations I have read.

1. Job 2:9: “Then his wife said to him, ‘Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.’”
2. Job 19:17: “My breath is strange to my wife, and I am a stench to the children of my own mother.”
3. Job 31:10: “… then let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down on her.”

Think about what Job’s wife has lost before you judge her words in Job 2:9 too harshly. Job and she had lost their livelihood and all of their children. Now her husband was sick and could not take care of her, leaving her no way to pay the servants nor feed herself without relying on others.

Wouldn’t you be devastated too? Okay, I hope none of us would tell our husbands to curse God and die, but I doubt the first words out of our mouths would have been praiseworthy.

She must have visited him since he mentioned she found his breath strange in Job 19:17. I would hope we would do the same for our husbands, bad breath and all.

The third time she is mentioned is after Job defended himself about gazing at a virgin in Job 31:1-10.

In Job 2:10, Job said she was speaking as one of the foolish women. He pointed out that they should receive good as well as bad from God.

At the end of the story, Job repented and God restored his fortunes including ten more children. Many people assume the mother of these children is someone other than Job’s first wife. Why, I do not know. Another wife is not mentioned in the book.

Sarah was able to have a child at 90 (Gen. 17:17), so why couldn’t Job’s wife have had more children? Job 42:16 states: “And after this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, four generations.” We don’t know how long Job’s wife lived. The Bible does not tell us.

Personally, I think we have been too hard on Job’s wife. We need to learn from her. We must accept the good and the bad that happens in our lives and not blame God when bad things happen.

Teresa Price