What Role Does The Satan Play In The Book Of Job

The view of fate the book of Job expresses, though similar in that it originates from God, differs in a few important ways. In Job, situations are predetermined to occur, but the personal choices of the people involved determine the outcome of the situation. The story of Job opens with Job's fate of suffering being planned. Satan presents himself in an audience before God. God makes example of Job, and Satan rebuffs, stating that Job's constancy is only because of God's preferential treatment. Satan tells God, "But put forth thy hand now and touch all he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face."(40). In response, power is given to Satan to torment Job as a test. Job's life and finally health are viciously mangled and destroyed by Satan. Though Job does not know the reasons behind his great suffering, we are told that "In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly."(41), and "In all this did not Job sin with his lips."(41). Self-pity creeps into Job's thoughts and words, but there is no disenchanted turn from God. Instead in Job the reader sees a turn to God for relief and

In the Old Testament story of Job, Satan is one of God’s angels. In order to become the Satan of evil, he must fall from God’s grace and vacate his position in His court. Greek mythology told the story of an epic battle in heaven between Zeus, god of heaven, and Typhon, the most fearsome of the giants, with “100 dragon heads, coiling serpents for legs and hundreds of hands” (Littleton, 149). Zeus succeeded in casting Typhon out of heaven forever, and the beast is said, variably, to either be destroyed in Mt. Etna, or banished to Tartarus, the deepest level of the underworld. In Revelations 12: 7-9, Michael and the angels fight Satan, described as “the great dragon… that old serpent”, and cast him out of heaven and into hell. Early versions of 2 Peter, telling the same story, even use the word Tartarus, which is later replaced with hell in King James and other popular

The theme of the Book of Job is the perseverance of the human spirit. Job loses everything but he does not lose his faith in God. “Job refuses to curse God” (Book). Job has not done anything to deserve this, but it is a test from God and Satan to see if Job is actually as

The Book of Job is of wisdom genre. Job was a righteous, rich man. God and Satan have a confrontation regarding Job’s faith in God. God allows Satan to test Job by taking away his family, sheep, camels, and servants. Job was passed the test. Job was tested again. This time it was his health that was taken away. Job speaks to his three friends and curses the day he was born. The four of them have a lengthy conversation as to why Job is being punished. Elihu enters the conversation and becomes somewhat angry with Job’s lack of faith in God. God speaks to Job in question form. Job repents. God speaks the three friends and advises them to sacrifice a burnt offering. Job was them made prosperous and was “given twice as much as he had before” by God.

     Job is a man very limited by God. As illustrated, he has only a negligible amount of agency to begin with. By the time God and Satan finish with him, he has virtually no control over his own life. The fragment of agency he does cling to is his ability to choose whether or not to curse God. No one, except himself, could prevent Job from cursing God. Yet, he refuses to curse God, even though He is responsible for his suffering.

The character Satan in Mark Twain's story “The Mysterious Stranger” is portrayed as a dreadful part of society. An outcast, and a loner, Satan represents the dark parts of the world-- the side of misery and suffering. He is the creator of the world and he makes people endure pain. Satan shows disrespect to the clay people, comparing them to flies. “We were secretly ashamed, for his manner showed that to him they and their doings were of paltry poor consequence; often you would think that he was talking about flies” (Twain 81). The lack of care and respect for the people he created shows

Despite them being righteous men of the Lord, Mephistopheles tempts Faust with earthly pleasures while Satan took everything from Job entailing his health, wealth, and family. Job endured the physical pain while Faust had to ensure both physical pain and the suffering of the multitude. However, when Satan did these things to Job, he expected Job to turn into a bitter man and try to curse God. However, Job remains ardent and adamant in believing in God. Job remains loyal to the Almighty, but Faust succumbs to Mephistopheles

Pagels describes the development of Satan throughout her book and how Christians used Satan to demonetize others. Pagels begins with the destruction of the Jewish Temple by the Romans in 70 CE. The Jewish war poisoned the relationship between Jews, “as the revolt spread to towns and cities, the Jewish population divided” (3). Those who were not following Jesus were then labeled as being Satanic and evil for having different views. Pagels describes Satan in earlier times when he was not looked at as a monstrous being but was one of God’s angels, the angel that had a job of “blocking or obstructing human activity” (39). In many eyes this angel would have been viewed as the evil

In stark contrast to God’s presence in Genesis, the character of God in Job strays from the ideal perfection of the divine. The concept of the ideal manifested in Genesis is embodied in God’s moral, reasonable, and rational behavior. In Job, on the other hand, rather than being reasonable, methodical, and creating life, God displays more human characteristics and plays the role of both creator and destroyer. The book of Job begins with God’s boastful bargain with Satan, which subsequently leads God to allow the total destruction of Job’s family and livelihood. Job is even attacked physically with “loathsome sores… from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head” (Job 2:7). In an uncharacteristically immoral decision, God gives Satan the power do

Why does God allow Satan to cause such tragedy in Job’s life, a man whom God has already acknowledged as “my servant Job, that there is none like on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”(1.8) From the beginning, it is known that Job is in no way deserving of his injustices, so a reason must be given. God gives Job an opportunity to prove that under any circumstances Job will still have faith. This simply a test for Job. The whole Book is a “double” journey for Job -- he shows God his faith and realizes the faith God has that Job will not stray from his path. Job knows deep down that God has not forsaken him.

Following the standards of classic tragic heroes, Satan is a determined leader with an extreme amount of hubris. He knows that God is the most powerful being and yet he still

The prologue of the book, set in prose style, is made up of chapters one and two with the introduction of Job and his family and how successful he is and that he is blessed by God wonderfully. It goes into Job's first test which Satan presents himself before the lord. God said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil" (Job 1:8). This is when Satan puts up the challenge for God saying, "Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a hedge around him and his

The Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible is characterized by the misery of a faithful servant of God, and how it relates to this character's ability to praise God. Job is an unwaveringly loyal and righteous subject of God, blessed with immense wealth and a beautiful family. One day God boasts to Satan of the innate goodness of Job, to which Satan questions “does Job fear God for nothing? … you have blessed the work of his hands … but stretch out your hand, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face” (The Bible, Book of Job, 1:6-12). If Job has faced no trials and tribulations, and only experienced the bounty that

The character of Satan in this story can also be related to other tragic heroes throughout history.

Job argues with each man, never wavering in his insistence that he is guiltless. This great debate continues until Job becomes tired of his friends' ill advice and expresses his desire to argue his case with God himself. His friends fall silent, knowing that they cannot sway Job from his self-righteousness. God then appears to Job as a powerful whirlwind and questions Job, unmercifully, as to whether he could perform the works of God. It is through this barrage that Job comes to accept, without question, his lot, and the awesome power of God.