Pt1 Book of Job in Talmudic Interpretation: Job's Contested Righteousness and Satan's Character (Bava Batra 15b-16b)

This is the first part of a three-part series.¹ The outline of the series is below.

This Talmudic exposition on the Book of Job reimagines the prologue (Job 1–2) as a theological and moral stress test. The Satan (השטן) emerges not as an adversary per se, but as a prosecutor probing the integrity of human righteousness. Abraham is repeatedly invoked as the standard—one who didn’t question God even when denied burial land despite divine promises. Yet Job is introduced as surpassing Abraham: 'a perfect and upright man', not merely 'God-fearing'.

Talmudic voices debate whether Job’s righteousness is innate or circumstantial. R' Abba bar Shmuel attributes it to Job’s generous economic conduct, while R' Shmuel bar Yitzḥak and R' Yosei bar Ḥanina claim that even Job’s possessions and livestock defied natural order through divine blessing.

Rava and others critique Job: was Job merely restraining his lips while sinning in his heart? Did he challenge divine justice, deny the fundamental principle of future resurrection, or express determinism? Views diverge—Rava reads heresy into Job’s laments; Abaye and R' Yehoshua defend Job as protesting only against the Satan.

The sugya also analyzes metaphysical mechanics: Satan is equated with the evil inclination (yetzer hara) and the Angel of Death (Reish Lakish), and is even credited with having proper intent (R' Levi).

Job’s resilience is extraordinary, but so is the Talmud’s ambivalence about him—torn between admiration and suspicion, much like God's own apparent vacillation throughout the Book of Job.

Outline

Intro

The Passage - Book of Job in Talmudic Interpretation: Job's Contested Righteousness and Satan's Character (Bava Batra 15b-16b)

1. Satan argues that Abraham remained faithful despite God not giving him burial land (Sarah) - Genesis 13:17; Job 1:7

Job’s Greatness - Job 1:8-14

1. R' Yoḥanan - Job’s praise is greater than Abraham’s - Job 1:8 vs. Genesis 22:12

2. R' Abba bar Shmuel - “Shunning evil” = Job was lenient with money - Job 1:8

3. R' Shmuel bar Yitzḥak - Anyone who took a peruta from Job was blessed - Job 1:10

4. R' Yosei bar Ḥanina - Job’s livestock reversed nature—goats killed wolves - Job 1:10

5. R' Yoḥanan - Job tasted the World-to-Come via miraculous agriculture - Job 1:14

On Satan - Job 2:3-7

1. R' Yoḥanan - God was persuaded by Satan against Job - Job 2:3

2. Baraita - Satan misleads, accuses, and punishes

3. R' Yitzḥak - Satan’s suffering was more difficult than that of Job - Job 2:4-7

4. Reish Lakish - Satan = Evil Inclination = Angel of Death - Job 2:6; Genesis 6:5

5. R' Levi - Satan and Peninnah acted for Heaven's sake - I Samuel 1:6

   1. Rav Aḥa bar Yaakov, citing this in Papunya, is thanked by Satan himself

Job’s Flaws - Job 2:10-42:8

1. Rava/R' Eliezer - Job sinned in his heart - Job 2:10; Abaye/R' Yehoshua - Job’s complaint was directed at Satan - Job 9:24

2. Rava - Job denied free will and moral responsibility - Job 10:7

   1. Job’s Friends respond that God gave Torah to counter evil inclination - Job 15:4

3. Rava - Job returned improved stolen land to orphans - Job 29:13

   1. Job helped widows remarry by associating his name with them

4. Rav - Job’s speech was disrespectful to God - Job 6:2

5. Rav - “is there a servant who rebukes his master?!” - Job 9:33

6. Rava - Job’s chastity is less impressive than Abraham’s - Job 31:1; Genesis 12:11

7. Rava - Job denied resurrection - Job 7:9

8. Rabba - Job blasphemed with a tempest and was answered in a tempest - Job 9:17; 38:1

9. Rava - A person isn’t judged for words said in distress - Job 34:35 vs 42:8

Job’s Friends and Daughters

1. Rav Yehuda citing Rav - Job’s friends all arrived through one gate - Job 2:11; The friends' synchronized arrival suggests supernatural coordination—via crowns or trees

2. Rava - “Either a friend like Job’s friends—or death” - Job 2:11

3. The Meaning of Job’s Daughters’ Names - Job 42:14

   1. Eretz Yisrael scholars mock the “horn of a keresh” interpretation; Rav Ḥisda - “like garden saffron” (Jeremiah 4:30)

Appendix - Did Job Serve God Out of Love, or Out of Fear? - Job 13:15, 27:5, 1:1 (Mishnah Sotah 5:5)

1. R' Yehoshua ben Hyrcanus - Job served God out of love (אהבה) - Job 13:15, 27:5

2. R' Yehoshua (ben Hananiah) citing Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai - Job served God out of fear (יראה) - Job 1:1

The Passage

Bava_Batra.15b.12-16b.8

Satan argues that Abraham remained faithful despite God not giving him burial land (Sarah) - Genesis 13:17; Job 1:7

The Satan praises Abraham’s unwavering faith. Despite God’s promise to give him the land, Abraham did not complain even when he had to purchase a burial plot for Sarah.²

״ויהי היום,

ויבאו בני האלהים להתיצב על ה׳,

ויבא גם השטן בתוכם.

ויאמר ה׳ אל השטן: מאין תבא?

ויען השטן וגו׳״

אמר לפניו:

רבונו של עולם!

שטתי בכל העולם כולו,

ולא מצאתי נאמן כעבדך אברהם –

שאמרת לו:

״קום התהלך בארץ

לארכה ולרחבה

כי לך אתננה״,

ואפילו הכי,

בשעה שלא מצא מקום לקבור את שרה [עד שקנה בארבע מאות שקל כסף] –

לא הרהר אחר מדותיך.

§ Having mentioned the book of Job, the Talmud addresses several matters relating to it.

It is stated: “Now there was a day

when the sons of God came to present themselves before YHWH,

and the Satan came also among them.

And YHWH said to the Satan: From where do you come?

And the Satan answered YHWH, and said: From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking through it” (Job 1:6–7).

The Satan said to God:

Master of the Universe!

I have gone to and fro throughout the entire world

and I have not found anyone as faithful as Your servant Abraham,

to whom You said:

“Arise, walk through the land

in the length of it and in the breadth of it;

for I will give it to you” (Genesis 13:17).

And even so,

when he did not find a place to bury Sarah before he purchased a burial site for 400 silver shekels,

he did not find fault with Your ways or complain about the fact that you had failed to fulfill Your promise.

Job’s Greatness

R' Yoḥanan - Job’s praise is greater than Abraham’s - Job 1:8 vs. Genesis 22:12

God calls attention to Job's righteousness. R' Yoḥanan asserts that Job is portrayed even more favorably than Abraham:

Abraham is merely said to "fear God," while Job is called "perfect and upright, fearing God and shunning evil."

״ויאמר ה׳ אל השטן:

השמת לבך אל עבדי איוב,

כי אין כמוהו בארץ וגו׳״ –

אמר רבי יוחנן:

גדול הנאמר באיוב

יותר ממה שנאמר באברהם;

דאילו באברהם כתיב:

״כי עתה ידעתי

כי ירא אלהים אתה״,

ובאיוב כתיב:

״איש תם וישר

ירא אלהים

[וסר מרע]״.

“And YHWH said to the Satan:

Have you considered My servant Job,

that there is none like him on earth, a perfect and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil?” (Job 1:8).

About this R' Yoḥanan says:

That which is stated about Job is greater

than that which is stated about Abraham.

As with regard to Abraham it is written:

“For now I know

that you fear God” (Genesis 22:12),

with regard to Job it is written:

“A perfect and an upright man,

one who fears God

and turns away from evil” (Job 1:8).

R' Abba bar Shmuel - “Shunning evil” = Job was lenient with money - Job 1:8

R' Abba bar Shmuel interprets “shunning evil” as Job’s economic generosity:

he would forgo small debts rather than demand payment.

מאי ״וסר מרע״?

אמר רבי אבא בר שמואל:

איוב וותרן בממונו היה –

• מנהגו של עולם --

  • נותן חצי פרוטה לחנוני;

• איוב –

  • ויתרה משלו.

The Talmud clarifies the meaning of the aforementioned verse: What is meant by “and turns away from evil”?

R' Abba bar Shmuel says:

Job was forgiving with his money.

• It is the way of the world --

  • that one pays the storekeeper for even half-peruta of merchandise purchased from him.

• But if somebody bought an item of such little value from Job --

  • he would forgive him his half-peruta.

R' Shmuel bar Yitzḥak - Anyone who took a peruta from Job was blessed - Job 1:10

The Satan attributes Job's righteousness to divine protection and blessing.

R' Shmuel bar Yitzḥak says anyone who took even a peruta from Job became blessed.

״ויען השטן את ה׳ ויאמר:

החנם ירא איוב אלהים?!

הלא אתה סכת בעדו

ובעד ביתו וגו׳״

מאי ״מעשה ידיו ברכת״?

אמר רבי שמואל בר רב יצחק:

כל הנוטל פרוטה מאיוב,

מתברך.

The Talmud continues to clarify the verses concerning Job.

“Then the Satan answered YHWH, and said:

Does Job fear God for naught?

Have You not made a hedge about him,

and about his house, and about all that he has on every side?

You have blessed the work of his hands, and his cattle is increased in the land” (Job 1:9–10).

What is meant by: “You have blessed the work of his hands”?

R' Shmuel bar Rav Yitzḥak says:

Anyone who took a peruta from Job

was blessed.

Not only was Job’s own handiwork blessed, but anybody who received anything from him was also blessed.

R' Yosei bar Ḥanina - Job’s livestock reversed nature—goats killed wolves - Job 1:10

R' Yosei bar Ḥanina adds that Job's livestock defied natural order—his goats killed wolves.

מאי ״ומקנהו פרץ בארץ״?

אמר רבי יוסי בר חנינא:

מקנהו של איוב פרצו גדרו של עולם;

1. מנהגו של עולם –

   1. זאבים הורגים העזים,

2. מקנהו של איוב –

   1. עזים הורגים את הזאבים

[…]

The Talmud continues with its explication of these verses.

What is meant by: “And his livestock is increased [paratz] in the land” (Job 1:10)?

R' Yosei bar Ḥanina says:

Job’s livestock breached [paretzu] the order of the world.

• It is the way of the world --

  • that wolves kill goats,

• but in the case of Job’s livestock --

  • the goats killed the wolves.

[…]

R' Yoḥanan - Job tasted the World-to-Come via miraculous agriculture - Job 1:14

Job suffers rapid sequential disasters.³

R' Yoḥanan reads “the oxen were plowing (חורשות) and the donkeys (אתנות) were grazing (רעות) beside them” as a supernatural preview of the messianic future (עולם הבא).

ויהי היום,

ובניו ובנותיו אוכלים ושותים יין בבית אחיהם הבכור,

ומלאך בא אל איוב

ויאמר: הבקר היו חורשות וגו׳״

מאי

״הבקר היו חורשות,

והאתנות רעות על ידיהם״?

אמר רבי יוחנן:

מלמד ש:

הטעימו הקדוש ברוך הוא לאיוב מעין העולם הבא.

[...]

The verses relate what then occurred:

“Now there was a day

when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house,

and there came a messenger to Job,

and said: The oxen were plowing, and the asses were feeding beside them” (Job 1:13–14).

The Talmud asks: What is meant by:

“The oxen were plowing

and the asses were feeding beside them”?

R' Yoḥanan says:

This teaches that

God gave Job a taste of the World-to-Come,

when plowing and harvesting will take place at the same time. Here too, the oxen plowed and the donkeys grazed on the crops that grew from that effort.

[...]

1. Notably, at the end of my Part 1, this sugya quotes lengthy passages from the beginning of the Book of Job (end of Chapter 1, beginning of Chapter 2) verbatim; I elided these.

It’s worth noting--relatedly--that ed. Steinsaltz very helpfully adds punctuation to verses here, which it doesn’t usually do.

As an aside, unrelated to the main piece, I recently published the following piece on my Academia page: “'God's Character Isn't Like a Human's Character': Rhetorically Contrasting God and Human in the Talmud”. Abstract:

This collection of Talmudic passages explores a recurring rhetorical and theological motif: "God's character (‫מדת‬ ‫הקדוש‬ ‫ברוך‬ ‫הוא‬) is not like a human's character (‫מדת‬ ‫בשר‬ ‫ודם‬)".

This phrase serves as a formulaic introduction to midrashic contrasts between divine and human behavior.

The human response or action is generally portrayed as limited, flawed, or self-interested, while God's counterpart is magnanimous, paradoxical, or transcendent.

2. This sets a narrative benchmark for righteousness used to frame Job.

This is repeated also later in the sugya; at the end of my Part 1; I elide that.

3. The Talmud quotes Job 1:11-12 verbatim, which I elide.