Comentários de Citação sobre Jó 1:8

Pour out your wrath on the nations (“Asher”) who/because they do not know you: At first glance the anger expressed in this passage against the other nations is hard to understand. Against whom and why do we ask God to, “pour out His wrath?” One might say that this statement applies to anyone who is not Jewish since the other nations do not truly know God nor do they share our faith. The key to understanding this passage lies in the word “asher.” This word can be translated in a variety of different ways with different meanings. It can mean that God should pour out His wrath on those nations who don’t know him or it can mean God should pour His wrath out on all the nations because they - all of them - do not know God. Yet how can the other nations of the world be held responsible for not knowing God since they were not blessed with this gift? A similar issue is raised in a Midrash associated with the story of the Israel’s war against the nation of Amalek in the Book of Exodus, Chapter 17. Upon leaving Egypt and crossing the Red Sea, Israel was attacked by the Amalekites in a series of raids aimed at Israel’s weakest members. Moses commanded Joshua to destroy Amalek. Why this severe judgment, the Midrash wonders? In Deuteronomy, Chapter 25:18 we are told that Amalek “Did not fear the Lord.” Moses said to Joshua who was a descendant of Joseph, “Your ancestor Joseph feared God. So you must now destroy the one who did not fear God and attacked Israel.” At first glance, this does not seem to be sufficient reason to utterly destroy Amalek. It does not explain why Joshua was singled out to accomplish this mission. Also to be one who truly fears God is something unique and rare, even among Jews. So how could the Torah condemn Amalek for not fearing God? This would be like condemning someone for not being a saint. Not everyone is expected to be saintly. Yet the Torah assumes that a certain amount of fear of God is expected even of the other nations. While the nations are not expected to follow all of God’s laws they are expected to recognize that the role that they play in the world is a product of God’s will. Even when they persecute the Jews, it is only because God has allowed them to do so. Amalek was guilty therefore, not of oppressing the Jewish People but of arrogantly believing that this was a product of their own strength and self determination and not God’s will. Similarly when the Haggadah condemns, “…the nations who do not know You,” it suggests that a nation’s that believes that their success in persecuting Israel was a product of their own strength is what led to their condemnation. It is the second part of this passage that is the real reason for their punishment, “Because they consumed Jacob and destroyed his dwelling place.” The nations tried to destroy Israel with a vengeance rather than simply obeying God’s will. We learn that the nations can be God fearing from the story of Amalek. God chose to single out Joshua for this mission because he was a descendent of Joseph. While in Egypt, Joseph described himself as a God fearing man even when he was not identified as a descendent of Abraham. By doing this he taught the nations that one can be God fearing without being a participant in God’s covenant or a descendant of Abraham. Moses tells Joshua, “You are a descendent of Joseph who feared God. Therefore go and destroy Amalek who was not God fearing!” The fact that Joseph was God fearing even when he lived among the nations became an example to the other nations that they should emulate his attributes and could not excuse themselves by saying that they did not know God.

Rabbi Joshua [ben Hananiah] said: who will remove the dust from your eyes, Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai, since you had expounded all your life that Job only served the Omnipresent from fear, as it is said, “A blameless and upright man that fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8) did not Joshua, the student of your student, teach that what he did was from love? Again, Rabbi Joshua states how pleased Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai would have been to have heard this midrash. Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai had been forced to admit that Job only worshipped out of fear, since that is specifically stated in Job 1:8. Had Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai still been alive, he would have been pleased to have someone prove to him that Job worshipped God out of love.

behold my inscription; may the Almighty bear witness for me Would that the Omnipresent bear witness for me in judgment, as He wrote concerning me (1:8): “For there is none like him on earth, a sincere and upright man, God-fearing.” Also Moses, who wrote his Book and my Book, will bear witness concerning me. (Another explanation:) This is what Job says, “Give it to inscribe me and my virtue.”