Job's Entre into a Ritual of Mourning as Seen in the Opening Prose of the Book of Job

Author(s): Richard W. Medina

Source: Die Welt des Orients, Bd. 38 (2008), pp. 194-210
Published by: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (GmbH & Co. KG)
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25684145 .
Accessed: 23/04/2013 05:54

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (GmbH & Co. KG) is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend
access to Die Welt des Orients.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:54:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Job's Entree into a Ritual ofMourning as Seen in the
Opening Prose of the Book of Job*

Richard W. Medina

Joban scholarship has overlooked a ritual treatment of Job 1:20-21. In view of this, after exploring
the practice of mourning rites in the context of ancient Israel and the Near East, this essay
endeavors to explain the social function of Job's ritual acts (tearing the garment, head-shaving, and
descent to the ground) and speech, in terms of A. van Gennep's and T. Turner's theories on ritual

process, the examination of biblical and extrabiblical parallels along with the syntax of theHebrew
verbs. It is concluded that themourning rites portrayed in Job 1:20-21 trigger the transformation
of Job's ordinary identity into an undefined or ambiguous identity; at the same time, theymark his
transition from day-to-day life to a liminal phase as identification with the dead. He remains in this

paradoxical condition until the end of mourning when he reintegrates into normal life and his
misfortune miraculously reverses (Job 42:7-17).

1. Connections

The Hebrew Bible describes a vast array of rituals1 connected with almost
every sphere of life.2Ritual texts exist in both prescriptive and descriptive

* This
essay is dedicated to my friend Gerald A. Klingbeil, who encouraged me to explore
ritual patterns in the Hebrew wisdom literature. Iwish to thank Bernd U. Schipper, JerryGladson,
Kathleen M. O'Connor and Walter Brueggemann for their kind help in commenting on an earlier
draft of this essay. I am also grateful to the anonymous referee for his/her beneficial remarks.
1 Jan Platvoet has provided an embracing definition of ritual thatmight be employed to de
fine or identify the ritual phenomena in the Hebrew Bible: "Ritual is that ordered sequence of

stylized social behaviour that may be distinguished from ordinary interaction by its alerting
-
qualities which enable it to focus the attention of its audiences its congregation as well as the
- onto
wider public itself and cause them to perceive it as a special event, performed at a special
place and/or time, for a special occasion and/or with a special message." J. Platvoet, "Ritual in
Plural and Pluralist Societies," in Pluralism and Identity: Studies in Ritual Behaviour (ed. J.
Platvoet and K. van der Toorn; SHR 67; Leiden: Brill, 1995), 41. For other definitions and a
see G.A.
comprehensive discussion of biblical rituals as well as their investigation to date,
Klingbeil, Bridging theGap: Ritual and Ritual Texts in theBible (BBRSup 1;Winona Lake, Ind.:
Eisenbrauns, 2007).
2 A wide-ranging discussion on ritual in the context of the cultural universe can be found in
G.A. Klingbeil, A Comparative Study of The Ritual of Ordination as Found in Leviticus 8 and
Emar 369 (Lewiston: Edwin Mellen, 1998), 5-52.

Die Welt des Orients 38/2008

S. 194-210 ISSN 0043-2547
? Vandenhoeck & RuprechtGmbH & Co. KG, Gottingen 2008

This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:54:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Job's Entree into a Ritual ofMourning 195

iterations,3providing a time capsule or snapshot to communicate the beliefs

and values of a specific group in a given context.4 The passage of Job 1:20-21
is a piece of ritual text composed with admirable artistry,which depicts Job's
mourning for the loss of his family.What does this ritual enactment signal to
participants, readers or onlookers? It triggersthe transformationof Job's ordinary
identity into a ritual identity;at the same time, itmarks his transition from day
to-day life to a liminal ritual condition as identificationwith the dead.
It is unfortunate to note that commentaries, even themore up-to-date, have
overlooked a ritual treatment of Job 1:20-21,5 offering no explanation about
the ritual functions6 and significance of Job's behaviors.7 It appears that Joban
studies8 have focused per se on historical-critical, theological, dialogical9

3 Compare the introduction of the terms in B.A. Levine, "The Descriptive Tabernacle Texts
of the Pentateuch," JAOS 85 (1965): 307-18; See also G. del Olmo Lete, Canaanite Religion
According to the Liturgical Texts of Ugarit (trans. W.G.E. Watson; Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisen
brauns, 2004), 14f.
4 G.A. Klingbeil, "'Momentaufhahmen' Importance of the Commu
of Israelite Religion: The
nal Meal ZAW 118 (2006): 24-25.
inNarrative Texts in I/II Regum and Their Ritual Dimension,"
5 R.L. Alden, Job (NAC; Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman & Holman, 1993), 61; S.E. Balentine,
Job (Smith & Helwys Bible Commentary; Macon, Ga.: Smith & Helwys, 2006), 56; D.J.A. Clines,
Job 1-20 (WBC 17; Dallas, Tex.: Word, 1989), 34-35; A. de Wilde, Das Buch Hiob. Engeleitet,
Ubersetzt und Erlautert (OTS22; Leiden: Brill, 1981), 89; J.H. Eaton, Job (Old Testament
Guides; Sheffield: JSOT,1992), 2; J.C.L. Gibson, Job (The Daily Study Bible; Philadelphia, Pa.:
Westminster, 1985), 16; N.C. Habel, The Book of Job: A Commentary (OTL; Philadelphia, Pa.:
Westminster, 1985), 93; J.E. Hartley, The Book of Job (NICOT; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans,
1988), 77; F. Hesse, Hiob (Zurcher Bibelkommentare 14; Theologischer Verlag: Zurich, 1992),
35; Gerald J. Janzen, Job (Interpretation; Atlanta, Ga.: JohnKnox Press, 1985), 43; CA. Newsom,
"The Book of Job," in The New Interpreter's Bible (ed. L.E. Keck; Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon,
1996), 4:352; M.H. Pope, Job (AncB 15A; Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1965), 15; W.D.
Reyburn, A Handbook on the Book of Job (UBS Handbook Series; New York: United Bible
Societies, 1992), 53; D.J. Simundson, The Message of Job: A Theological Commentary (Augsburg
Old Testament studies; Minneapolis, Minn.: Augsburg, 1986), 37; E.B. Smick, "Job," in The
Expositor's Bible Commentary (ed. F.E. Gaebelein; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1988),
4:882; J.A. Wharton, Job (Westminster Bible Companion; Louisville, Ky.: Westminster, 1999),
20; G.H. Wilson, Job (NIBCOT; Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2007), 26, 28.
6 Robert K. Merton has made a distinction between manifest (objectives/consequences for
the actor) and latent functions (objectives/consequences for the community) for social behavior.
R.K. Merton, Social Theory and Social Structure (enlarged ed.; New York: Free Press, 1968), 114-20.
7 J.Gordon McConville postulates that ritual in theOT has been often denigrated in biblical
studies because of a supposed opposition it poses to "spiritual" religion, and the effort has even
been made to show that itwas regarded as passe by theOT itself (J.G. McConville, "The Place of
ritual inOld Testament Religion," IBS 3 [1981]: 120-33); though commenting on Priestly rituals,
Frank H. Gorman's insights are worth citing here: "[R]esearch has focused primarily on textual
analysis without great concern for the social nature of ritual. Rituals must be understood in terms
of their socio-cultural context. This demands a methodological shift ... from a text oriented
analysis to a socio-cultural analysis." F.H. Gorman, Jr., The Ideology of Ritual: Space, Time and
Status in thePriestly Theology (JSOTSup 229; Sheffield: JSOT, 1990), 13.
8 A comprehensive survey of past and recent scholarship on Job can be found in CA.
Newsom, "Considering Job," CurBS 1 (1993): 87-118; idem, "Re-Considering Job," CurBR 5
(2007): 155-82.
9 Based on the work of Mikhail Bakhtin, Carol A. Newsom argues that the book of Job
represents an attempt to create a dialogue of genres (voices) or a polyphonic text. She says that Job

This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:54:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 196 Richard W. Medina

issues, etc.10 or conversations about the reception history, excluding the book
of Job as a source of Israelite beliefs and practices.11 In view of this lassitude
towards ritual, after exploring the practice of mourning rites in the context of
the ancient Near East, I venture to explain the functions of the acts and speech
limned in Job 1:20-21, through a ritual theory and an examination of biblical
and extrabiblical parallels as well as the syntax of theHebrew verbs. Before
moving on to the next section, itwill be instructive to review Arnold van
Gennep's theory of "rites of passage" and Terence Turner's "hierarchy of
operations," which will serve as a theoretical approach for this study.
A. van Gennep points out that the life of an individual in any society is a
series of passages: "For every one of these events there are ceremonies whose
essential purpose is to enable the individual topass from one defined position
to another."12 These ceremonies, he calls rites of passage, involve separation,
transition (or the so-called liminal or threshold phase) and incorporation, and
are associated with those critical transition phases in life, such as birth, initia
tion, marriage, parenthood, and death. Although Turner criticizes van Gen
nep's ritual process as a linear series of moves or stages on the same level, he
does link itwith the notion of the transformationof identities in the form of a
vertical mediation between levels of operations of differing logical types:13

is introduced by a didactic narrative, including aesthetic devices (repetition, idealized exaggera

tion, simple binary character oppositions, strongly evaluative narrator, etc.) that create a moral
world of clear values and simple truths.The narrative otherwise is continued by another genre that
follows the storywith a form of literary,moral, and sophisticated conversation (both aesthetically
and in terms of the complexity of itsmoral vision). Idem, The Book of Job: A Contest ofMoral
Imaginations (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), 17-18.
10 Relying upon thework of the psychohistorian, Robert Jay Lifton, Dan Mathewson offers an
ambitious study on death's multiple meanings in the book of Job as a consequence of the collapse
of divine justice. He writes: "Whereas divine justice acts as a symbol system that grounds the
meaning of death for Job's friends, when Job experiences disaster and senses that this symbol
system collapses, death for Job loses its anchor. Job's struggle throughout the book will be to
articulate a new symbol system in order that his experiences of suffering can be understood in a
new and newly meaningful context. This new context will also supply Job a stable place from
which to understand death." D. Mathewson, Death and Survival in the Book of Job (Library of
Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 450; New York: T & T Clark, 2006), 25.
11 A provocative essay dealing with the presence of transformed Israelite religious traditions
in the book of Job is found inG.J. Janzen, "The Place of the Book of Job in the History of Israel's
Religion," inAncient Israelite Religion: Essays inHonor of Frank Moore Cross (ed. P.D. Miller,
Jr.,P.D. Hanson and S.D. McBride; Philadelphia, Pa.: Fortress, 1987), 523-37. Cf. G.A. Klingbeil,
"Altars, Ritual and Theology: Preliminary Thoughts on the Importance of Cult and Ritual for a
Theology of theHebrew Scriptures," *T54 (2004): 495-515
12 A. van Gennep, The Rites of Passage (trans. M.B. Vizedom and G.L. Caffee; Chicago, 111.:

University of Chicago Press, 1960), 2-3, 10-11 (my italics); see also P.C. Rosenblatt, R.P. Walsh
and D.A. Jackson, Grief and Mourning inCross-Cultural Perspective (New Haven, Conn.: HRAF
Press, 1976), 86-87.
13 T. Turner, "Structure, Process, Form," in Theorizing Rituals: Issues, Topics, Approaches,
Concepts (ed. J.Kreinath, J. Snoek and M. Stausberg; Numen Book Series: Studies in theHistory
of Religions 114-1; Leiden: Brill, 2006), 212; cf. D. Handelman, "Framing," in Theorizing
Rituals: Issues, Topics, Approaches, Concepts (ed. J.Kreinath, J. Snoek and M. Stausberg; Numen
Book Series: Studies in theHistory of Religions 114-1; Leiden: Brill, 2006), 582.

This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:54:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Job's Entree into a Ritual ofMourning 197

The 'passage' of the person

...
undergoing the ritual, leading to his/her ... 'aggregation' to the new
status or condition, consists in formal terms of transformations. As such, it comprises more

powerful operations of a higher logical type than the simple negation or confirmation of the
... the rites
classificatory identities that comprise the initial and final phases of the ritual process
of separation and aggregation have this job of insulating the normative categories and relations ...
Between these two points, the initiands or other entities undergoing transitions or passages become

identified with the transformational processes of themedial or liminal phase of the ritual.14

Based upon the opinion of both authors, the rites of separation and incorpo
ration are devices that enable the individual to enter another sphere of reality.
They instigate and channel the transformative processes of social status and
space-time incidental. During the liminal or transitional phase, the person
temporarilyadopts a kind of "unidentifiedmeta-identity" as opposed to the ordi
nary identities of the initial and final phases.15 Accordingly, in a ritual ofmour
ning, by performing a series of rites (of separation) the participant enters into a
liminal stage as well as adopts a temporary ritual identity.Then he/she situates
"between theworld of the living and theworld of the dead,"16 taking on am
biguous "modes of behavior, which typically combine seclusion and with
drawal from ordinary social lifewith anti-social behavior."17The mourner's trans
formed status in this case appears incompatible with the normative statuses and
relations of the everyday world. The question on how this ritual performance
occurred in the ancient Near East is the subject of the ensuing section.

2. Ritual ofMourning in the Context of theAncient Near East

Ancient Near Eastern literature has a rich of mourning

preserved repertoire
rites18which doubtless reflect the funeral practice of the time.Although some
of these texts can be as far as 1500 years, themourning rites they describe
have many common features, which attest to the conservative nature of the
ritual practice, especially with regard to the ritual ofmourning.
For space limitations several textswill be omitted.19This section will just
look at a text that possesses striking similarities to Job 1:20-21, namely the
mourning of DIluand cAnatu over Ba 7w. This poem will serve as a backdrop
for the ritual performance recorded in the Joban text.One of themost promi
nent features of Canaanite religion is its focus on the death of Baclu. When

14 Turner, "Structure," 211-14 (my italics).

15 F. Jeserich, "An Invitation to 'Theorizing' Theorizing Rituals: Some Suggestions forUsing the
Indexes," in Theorizing Rituals: Issues, Topics, Approaches, Concepts (ed. J.Kreinath, J. Snoek and
M. Stausberg; Numen Book Series: Studies in theHistory of Religions 114-1; Leiden: Brill, 2006), 708.
16 Cf. Van Gennep, 146-48.
17 Turner, "Structure," 214.
18 X.H.T. Pham, Mourning in the Ancient Near East and theHebrew Bible (JSOTSup 302;
Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999), 16.
19 Cf.B. Alster, "The Mythology ofMourning," Acta Sumerologica 5 (1983): 1-16.

This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:54:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 198 Richard W. Medina

Baclu receives the command to descend to the netherworld, he acquiesces to

the demand, but theway he carries itout is confusing. Instead of "descending"
he journeys to the edge of the earth and there, in the parched desert of death,
meets his fate. The disappearance of Baclu, the storm-god, was catastrophic
and the cause for greatmourning.20Without the seasonal rains provided by this
deity, the land quickly became infertile,and life itselfwas in danger. Note the
reaction of DIlu and cAnatu:21

KTU1.5 VI 11-25

Thereupon theGracious One, the kindly god,

descends from the throne, sits on the footstool,
(descends) from the footstool, sits on the earth.
He pours dirt of mourning on his head,
dust of humiliation on his cranium.
for clothing, he is covered with a girded garment.
With a stone he scratches incisions on (his) skin,
with a razor he cuts cheeks and chin.
He harrows his upper arms,
plows (his) chest like a garden
harrows (his) back like a (garden in a) valley.
He raises his voice and cries aloud:
Baclu is dead, what (is to become of) the people,
the Son of Dagan (is dead), what (is to become of) the hordes
(of the earth)?
After Baclu, I also shall descend into the earth.

KTUX.5 VI 30-1.619

She [arrives] at where Baclu was fallen [to the] earth;

for clothing, she is covered with a girded garment.
With a stone she scratches incisions on (her) skin,
[with a razor] she cuts cheeks and chin.
[She harrows] her upper arms,
plows (her) chest like a garden
harrows (her) back like a (garden in a) valley.
Baclu is dead, what (is to become of) the people,
the Son of Dagan (is dead), what (is to become of) the hordes
(of the earth)?
After Bal>lu, we also shall descend into the earth,22
with him Sapsu, luminary of the gods, shall descend.

DIlu and cAnatu are exhibiting stereotypical mourning behaviors. When the
scene begins, DIlu is seated on his thronewith his feet on the footstool, pre

20 G.A. Anderson, A Time toMourn, A Time toDance: The Expression of Grief and Joy in
Israelite Religion (University Park, Penn.: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1991), 60.
21 "The Baclu Myth," translated by D. Pardee (COS 1.86:267-68).
22 Based upon Ugaritic and Hebrew parallels of mourning customs, J.Glen Taylor argues that
the place to which DIlu and cAnatu descend (KTU 1.5 VI 25; 1.6 I 9) designates the netherworld
rather than the earth. J.G. Taylor, "The First and Last Thing to do inMourning: KTU 1.161 and
Some Parallels," inAscribe to the Lord: Biblical & Other Studies inMemory of Peter C Craigie
(ed. L. Eslinger and G. Taylor; JSOTSup 67; Sheffield: JSOT, 1988), 159-60.

This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:54:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Job's Entree into a Ritual ofMourning 199

sumably dressed in real attire. Upon hearing of Baclu's death, DIlu removes
himself from his seat,moves to his footstool, and finally lies on the ground. He
puts dirt on his head.23 Both DIlu and cAnatu are covered with girded garments,
pound their bodies, shave their faces, gashes their bodies, and cry out in
despair. Through stylized movements, acts and speech, they enter into the
liminal state of mourning, decouple from the sphere of day-to-day life and
adopt a transitoryritual identity.The fact that they explicitly declare that they
are descending to the underworld itself as identificationwith the dead Baclu
indicates that their perception of reality has been totally twisted; their lives
seem to have no sense or value without the living storm-god.
In ancient Israel, mourning riteswith descent to Sheol also signal the indi
vidual's entry into a betwixt and between condition. Not in every circumstance
is the term "mourning" used, but its function in a ritual sequence is clearly
seen.When Jacob learns of Joseph's death, he tears his clothes, girds his loins
with sackcloth, and mourns his son formany days (Gen 37:34). All his sons
and daughters come to console him, but he refuses to be comforted. Jacob says
he will go down as mourner to Sheol to his son. The scene closes with Jacob
weeping for his dead son (Gen 37:35). Other examples of realization ofmourn
ing rites at time of death can be cited. With his clothes torn and dirt on his
head, an Amalekite brings toDavid the news of Jonathan's and Saul's death (2
Sam 1:2; cf. 1 Sam 4:1 Iff). Likewise, David and his men tear their garments
when they receive this aggrieving message (2 Sam 1:11). Job's ritual enact
ment is another example of mourning the dead, which will be treated in detail
in the next section of this essay.

3. Job's Entree into a Ritual ofMourning

The first chapter of the book portrays three different scenes. The first one
reveals Job's geographical origin and identity,mentions his close and extended
-
family children, animals and servants -, and describes his children's feasts
and daily worship response toGod (1:1-5). The next scene takes place in the
presence of God. Satan puts into question the genuineness of Job's integrity;
and the Lord gives him permission to destroy Job's family and possessions
(1:6-12). The last view seems to reverse the first one. It shows the loss of
Job's family - animals and children - and the enactment of a ritual of mourn
ing (1:13-22). The passage of Job 1:20-21 represents a piece of ritual text that
pictures, as a photograph, Job's movements, actions and speech signaling a
social transition in his life.24

23 Anderson, A Time toMourn, 63.

24 I am indebted here to thework of Saul Olyan in explaining how mourning behaviors
signal
a transition in social life (S.M. Olyan, Biblical Mourning: Ritual and Social Dimensions
[Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2004]).

This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:54:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 200 Richard
W. Medina

T
^nnin
nn^i 21
t?k pap -n^ cni?

rrjrr
J<]n3
njrn
npxbT

a
20 And Job arose,
b
and tore his robe,
c
and sheared his head,
d
and fell to the ground,
e
and bowed down,25
a
21 and said:
b
"Naked came I out26 of my mother's womb,
c
and naked will I return there;
d
YHWH has given,
e
and YHWH has taken away;
f
may the name of YHWH be blessed."

Syntax and structure of a given passage are

closely intertwined. Specifically
in regard to texts dealing with ritual action, movement and speech, it is impor
tant to understand the syntactic conventions which may help in interpretingthe

25 For a very long time the perfect ninntfnwas regarded as a Hithpael form of nno inwhich
metathesis had ocurred. However, research intoUgaritic has clearly indicated that it is a relic from
an earlier stage of the language. One is here dealing with a verb stem mn that is used in a stem
formation towhich a /hist-/or lyistl syllable is added. Only one verb occurs in this stem formation,
namely mn, "to bow" (See C.H.J, van der Merwe, J.A. Naude and J.H. Kroeze, A Biblical Hebrew
Reference Grammar [Biblical Languages: Hebrew 3; New York: Sheffield, 2002], 139). Corre
+ verb
spondenly, Ttnsn. can be parsed as waw consecutive Histafel imperfect 3rd masc. sing.
26 Although the reading ^nir iswell supported by theMT and theAleppo Codex, it appears as
-
enlarged by an Daleph, tiks% in the Qere orthography and in some Hebrew medieval manuscripts
edited by B. Kennicott (1776, 1780), J.B. de Rossi (1784), and CD. Ginsburg (1908-1926). The
difference between both readings is the omission and inclusion of the Daleph. Ancient Phoenician
-
inscriptions, which predate Hebrew, do not indicate thematres lectionis which were later added
-
to the original Hebrew script to facilitate the reading either in themiddle or at the end of a word.
Accordingly, the absence of the Jaleph in Tiy could reveal an early orthography practice. Another
explanation might be that the scribe(s) probably considered the Jaleph as quiescent, thus omitted it
and transferred its vowel to the preceding letter (cf. E. Kautszch and A.E. Cowley, Gesenius'
Hebrew Grammar [2d ed.; Oxford: Clarendon, 1910], ? 23/, 14k; cf. P. Joiion and T. Muraoka, A
Grammar of Biblical Hebrew [SubBi 14; 2 vols.; Roma: Editrice Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 1991],
? 78/). For alike spelling occurrences see E. Tov, Textual Criticism of theHebrew Bible (2d rev.
ed.; Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress, 2001), 255; P.K. McCarter, Jr., Textual Criticism: Recovering
the Text of theHebrew Bible (GBS 2; Philadelphia, Pa.: Fortress, 1986), 54-55.

This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:54:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Job's Entree into a Ritual ofMourning 201

ritual performance.27 It ismy argument that Job 1:20-21 is a genuinely artistic

composition that displays a fine interaction of its grammatical constituents in
order to portray a ritual. Table 1 below seeks to show the syntactic layout of
the passage. The terminology here employed requires a word of explanation.
By "verbal form" I mean the simplest grammatical morphemes which can
come at the head of a clause, such as the narrative WAYYIQTOL and the
jussive YIQTOL. By "grammatical constructions," instead, Imean the various
combinations which verbal or nominal forms take on in the text, such as
(WAW)-x-QATAL and WAW-x-YIQTOL; these constructions do not nor
mally fill the firstslot in a clause.

Verse Hebrew Text Verbal Form/ Functions/

_Construction_Aspects

20a WAYYIQTOL Inchoative

b Dps1
i^I??rnX inp!n WAYYIQTOL Successive
l^Kh'nX TP! WAYYIQTOL Successive
d Ssn WAYYIQTOL Successive
nnnin WAYYIQTOL Successive
2ia "iraK"! WAYYIQTOL Successive
b
*m ]pap pnrcr] cnsy x-qatal single/Emphatic
c bny
TOtt? Dhl?! WAW-x-YIQTOL Continuous/Emphatic
d
e
]rtfHliT x-QATAL Single/Emphatic
. WAW-x-QATAL Single/Emphatic
npbTn,irT,,l
f
YIQTOL Jussive/Consecutive
'IP*' ^ ^

Table 1: A Global View of Verbal Forms and Grammatical Constructions of Job 1:20-21

The ritual
perfomance is shown as framed by six sussessive
WAYYIQTOLs,28 which capture the nature of Job's acts, movement and
speech, stress their order, secuence and interreladtedness: Tinun n^")k
Sept ItfKTnK Tjn ibm-m I7np?5 d??i, "And Job arose, and' tore'his
robe, and sheared his head, and fell to the ground, and bowed down, and said".
Interestingly, every disaster save one (Job 1:17) features the root bs: 'fall'

27 G.A. Klingbeil, "The Syntactic Structure of the Ritual of Ordination (Lev 8)," Biblica 11
(1996): 509-19; see also R.W. Medina, "La estructura sintactica y la interpretation de Exodo 6:2
9," DavarLogos 4.2 (2005): 101-15.
28 For a methodological foundation for this textual analysis, see here A. Niccacci, The Syntax
of the Verb in Classical Hebrew Prose (trans. W.G.E. Watson; JSOTSup 86; Sheffield: JSOT,
1990), 23-34, 163-91; idem, "Finite Verb in the Second Position of the Sentence. Coherence of
theHebrew Verbal System," ZAW 108 (1996): 434-40; cf. L. Vegas Montaner, "Sintaxis del verbo
hebreo biblico: nuevas tendencias," in Jewish Studies at the Turn of the Twentieth Century.
Proceedings of the 6th EAJS Congress Toledo, July 1998. Volume I: Biblical, Rabbinical, and
Medieval Studies (ed. J. Targarona Borras and A. Saenz-Badillos; Leiden: Brill, 1999), 222-31;
B.K. Waltke and M. O'Connor, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax (Winona Lake, Ind.:
Eisenbrauns, 1990), 547-54.

This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:54:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 202 Richard W. Medina

until Job himself, after 'arising' finally succumbs and falls too.29The sixth
WAYYIQTOL embraces a two-element syntactic construction.30 The first
element is composed of two compound clauses forming together the protasis:
natf nitiK b"ifi *m ]M? m*??] CPSJ) Dny, "Naked came I out of my
mother's womb, and naked will I return there;" and ngb rnrn ]nj rniT,
"YHWH has given, and YHWH has taken away." The second element of the
construction includes one simple clause operating as the apodosis: 'IP'!
Dtf VT, "may the name of YHWH be blessed."31 In addition, there is a merism
created by the contrasting verbs "come out," and 2Wy "return;" another
merism is in the second compound clause with the antithesis of the verbs ]n3,
"give," and npb, "take away."32
' >
ofBirth
Metaphor 1 ( ofYHWH
TheGratuity
"Naked came I out of my mother's womb" /?K "YHWH has given"

,_(x-QATAL)_J [_(x-QATAL)_,

/-\ /-\
Metaphor of Death The Taking Away ofYHWH
"and naked will I return there" /?\ "and YHWH has taken away"

^_(WAW-x-YIQTOL)_J [_(WAW-x-QATAL)_t

f BlessingofYHWH's Name 1
"may the name of YHWH be blessed" ^
s_(YIQTOL)_t

Figure 1: SyntheticParallelism of Job 1:21^

Figure 1 displays stunning verbal, syntactic and thematic correspondences

on the protasis. The metaphor of birth is stressed by the implied idea that
YHWH gives life.The parallelism is emphasized by the occurrence of identi
cal grammatical constructions (x-QATAL-x-QATAL). Similarly, the meta
phor of death is accentuated by the notion that YHWH takes life back to
Himself. Both clauses possess analogous syntactical patterns (WAW-x

29 V. Hoffer, "Illusion, Allusion, and Literary Artifice in the Frame Narrative of Job," in The
Whirlwind: Essays on Job, Hermeneutics and Theology inMemory of Jane Morse (ed. S.L. Cook,
C.L. Patton and J.W.Watts; JSOTSup 336; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001), 97.
30 For my analysis here, I follow Niccacci's views on the two-element syntactic construction
(2SC) to see the inner relationships of clauses. For convenience the first element of the 2SC is
called the "protasis" and the second the "apodosis" even though they do not refer exclusively to a
conditional clause. For more details see Niccacci, The Sintax of the Verb, 125-62.
31 Waltke and O'connor, Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 422, observe that rpba, "blessed," is a delo
cutive productive Pual. They mean by "delocutive" a verbal form referring to a speech act.
32 Alden, 706,62.

This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:54:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Job's Entree into a Ritual ofMourning 203

YIQTOL-WAW-x-QATAL) as well. Lastly, the motif of being born and

dying by the Lord's will is finished off by a result apodosis clause: "may the
name of YHWH be blessed". The ensuing structureexhibits the sequence and
order of the ritual acts and language corresponding to Job 1:20-21.

1. Ritual Opening (v. la)

2. Ritual Actions (vv. lb-le)

a. Tearing theGarment (v. 1b)

b. Head-Shaving (v. lc)

c. Descent to theGround (v. ld"e)

3. Ritual Language (v. 2a f)

a. Metaphor of Birth (v. 2b)

b. Metaphor of Death (v. 2?)

c. The Gratuity of YHWH (v. 2d)

d. The Taking Away of YHWH (v. 2e)

e. Blessing of YHWH's Name (v. 2f)

The above arrangement will serve to explain in detail how the accomplish
ment of some rites triggered the transformationof Job's everyday identity into
an undefined or ritual identity.As shown in biblical and extrabiblical texts,
Job's reaction to disaster constitutes a sequence of stylized social behavior and
speech that are distinguished from an ordinary event. His ritual performance
includes threequalities: ritual opening, ritual actions and ritual language.
Job is in the outdoors sitting on a bench, chair or couch, in the accepted
mode of persons. Immediately after hearing the calamities, he indicates the
beginning of his ritual of mourning by an upward movement: Dp5;!, "and
Job arose." Once the ritual is initiated, he proceeds on ripping his clothes:
^IM3T1K snpal, "and tore his robe." This robe was, perhaps, a type of cloak
wrapped around the body and the undergarments (cf. 1 Sam 15:27; Ps 109:29;
Ezra 9:3; Job 2:12).

This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:54:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 204 Richard W. Medina

3.1 Tearing theGarment

The judgment of the peoples of the ancient Near East on clothing differs
radically from that of our Western conception of it. For them clothing is an
extension of an individual's personality. The removal of clothes is considered
as much more serious than a mere physical matter. This is indicated by a
number of texts.33The stripping or removing of the garment could signal a
breakup with material world,34 loss of status or identity, or loss of divine
protection, and a great shame. By stripping his robe, Job separates from his last
bond on earth, thematerial world. In fact, garments were expensive in the
ancient Near East, and a great proportion of the population possibly possessed
just one garment. Material things lost their usefulness and value once Job's
animals, servants, and children were lost. He loses his social status (Num
20:26) as well; he remains at least partially naked, "resulting in public
shame"35 (cf. Job 2:8). And nakedness means a loss of identity. Identity in the
widest sense of theword can in the firstplace be given expression by clothing
and clothes. The wearing of garments are also part of divine protection (Gen
2:25; 3:7; 3:21); hence the removing of themmeans loss of it.36
Being partially naked, Job is ritually defiled. Purity refers to the perception
of things, persons, etc. being "in place" according to the value system of a
given culture. And pollution refers towhat is 'out of place.' Nudity is always
"out of place." Likewise, clothing is a boundary for the physical body, which
is a microcosm of the social system. Nudity means the complete absence of
boundaries; the body is accessible to any and every one, thus destroying its
exclusivity as "set Boundaries must be maintained, and so
something apart."
nudity is unclean.37 For that reason, Job, symbolically and temporarily, being
unclothed, resembles theirbeloved dead.
In several Akkadian texts, the removal of garments denoted identification
with the dead. This can be seen, for example, in theDescent of Ishtar inwhich
as she enters the netherworld, according to the rites there, she is stripped of all
her jewelry and garment at each of the seven gates. By her nakedness she
becomes assimilated with dead. Then Ereshkigal, the goddess of the nether
world, strikes herwith sixty deadly diseases.

33 P.A. Kruger, "The Symbolic Significance of the Hem (kanaf) in 1 Samuel 15.27," in Text
and Context: Old Testament and Semitic Studies for F C Fensham (ed. W. Claassen; JSOTSup 48;
Sheffield: JSOT, 1988), 106.
34 M.E. Vogelzang and W.J. van Bekkum, "Meaning and Symbolism of Clothing inAncient
Near Eastern Texts," in Scripta Signa Vocis (ed. H.L.J. Vanstiphout et al.; Groningen: Egbert
Forsten, 1986), 267.
35 Klingbeil, Bridging theGap, 175.
36 Vogelzang and van Bekkum, "Meaning and Symbolism of Clothing," 273.
37 J.H. Neyrey, "Nudity," inBiblical Social Values and Their Meaning: A Handbook (ed. J.J.
Pilch and B.J. Malina; Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1993), 122-23.

This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:54:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Job's Entree into a Ritual ofMourning 205

He let her in through the seventh door, but stripped off (60)
(and) took away the proud garment of her body.
"Gatekeeper, why have you taken away the proud garment of my body?"
"Go in,my lady. Such are the rites of theMistress of Earth."

Ereshkigal made her voice heard and spoke, (66)

addressed her words toNamtar her vizier,
"Go, Namtar [ ] of my [ ]
Send out against her sixty diseases [ ] Ishtar."38

3.2 Head-Shaving

Job's second ritual action consists of polling his head. With a razor, he
"sheared his head" carefully, deliberately. Hair "transmitted a message about
life of the person as an individual."39 Since hair continues to grow throughout
life (and appears to do so for a time after death), itwas considered by the
ancients to be the seat of a man's vitality and life force, and in ritual it often
served as his substitute.A bowl dating from the ninth century B.C. found in a
Cypriot temple contains an inscription on its outside surface indicating that it
contained the hair of the donor. Itwas placed there, if the reconstructed text is
correct, as "a memorial" toAstarte, as a permanent reminder to the goddess of
the donor's devotion."40 Thus Job's head-shaving is a rite that symbolizes the
loss of his life and, by extension, assimilation of himself to the dead. It also
signals Job's entry into a state of pollution, effects a transition in his status and
serves as a public, temporarymarker of his change of identity (cf. Num 6;
5:11-28; 30:2; Deut 21:10-14).41

3.3 Descending to theGround

Aside from taking on the appearance of the dead - devoid of everything and
almost entirely naked -, there is also evidence that Job imitates themovement
of the dead to the underworld through a ritual descent to the ground as 3Ilu and
cAnatu did in theirmourning over Baclu.
Mayer I. Gruber has long argued that infill nS"|K bp**), "and fell to the
ground and bowed down," should be understood as acts of homage, respect or
grief. Because his philological analysis is convincing and his interpretation

38 "Descent of Ishtar," translated by S. Dalley (COS 1:382). The Akkadian cuneiform text
corresponding to this section along with its transliteration can be found inR. Borger, Bahylonisch
Assyrische Lesestucke (Roma: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1963), 11-90, III-Tafel 57.
39 P. Galpaz-Feller, "Hair in the Bible and inAncient Egyptian Culture," BN 125 (2005): 75.
40 J.Milgrom, Leviticus 17-22: A New Translation with Introduction and
Commentary (AB
3A; New York: Doubleday, 2000), 1802.
41 For a study about shaving as a rite of transition in theOT,
especially in the Pentateuch, see
S.M. Olyan, "What Do Shaving Rites Accomplish and What Do they Signal in Biblical Ritual
Contexts?" JBL (1998): 611-22.

This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:54:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 206 Richard W. Medina

carries importance for the argument of this essay, an extensive summary of

Gruber's work appears as follows.
A survey of the one hundred and sixty-nine occurrences of the verb mnnran,
"bow down," in the Hebrew Bible reveals that in forty-seven cases mnnwn
refers unequivocally to a posture of greeting, homage or respect tomortals.42
Although generally ignored in older as well as recent English Bibles, the
Hebrew text provides two excellent cues for determining when mnnran is
employed in the primary (postural) sense rather than the secondary (trans
ferred, abstract) sense. The first criterion is the juxtaposition of mnnran with
other verbs denoting bowing or kneeling. The second criterion is themodifica
tion of mnnron by adverbial phrases indicating direction of physical move
ment. The presence of such modifiers clearly limitsmnnwn to its primary
sense. Furthermore, they justify the inference that in theirabsence mnnwn may
mean simply "worship, greet, give homage".43
In addition, Job's adoration would be incongruous in the context of Job
1:20-21. Certainly nothing else in Job's response to the news of the death of
his seven sons and three daughters suggests that he is engaged in adoration. If
he callously did so, itwould be hard to see how Job 1:20-21 might be con
strued to demonstrate (as the author seems to intend) Job's virtue. In fact, the
nearest Job comes to engaging in adoration in the context under discussion
here is in his reciting the formula jpn rnrr Otf VP rnrn
ngb ]h rnrp,
"YHWH has given, and YHWH has taken away; may the name of YHWH be
blessed." Just as the use of this formula inmodern Jewish funeral services in
no way transforms the ceremony from one of grief to one of adoration so does
itnot transformJob's response to tragedy frommourning toworship. Surely, if
the author of Job 1:22 understood either Job 1:20 or Job 1:21 as an expression
of adoration, therewould hardly be a need to add v. 22 where we read WTibxb
nSan inr*6l nVK Kttrrkb rwrbsa, "in all this Job did not sin nor did charge
God with wrong."44 Therefore, both in Job 1:20 and in itsparallel text found in
2 Samuel 1:2, inntf*?nS")K bh% "and he fell to the ground, and bowed down,"
must be interpreted as ritual acts of homage or great respect in a context of
mourning.

42 M.I. Gruber, Aspects of Nonverbal Communication in the Ancient Near East (2 vols.;
Studia Pohl 12; Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1980), 1:96. For a more comprehensive explanation
of posture of prayer and worship, see esp. 1:90-178.
43 Ibid., 1:96-97.
44 Ibid., 2:469-70.

This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:54:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Job's Entree into a Ritual ofMourning 207

Figure 2: Papyrus ofHeruben

Figure 2 is a 5 cm. high papyrus (Book of theDead) of Heruben, coming

from the 12th Dynasty (1085-950 B.C.). It nicely illustrates the Egyptian
manner of falling to ground, then throwing oneself down on the hands, at the
same time keeping one knee drawn up in order to facilitate rising.45Perhaps,
once Job tears his garment, shears his head, he falls to ground and bows down
as shown in the iconographic motif above. In thisposition he utters stereotyped
religious formulas/sayings as part of theritual performance.

3.4 Ritual Speech

Job is situated in a liminal period, shocked by the loss of his family. He

probably feels dead in life.Unlike Mesopotamia, Canaan, and Egypt, Israel's
view of death is shorn of all elements of fear, horror, or ancestor worship.
Instead, Israel accepts death as an unavoidable fact of life.46 In Israelite
thought, the threat is this:Death removes the Israelite, not only from the realm
of life, but from God.47 God's relationship with them can take place only
within the context of life.48Certainly, by the loss of his children Job feels the
divine abandonment. God was out of his scope. So he enacts his mourning not
only via ritual actions and movements but also through conventional, stylized
formulas: HBti mtfK cnin *m ]p rn*?r] On?') onJJ,"Naked came I out of
my mother's womb, and naked will I return there;" and rnmi ]H3 rnn%
ngb
"YHWH has given, and YHWH has taken away."
The first sentence - 7V?tinitiK bhjn "SK |fi|Q rnittF] Dnp, "Naked
came I out ofmy mother's womb, and naked will I return there" -,49 a declara
tive statement, is a reflection on life, and apparently a popular proverb (cf.
Eccl 5:14; Ps 139:5). The second one - mrri ]na mn% "YHWH has
n$b
given, and YHWH has taken away" -, also a declarative statement, is a reli

45 O. Keel, The Symbolism of theBiblical World: Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the
Book ofPsalms (trans. T.J. Hallett; Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1997), 310, fig. 413.
46 E. Feldman, Biblical and Post-Biblical Defilement and Mourning: Law as Theology
(Library of Jewish Law and Ethics; New York: Yeshiva University Press, 1977), 139.
47 Ibid., 18.
48 Ibid., 139-140.
49 The adverb "there" is often "interpreted as an epithet of the underworld." See W.L. Michel,
"Confidence and Despair: Job 19,25-27 in the Light of Northwest Semitic Studies," in The Book
of Job (ed. W.A.M. Beuken; BETL 114; Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1994), 170-71.

This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:54:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 208 Richard W. Medina

gious wisdom reflection on life.This way of speaking of whatever happens of

God's decision (1 Sam 3:18) also seems proverbial and comparable to other
religious proverbs (Prov 10:22; 16:1, 9; Sir 11:14; theArabic formula: "His
Lord gave him, his Lord has taken him away"; theMesopotamian proverb:
-
"The king gave, the king has taken; long live the king"). The last sentence
-
YpQ rr Dti VT, "may the name of YHWH be blessed" is an exclama
tion, a blessing which resembles a liturgical blessing formula found elsewhere
in Scripture with identical or similar wording.50 Therefore, Job's firstwords
combine two proverbs, and a blessing which could be called a stylized resigna
tion speech.51

Resignation in theMediterranean culture should not be mistaken for either

pessimism or despair. On the contrary, resignation, understood as patience,
indicates acceptance of status and condition of the individual and/or family or
tribe, and nation as a whole, togetherwith the course of events which affect
them all, as ordered by God. Everything comes from the hand of God, and he
is the author of all events.52 Job stands "by the biblical view thatGod is the
cause of all things, evil as well as good (Isa 45:6-7; Amos 3:6; Lam 3:38)."53
In this sense, he faces with resignation the reversal of his fortune and loss of
his children.
It is interesting to note that the "earth is clearly called a womb and, by strict
analogy, those yet unborn and those deceased are both in a womb."54 The
- cf. Ps - alludes to the
passage of Job 1:21 139:5; Eccl 5:14 concept of
Mother Earth as the bearer of men and, in general, of all living things.Return
to thewomb of the earth presupposes emergence from it.

50 Cf. Ps 72:19; 96:2; 100:4; 113:2; 145:1; Neh 9:5. Johannes C. de Moor notes in this sen
tence a resemblance with a line from the Ugaritic tale of Aqhat, where DanPil invokes the spirits
of the dead heroes to revive his son: "the blessing of the name of Ilu gave substance to the heroes."
See J.C. de Moor, An Anthology of Religious Texts from Ugarit (Religious Texts Translation
Series NISABA 16; Leiden: Brill, 1987), 272.
51 W. Vogels, "Job's Empty Pious Slogans (Job 1,20-22; 2,8-10)," in The Book of Job (ed.
W.A.M. Beuken; BETL 114; Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1994), 370-71.
52 M. McVann, "Patience," in Biblical Social Values and Their Meaning: A Handbook (ed.
J.J.Pilch and B.J. Malina; Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1993), 131.
53 R.E. Murphy, The Tree of Life: An Exploration of Biblical Wisdom Literature (3d ed.;
Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2002), 37.
54 O. Keel and C. Uehlinger, Gods, Goddesses, and Images of God in Ancient Israel (trans.
T.H. Trapp; Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress, 1998), 367.

This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:54:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Job's Entree into a Ritual ofMourning 209

(SI
R. Ill ,)

Figure 3: Clay Relief from Mesopotamia

Figure 3 is an 11 cm. high clay relief from Larsa Period (ca. 1960-1860
B.C.), housed inBaghdad Museum. It depicts Mother Earth, the great bearer,
mistress of the earth-mountain (Ninhursag), mistress of bearing (Nintu). At her
left and right are crouched two fetuses. Two infants' head project from her
shoulders, just as rays shoot forthfrom the shoulders of the sun god and water
and fish leap forthfrom the shoulders of Ea. At her breast, the goddess gives
suck to a child (shown only by its head and one arm). The symbol on either
side of the goddess has been interpretedas swaddling band, or as the uterus of
a cow, themother animal par excellence.55
Accordingly, Job's stereotyped utterance represented not only words of res
ignation, in the positive view, but also words of ritual confession and respect
addressed not toNinhursag, Nintu, the sun god or Ea, but toYHWH, the real
Mother Earth, the trueLord and Bearer of life in theHebrew Scriptures.

4. Conclusions

This essay has attempted to explain the social function of Job's ritual actions
and speech as portrayed in Job 1:20-21, in termsof a ritual theory, the analysis
of biblical and extrabiblical parallels along with the syntax of the Hebrew
verbs. In Job's entrance tomourning, the tearing of the garment suggests loss

55 Keel, The Symbolism of theBiblical World, 203, fig. 277a.

This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:54:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 210 Richard W. Medina

of divine protection, defilement, separation from thematerial world, and great

shame; head-shaving in turn serves as a marker of life-deprivation and change
of identity; descent to the ground represents a comedown to death; and con
ventionalized speech denotes a ritual confession of faith and respect. All these
ritual enactments signal Job's change of status and appropriation of a defiled
identity.Likewise, they provoke and channel the reversal56 of his day-to-day
life, cultic obligations and social relations, even to the point of his desiring to
share the same fate of his children (cf. Job 3).
Job's ritual of mourning is invested with personal feeling and intentional
ity.57It is not necessarily a passive experience inwhich he, as a subordinate,
only bows toYHWH. He probably uses ritual as a public protest to fulfill his
particular desires of esteem, well-being and divine protection when they seem
to be in opposition to the desires of God.58 In addition, he stands in a betwixt
and between statewhere he is "neither living nor dead from one aspect, and
both living and dead from another." His "condition is one of ambiguity and
paradox,"59 total confusion. Separated from cult and society, Job remains in
this liminal phase, trying to understand his tragedy, arguing with his comfort
ers, and waiting forGod's answer, until the end of mourning when he reinte
grates into normal life, through ritual acts (of praying, eating, and blessing),
and his misfortune miraculously reverses (Job 42:7-17).
As a corollary, this study has shown that the book of Job reflectsmourning
customs akin to those in ancient Israel and theNear East. It has also provided a
ritual-oriented interpretationon Job's reaction to disaster. If Job the observer
of the cult in the prosaic section (Job 1-2, 42) and Job the defiant rebel, with
no interest in following cultic practices, in the poetic core (Job 3?41) are
viewed within the framework of a ritual of mourning, the apparent inconsis
tencies between them can be resolved. Though there is definitively need for
furtherresearch on Job's liminality and his abandonment of it to adopt a new
identity.

56 An interesting discussion on the type-antitype relationship in joyous - eating and drinking,

- -
sexual relations, praise the Lord, anointing with oil, and festal garments and mourning fasting,
-
sexual continence, lamentation, putting ashes or dust on one's head, and sackcloth or torn clothes
behaviors is found inAnderson, A Time toMourn, 49, 126.
57 Cf. M. Houseman, "Relationality," in Theorizing Rituals: Issues, Topics, Approaches, Con
cepts (ed. J.Kreinath, J. Snoek and M. Stausberg; Numen Book Series: Studies in the History of
Religions 114-1; Leiden: Brill, 2006), 423.
58 In the context of the Ugaritic tale of Aqhat, David P. Wright notes that the ritual practices
of DanPil to revive his son might reflect the notion of fulfilling his particular desires. D.P. Wright,
Ritual inNarrative: The Dynamics of Feasting, Mourning, and Retaliation Rites in the Ugaritic
Tale of Aqhat (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2001), 17.
59 Cf. Victor Turner, The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual (New York: Cornell
University Press, 1967), 96-97.

This content downloaded from 132.64.31.253 on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:54:19 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions