Job's Wives

By Valerie Stevens Rhodes

Job's Wives is for all who have endured and survived intense suffering and wondered why.

The fictional stories of Job's distinctive family incorporate happy times demonstrating their love for each other contrasted against disaster, grief, loss, dying, and death. We mourn with them in their losses but hold our breath when anticipating their return to normalcy as we long for and expect recovery, redemption, and restoration.

Once a wealthy king of Edom, Job suffered in every way imaginable. He lost everything, including his health. He and his first wife faced the immeasurable challenge of the heartbreaking sudden deaths of their ten children. Learn the tragic truth of her fate.

We grieve for her when we contemplate her unfathomable dilemma and achieve empathy as we lament alongside her, gaining compassionate understanding. As we commiserate with her, we learn to recognize and consider other people's grief responses and entertain awareness of our own.

Then we meet Job's second wife and his second set of ten children. Examine a plausible scenario for how the biblical book of Job was preserved and what may have happened to him from a distinctive perspective through the viewpoint of his brother and his grieving wives.

All of society is seeking a hero, someone with answers who will help us cope with and provide potential meaning to our private losses. We search for examples to inspire us to maintain our integrity as we struggle to rise above perilous damages to our individual lives.

Job's Wives offers companionship to anyone who is struggling with extreme loss and adversity. This epic saga provides a way to personally identify with tragic loss and glean empathy for self and others while discovering techniques to cope with intense losses while gaining hope for restoration.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 20, 2022
• ISBN: 9798886859843

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Job's Wives

Valerie Stevens Rhodes

ISBN 979-8-88685-983-6 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88685-984-3 (digital)

Copyright © 2022 by Valerie Stevens Rhodes

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Cover design by BrandAndGo, LLC. brandandgokc.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Introduction

Job's Wives: Sitis and Dinah

The Chronicles of Sitis

I Have Lost All

Daily Life Then and Now

It's so Unfair

Dinah Resolves Her Past

Friends

Memories of Happier Days

Thinking Things That Are Not True

Our Trusted Servant Tyrus

Dinah Trains to be Job's Wife

Dinah Meets Job

Job Tutors Dinah

Respite—A Break from Mourning

Dream, Vision, or Visit?

My Dream of Renewal and Restoration

The Servants All Wear Black

There May Be Scars

The Kings Arrive

The Annals of Nahor

My Brother's Troubles

My Brother's Wealth

My Brother's Children

Satan Seduces Sitis

My Brother's Wife

Job's Scrolls

Job Surprises Dinah

Job's Messages to Dinah

Why Now?

Job's Redemption

Job's Scrolls

Setting and Characters

Reviews

About the Author

For all who have

endured and survived intense suffering

and wondered why

Introduction

His wife said to him, Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.

—Job 2:9

We must not judge or condemn Job's wife. We were not there.

From the Holy Scriptures, we know very little about her. All we are certain of is that she bore ten children to Job: seven sons and three daughters. Then of course, we are acutely and painfully aware of the harsh confrontational question and disparaging comment that she uttered to him. Mostly, we only remember those final four words and rigidly make our assessment of her.

Many people are hyper condemnatory of Job's wife, just as many are aptly critical of Job's friends. Perhaps there is good reason to exhaustively deliberate and pass judgment on the friends, for we have the records containing much of what they said. Unquestionably, they should be held to account by the testimony of their own words. Job may have been one of the first people ever to recognize that with friends like them, no one would ever need enemies.

But to defend Job's wife, we must reflectively consider whatever else she may have uttered in prior years. Do we have evidence to understand the occurrences and conversations that lead to her treacherous words that are so engraved on our minds? Why do we indifferently dwell on those four final words which have become flippantly sermonized?

Have we lingered long enough to envision that we might comprehend the depth of how she truly felt and the sequence of her thoughts? Are we aware of the foundational occurrences that would cause her to speak in such a seemingly harsh manner? What would bring her to this point of lashing out at her husband who was still, though extremely sick, the ruling king of Edom?

Have we considered the magnitude of her loss? Do we not remember that she lost all ten of her children in one single day? How many of us have lost ten children in one day? Can we possibly empathize with her severe level of loss? How many of us have lost all our children in one day? For that matter, how many of us have lost even just one child in one day? How devastating it is. How horrendous it is. It is nearly impossible to fully recover from such torturous disaster.

Do we want our entire life to be judged by one grief-traumatized verdict that we uttered on our worst day ever? Can we possibly understand what it was like to be Job's wife? Can we comprehend the intensity of despair that would cause her, as we interpret it, to lash out and implore Job to curse God and die?

We commiserate in anguish with Job as we hear his story. We learn that not only did all ten of his children die in one day, but he also lost his entire livelihood in one day. He had been a king, and he lost his empire. We know that he was eventually seriously ill and very near death.

Job and his wife experienced multiple losses together. Yet the book of Job that we read in the Holy Bible tells us the story of Job's catastrophic losses from only his viewpoint and that of his somewhat uninformed friends. We fuss and discuss the presumptuous advice of those men, then admire innocent Job for his patience and unaltered loyalty to worship his Sovereign God.

But what of Job's wife? Have we failed to consider that his wife also sustained the identical unfathomable damages? Have we not stopped to ruminate that Job's wife also endured in entirety the equivalent extreme losses on that very same day? Before we conclude our charges against her, of necessity, we must recognize that she lacked the covering of her husband's spiritual faith while suffering equal losses. She, in fact, bore one additional loss more than he did. She lost Job.

Job retained a severely emotional and psychologically impaired but otherwise healthy wife to provide vigilant care for him. She was not so fortunate. Job's wife not only lost every material possession and all ten children, but in essence and practicality, she also lost her husband that very same day. Job had once been her protector provider, but he was no longer capable. Who was there to comfort and care for her? Who was left?

Were her friends just as disapproving, callous, and unhelpful as Job's associates proved to be? Who could she turn to? Who would help her recover from the deaths of her children? How could she function when her entire way of life had been destroyed? Her unfathomable mourning was attended by no one.

Compounding the grief of all the death losses, she also had a critically ill and dying husband. In the past, she might have been able to depend on him for guidance and support to help her recuperate from the deaths of their children and the loss of their home. But now he was too ill to help her, so she must face consuming sorrow and lament his declining health while seeking ways for them both to recover from their mutual tragedies. Who was taking care of her while she was taking care of him?

Let us choose to not be so hard on Job's wife. Let us not seek caustic condemnatory reasons to blame her for saying to her husband, curse God and die. Who of us were there sitting with her? Who of us were there, holding her in our arms while she sobbed and wailed, while she grieved and mourned the sudden death of all ten of her children? She was unaided.

Who of us were there comforting this unfortunate woman in her sorrow? None. She was alone.

If there is one who has lost their spouse and all ten of their children in a single day, then perhaps they would have the most accurate insight into the depth of her despair. Only such an individual would have earned the right to declare that they could understand what she went through and how she must have truly suffered. That person's unenviable status for potential compassionate empathy with her would contrast acutely with our tolerance-hindered responsive sympathy for her. Perhaps they would possess and could share awareness to help us better comprehend the complexities of the sorrowful suffering of Job's wife. Our shallow sympathy might morph into empathy if we know more of her arduous journey, providing for us a sense of who she was and what she experienced.

How can we criticize and pass judgment on Job's wife? We were not there.

Job's second wife was not there either.

Few of us know about Job's second wife. She, like us, did not know all the sundry details of the incidents that had transpired prior to the infamous uttered oath of Job's first wife to curse God and die. Those who witnessed the series of catastrophes that occurred prior to her arrival in Job's life kept the truth hidden and secret from her. At what juncture did Job plan to tell his second wife the facts of what happened to his first wife?

With history documenting that Job had ten more children, should we not question where they came from? Should we have assumed that his first wife recovered and bore ten additional children? If it was not her, who then was it? What do we know of a second wife?

Job was routinely and methodically systematic in all that he taught his two wives. Was he perhaps simply being judicious in withholding the complete factual story of his first wife with intention to shield and protect the reputation of his second wife? In considering this question, we perhaps have cause to be more judgmental of Job. He withheld what some would consider pertinent information prior to a proposal of marriage.

Let us contemplate a gracious allowance for Job's behavior as we consider his own losses: the traumatic deaths of all his children and wife, the loss of his kingdom, and his recovery from extreme critical, near-death illness. He lost more in a short amount of time than most ever will in a full lifetime. Yet he became, and still is, an example to us of one who endured and survived intense suffering while preserving his personal integrity and enduring faith in his God.

In defense of Job's first wife, let us keep in mind the entirety of her losses. In defense of Job's choice to keep significant confidences from his second wife, we may discover that perhaps full disclosure of entire truth is best relayed at the appropriate time. Measured enlightenment can be protective and curative.

There are many times that one cannot see whether resulting event consequences have been beneficial or harmful, and often they contain a balancing trace of both. During the passing hours of our routine days, measured insights may be revealed as we contemplate and assimilate life's experiences. Thoughts are often clouded until more information is received. Once mysterious secrets are fully exposed, vision nearly always clears.

This happened for both of Job's wives.

Unless complete evidence is disclosed, how can one identify the profundity of past events that have shaped a life's current position? Is it possible that the secrets of those whose lives encompass ours may be the very mysteries that protected us from what would have severely wounded or destroyed us? Plausibly, it was Job's Redeemer who wrote this script for him before time began, and He does the same for each of us.

Job had two wives. What do we know of them? Let us compassionately learn from the view of their extraordinary lives and neither shun, nor reject either of Job's wives.

Valerie Stevens Rhodes

Part 1

Job's Wives: Sitis and Dinah

The Chronicles of Sitis

Dinah inelegantly grappled with the assortment of scrolls haphazardly arranged in her arms. She hurried along the smoothly marred stones through the cool vestibule and halls of their home. Her dark hair and fair complexion belied the reality of her mature age. Her regal statuesque posture exuded the epitome of royalty, and one would not normally see her physically carrying such a substantial load. Nonetheless, these documents had been placed solely in her care and were to be read by no one other than herself. She had been entrusted with them, having received explicit instructions only moments before.

Job had appointed the delivery of them to her just before he dismissed her. In the past three weeks, all their family and many friends had been busily coming and going. They each wanted private moments alone with him, for it had become certain that Job was dying. While making a sanctioned gesture to reassure him of their admiration, some were also hopeful to glean profitable suggestions from his final words, along with the bragging rights to have been the very last one to have received Job's counsel.

Dinah had spent as much time as possible sitting with him day and night and, at times, sleeping in a chair next to him. On this day, he was more alert than he had been the previous few days. He had summoned all ten of the children to his bedside, and as they entered, he motioned for her to leave. He took a moment to speak to her privately and advised her that he would be giving his last blessings to their offspring. She was astonished, confused, and greatly dismayed that he did not have her stay to observe those final blessings. All the servants were sent from the room as well, including Ozias, Job's private steward. Evidently, his legal advisor, Bagadata, the grandson of his first counselor Bagadata the Elder, was the only one he deemed necessary to be present as a witness.

As always, Job had been kind and gentle with his words to her. Because she was accustomed to his tenderness and inclusion in all his personal and business matters, she had not expected to be removed from his presence at such a critical time. She did not question his dispatch of her in what appeared to be a very important errand, but she could not comprehend why he would send her at this precise moment. At the time, it did not make sense to her, and she hoped that soon there would be transparent answers.

He was eager that she immediately take and read these documents. If they were so urgent and important, it seemed that he would have given them to her long before this day. Bagadata lowered his head as he nodded assent and seemingly had not questioned Job presenting them to her. Nor did he seem surprised by her dismissal. They must have discussed and concluded that the timing of this unusual mission was necessary.

From the look and feel of the papyrus, it was certain that the documents were very old. Where had they come from? With only a hasty glance, Dinah knew she did not recognize any of them. Conceivably, Job had owned them for a great many years, and she longed to ask him of their origination. It seemed odd that he would wait to give them to her until he knew that he was dying.

The demeanor of both Bagadata and Job toward the delivery of these scrolls to Dinah had been that of someone possessive over a prized treasure. They seemed reluctant and, at the same time, anxious to give them to her. They spoke of how important these papers were and for the urgency of Dinah receiving and reading them posthaste. She must go straightaway and consume them without another word. Job's last words to her had been barely audible, but she could hear with the awareness in her heart that he was saying he loved her as he said goodbye.

Compassion had emanated from dimming eyes as Job indicated that Tersi, their firstborn son, should fill her arms with these materials. The gesture was recognizable as his steadfast affectionate treatment of her, a consistent hallmark of their union. From their beginning, he had included her in unusual business methods that were not common practice for men concerning their wives. Though actively dying, approaching this end phase of life, his final performance was sure to continue to demonstrate his unsurpassed style for the extraordinary and the mystifyingly unique.

Dinah's feet propelled her forward as these thoughts swirled in her mind. If these documents were so vital, surely Job would want to discuss them with her, but it seemed unlikely there would be any time for additional conversation considering his rapidly declining health. No, there would not be sufficient time. For some reason, he wanted her to read this large number of scrolls now, immediately, during his last moments of life. It did not make sense to her.

Perhaps, she thought, if she read them cursorily and returned with swiftness, it would allow her time to discuss them with him. Could she feasibly read all of these while Job was saying his blessings over their ten children? She could only estimate how long each of those blessings would take. Job had let her be privy to the written blessings that he had prepared. They were detailed and lengthy, so conceivably, it could take days.

Yet how long would it take her to read the entirety of these documents? If only she could comprehend all they contained with a brief glance through them and get back to her husband. For a fleeting moment, she willed it to be possible, but Dinah did not hold much hope that there would be enough time. His death was imminent.

In all their years together, he had never been sick. Not until now. He had remained strong, and the two of them had enjoyed an exquisite life together. Now he was simply old and full of years. In fact, he had lived twice the years as any of his contemporaries. He did not appear to be in any pain; he was feeble but peaceful. They had been blessed with ten healthy, beautiful children who were now grown. Dinah was comforted knowing she would be well cared for by them after Job departed.

Job had shared with Dinah his confidence that when he died, his soul would leave his body and go to be with God. He spoke of once again seeing his parents; his grandparents; his first wife, Sitis; and their ten children. He often talked of his deceased children and their unique qualities. He called them by name and told her many tales of antics and escapades performed by each one of them.

Dinah had a sense that Job told her these stories so that when her time came to exit this world and go to the next, she too would recognize each one of them. Job was so thorough in his description of them that she could picture them in her mind. It seemed important to Job that Dinah knew something of each of his first ten children. He wanted her to be aware of something recognizably identifiable about each of them.

Job impressed upon her that one day, he sincerely desired that she would gladly greet his previous offspring, just as she would also meet Sitis. He jovially assured her that as he fully expected to precede Dinah and her ten children to heaven, he promised to prepare Sitis and his first ten that the other siblings would soon be on their way to join them! And with a hearty laugh, he would add, Then what great adventures we will all enjoy together!

From their beginning, even before Job chose Dinah to be his second wife, she had heard the stories of his difficult past and so had always known of his misfortune of earlier years. Of course, she knew as much as anyone about Sitis and their ten deceased children. She had not known, however, that Job had kept secret the written chronicles of Sitis.

Just moments ago, he had told her that some of these papers were from his deceased first wife. How could that be? She did not know these documents existed. Where had the archives been stored? She was suspicious that Bagadata may have secured them in a vault and had brought them just this very day to their home. Or perhaps it had been Job's servant Ozias who seemed privy to many of his private confidences. Dinah felt the significant weight of the assortment she held and wondered what momentous secrets could be revealed by them.

Dinah had never been informed that Sitis had recorded the events which had transpired many years ago, long before Dinah met Job. And now gripped here in her arms were ostensibly printed descriptions of what may have occurred. Dinah felt a responsibility to not only fulfill Job's request to read them in haste but to protect and preserve what had been unexpectedly entrusted to her.

At least some of the papers she held were clearly marked with the name Sitis on them. They were obviously old, and Dinah was concerned she would damage them before she could have them spread out properly to read. She handled them gently and took intentional full, deep breaths to slow the rapid thrashing of her heart. Her arms tingled with a shiver as she realized the possibility that perhaps she would learn, in Sitis's own words, exactly what had happened to her and her children.

Now at the end of his life, when everyone knew that he was dying, Job charged her to leave his presence and go at once to read what his first wife had written. After all the years they had spent together, Dinah could not fathom why Job would wait until this moment to reveal something of this magnitude to her. Knowing the caliber of man that Job was, she hoped with great confidence that she would eventually receive an adequate explanation.

The deep breaths reduced her trembling as a new thought skittered across her mind. It had never once occurred to her that anyone, especially Sitis, might have documented what happened to those children. She pondered the thought and concluded that Job must have taught Sitis how to read and write, just as he had insisted that she and her own daughters also learn. How unusual it had seemed to many of Dinah's friends. They could not understand the value of the hours she and the girls had spent learning alongside her sons. She conjectured if all her years of fastidiously directed education through Job's tenacious insistence had been a preparation for this very moment in time.

She had known Job to meticulously establish detailed plans for situations he perceived could possibly happen in the future. Was this such a time? He knew that his death was near. Had he prearranged many years in advance to reveal answers to mysteries to her and to provide them from his deathbed? Why would he wait until now?

Her heart and mind were torn by his imperative commission thrust upon her. She had not wanted to leave Job for even one minute witnessing his fleeting breaths. But she trusted Job. She always had. He had never been unfair or untruthful with her. If he had chosen to keep Sitis's writings as a secret from her, she knew that there would be a purposeful, legitimate reason for it.

How could this possibly be a good thing, to have been assigned such a task during Job's final moments on earth? Could it be for her benefit? Or for the children's advantage? Or to somehow profit his thriving estate? Or, Dinah wondered, could there possibly be some other explanation? Job would have predetermined that she would be full of questions and seeking a credible response. She knew she could trust Job. And he knew that he could trust her. If possible, he would have made provision for her to obtain adequate answers to all her questions. Her confidence grew that she would receive not only evidence of facts but a truth that would enlighten and comfort her heart.

Upon entering her private chamber, Dinah gently released the fragile bundles on her bed, then searched the room for a surface large enough to spread them out. She considered pushing two tables together but quickly decided it would require too much time for her to clear off their current contents. Instead, she chose to leave the packs where she had dropped them.

She divided the documents into piles. There was a distinction between the colors of the parchments and their ink markings. The first batch was the largest and appeared to be the oldest by the darkness of the paper. The print on the top was thick and strong. It said Sitis. She hoped whatever was written inside would be legible despite random splotched murky stains visible on the outside of the pages.

The second collection of papers was smaller but looked essentially as old and timeworn as the first. Though discolored with age, they appeared to be in better condition. The texture and feel of them indicated to Dinah that they were inscribed on a higher quality paper. The handwriting on the outside was fashioned elegantly and bore the name Nahor.

The third packet was much smaller and was noticeably newer paper. Her heart leapt when she recognized the script as being from the hand of Job. She reached for this bundle, wanting to hear what her beloved would say. It occurred to her that if she read his letters first, she could hurry back to him with the expectation to be at his side as he took his last breath. The other writings of Sitis and Nahor could surely wait until after Job's death.

A single page had been wrapped around the outside of Job's bundle and tied with a now faded ribbon of twine. She loosened the string and was dismayed to discover only a short message on the page which simply said,

Dinah, read these last.

Annoyed by the delay, an irritation began to niggle in her mind. She thought that she had matured and grown more patient with her years of strident training by Job, but often she had to be reminded of tolerance for protocol. It had not come naturally to her to wait and proceed in orderly fashion, according to conventional protocol, and in the past, she had paid dearly for her lack of propriety.

With a heavy sigh, Dinah winced and mentally pushed away some of her own painful memories just as she physically pushed away Job's bundle. Dinah slid a chair up next to her bed where she could easily reach the mystery-laden pile. With her back angled to an open window to provide sufficient light, she unfurled the first scroll marked Sitis and began to read.

I Have Lost All

I spoke a terrible thing aloud to my dear husband. I told him to curse G_d and die.

It was the anguish of my own soul lashing out. It was my own sorrow and angst. I did not think before I spoke. What a careless thing for me to say. I should have remained silent. I should never have said these appalling thoughts out loud. I was expressing my own grief and sorrow and pain, not his. I did not know how else to say to him that my agony mirrored his. I did not know what words to say to define how much I suffer. I did not know how to ask for help.

In my torment, I did not know how else to vent my distress. The pressure in my mind made me feel that with any sudden movement, I would explode. My body screamed for comfort. I wanted Jobab to know that I experienced his pain with him. I wanted him to know that he was not alone, that I too bore the same excruciating burden as him.

How unfortunate it was that there were others around who heard me say this terrible thing to Jobab. There were witnesses. And now they have told their wives and families. My words are being repeated all around the city. I see former friends glancing my way and whispering. Some gather their children, and they turn in a group and move quickly away from me.

They seem to have more compassion for Jobab. That hurts me as well. Do they not know? Do they not remember that I too have lost all ten of my children? I too have lost my home. Can they not see the depth of the anguish that I am in? Do they not realize that I no longer have my husband to comfort me in my sorrow? Yet they have judged me already and ridicule me and reject me for speaking four words that came from a heart that is broken and shattered beyond repair.

They do not know of the numerous conversations that Jobab and I have had. They do not know. They were not there to hear the process that we have gone through. They think they are so wise in their assessment, but they do not know the rapid incremental deterioration spiraling downward of my mind's thoughts.

The ones who criticize and shun me were not around when Jobab's once-favored business partners were attacking my already wounded husband. I have heard more than I should have. Jobab knows I listened in. We often talked about their conversations later. He helped me accept and process so much of what they said to him. He was so much better able to handle their accusations. With my nature, I did not handle it as well. He was clearer in his understanding. He had questions for G_d, and he listened for answers. I too had many of the same questions, except in my distress, I just kept questioning and asking why, but unlike successful Jobab, I failed to listen for answers.

Now that Jobab is so sick, I cannot talk with him to unload all the negative hurtful thoughts that I have. He is unable to hold me in his arms and pacify me as he once did. I do not know how to cope anymore.

What others do not know is how I have stood by and supported Jobab while his friends ridiculed and scorned him. I have used up all my strength to encourage and support him. Now when I am weary and worn down and depleted of any stamina of my own, I have lost my husband. I am forlorn.

He is so very sick. He is sick unto death. It seems obvious that now I am to become a widow as well as childless. There is nothing worse for me.

For all our lives together, Jobab has been the one to comfort me when life was difficult and full of struggle. Now we