Word: Job

Whenever I want to feel better about my life, I read Job. I'm not gonna try to paraphrase what happened to Job. Rather, I'll attempt to communicate the suckiness of his story through an exploration of a common curse word.

 

Job is the S**t

 

There is curse work in the english language that starts with an "s" and ends with a "t." This curse word is in a few common phrases like:

 

1. When she finds out, the s**t is gonna hit the fan.

 

2. That dude got the s**t kicked out of him.

 

3. Uh oh, she is in some deep s**t.

 

In those phrases, "s**t" is a negative thing. If you want to insult someone, express displeasure or describe a bad situation, "s**t" is your go-to word.

 

Here it is in a nutshell. The word "s**t" would feel insulted if someone called it "Job."

 

S**t, Job. You're old

 

One interesting thing about Job.... Even though it's in the middle of the Bible, most scholars say that is actually the oldest book. That means that almost all the people we've read about up to this point knew the story of Job. While I can't be positive about this next part (but you know I love to make wild speculations about the Bible), I'd bet that in the ancient Jewish culture they used "Job" in the same way we use "s**t." Three speculative examples:

 

1. You guys sold your brother into slavery and then lied and told your dad that an animal killed him? If your dad ever finds out, the Job is gonna hit the fan!

 

2. Dang, David! You kicked the Job out of Goliath!

 

3. Noah got drunk and did what?! He is in some deep Job.

 

I hope you're not expecting insight from me

 

Job is a dense and complicated book that raises a ton of questions about what God is like. My spiritual gift is sarcasm, not Biblical exegesis, so if you want to know more about Job, my pastor wrote a pretty good piece about it that I'd encourage you to check out.

 

Next week: Not all Psalms are happy...

Done