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The Book of Theodicy: Translation and Commentary on the Book of Job
Born in Egypt in 882, Saadiah Gaon was the first systematic philosopher of Judaism, the father of both scientific biblical exegesis and Jewish philosophic philosophy. In this book, L.E. Goodman presents the first English translation of Saadiah’s important Book of Theodicy , a commentary on the Book of Job . Goodman’s translation preserves Saadiah’s penetrating naturalism, tenacity of theme and argument, and sensitivity to the nuances of poetic language.
254 pages, Hardcover
First published August 24, 1988
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October 22, 2014
This book is really two books. About half the book is commentary by Prof. Goodman; much of it presupposes an exhaustive knowledge of medieval Islamic philosophy, and is thus useless to a more casual reader.
The more interesting part is the main work: commentary by Saadian Gaon (a 9th-century Iraqi rabbi) on the book of Job. The most interesting parts of the commentary are in the earliest and last chapters of Job; the commentary in the middle 80 percent is mostly grammatical.
A few of Saadiah's more interesting points:
*In his commentary to Chapter 1 of Job, Saadiah addresses the nature of the "adversary" (in Hebrew, satan) who asked God to test Job. While Christian commentators see this adversary as the devil, Saadiah suggests it was an ordinarily human being who was jealous of Job, based on numerous Biblical passages using the term "satan" to describe human adversaries. Moreover, Saadiah finds the idea of God creating God's own adversary to be self-evidently nuts, "[f]or all monotheists agree that the Creator made his angels... in the knowledge that they would not disobey Him."
*When Job states that the dead "doth not rise" (Job 7:9), Saadiah states that Job is only speaking of human powerlessness, since "[God] has the power, and moreover, has promised, resurrection, as His prophets attest and His community all believe." This passage illustrates one limit of Saadiah's analysis: his inability to go outside the limits of rabbinic Jewish tradition (which very much endorses resurrection). Since Saadiah admits that Job was not Jewish, I don't find Saadiah's interpretation of Job's thoughts to be very persuasive.
*Unlike many commentators both Jewish and non-Jewish, Saadiah is not completely on Job's side. Saadiah describes the argument between Job and his comforters as a three-cornered debate: the first few friends say that Job is being punished for his sins. Job says God is simply not bound by human standards of justice. Finally, Elihu says that God is just and that Job is also virtuous, but that God will eventually compensate Job for his undeserved sufferings (either in this world or after death). Saadiah comes out on Elihu's side, listing a wide variety of arguments.
One obvious problem with Saadiah's argument is that God never really explains himself as directly as Elihu or Saadian does. Saadiah gets around this difficulty by pointing out that when Moses complains, God doesn't really explain Divine ways, but changes the subject much as God does in the last few chapters of Job. I didn't find this analogy so persuasive, since Moses's sufferings aren't quite analogous to Job's.
The more interesting part is the main work: commentary by Saadian Gaon (a 9th-century Iraqi rabbi) on the book of Job. The most interesting parts of the commentary are in the earliest and last chapters of Job; the commentary in the middle 80 percent is mostly grammatical.
A few of Saadiah's more interesting points:
*In his commentary to Chapter 1 of Job, Saadiah addresses the nature of the "adversary" (in Hebrew, satan) who asked God to test Job. While Christian commentators see this adversary as the devil, Saadiah suggests it was an ordinarily human being who was jealous of Job, based on numerous Biblical passages using the term "satan" to describe human adversaries. Moreover, Saadiah finds the idea of God creating God's own adversary to be self-evidently nuts, "[f]or all monotheists agree that the Creator made his angels... in the knowledge that they would not disobey Him."
*When Job states that the dead "doth not rise" (Job 7:9), Saadiah states that Job is only speaking of human powerlessness, since "[God] has the power, and moreover, has promised, resurrection, as His prophets attest and His community all believe." This passage illustrates one limit of Saadiah's analysis: his inability to go outside the limits of rabbinic Jewish tradition (which very much endorses resurrection). Since Saadiah admits that Job was not Jewish, I don't find Saadiah's interpretation of Job's thoughts to be very persuasive.
*Unlike many commentators both Jewish and non-Jewish, Saadiah is not completely on Job's side. Saadiah describes the argument between Job and his comforters as a three-cornered debate: the first few friends say that Job is being punished for his sins. Job says God is simply not bound by human standards of justice. Finally, Elihu says that God is just and that Job is also virtuous, but that God will eventually compensate Job for his undeserved sufferings (either in this world or after death). Saadiah comes out on Elihu's side, listing a wide variety of arguments.
One obvious problem with Saadiah's argument is that God never really explains himself as directly as Elihu or Saadian does. Saadiah gets around this difficulty by pointing out that when Moses complains, God doesn't really explain Divine ways, but changes the subject much as God does in the last few chapters of Job. I didn't find this analogy so persuasive, since Moses's sufferings aren't quite analogous to Job's.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews