According to Job, his pain is like being pierced by poisonous arrows.3 It is like being crushed by a tempest,4 like being broken in two, like being seized by the neck and dashed to pieces.5 God has slashed open his kidneys and poured his gall on the ground.6 Job’s skin turns black and falls off his body; his bones burn with heat.7 But this is no more than the approximation of his pain. Job’s suffering surpasses it, as he asks God to explain what has happened to him and receives no answer.
