Catholic Commentary on Job 42

"My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you." (Job 42:5)

Job's Restoration

Job answers the LORD: I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked: who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge? Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. Then God turns to the friends: you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. Go to Job and he will pray for you; I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. Job prays for the friends. The LORD restores Job's fortunes - twice as much as before. All his brothers and sisters and former acquaintances come and eat with him; they comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought on him. The LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the former part.

The Catechism identifies Job's final encounter with God as the paradigm of the mystical journey: from hearing about God to seeing him, from second-hand faith to direct encounter - the goal of the entire Christian life (CCC 2558).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, my ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. This is the movement of Job's whole journey: from received religion to personal encounter with the living God. The suffering did not produce an answer; it produced something better - a meeting. The whole painful journey was worth it for this: now my eyes have seen you. Trust the journey toward the seeing.

Prayer

Lord God, our ears have heard of you. Let our eyes see you. Let the whole painful journey be worth it for the encounter that no suffering can give and no comfort can replace. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

42
Job Submits Himself to the LORD
1 Then Job replied to the LORD:
 
2 “I know that You can do all things
and that no plan of Yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this
who conceals My counsel without knowledge?’* 42:3 Job 38:2
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
4 You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak.
I will question you, and you shall inform Me.’† 42:4 Job 38:3 and Job 40:7
5 My ears had heard of You,
but now my eyes have seen You.
6 Therefore I retract my words,
and I repent in dust and ashes.”
The LORD Rebukes Job’s Friends
 
7 After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as My servant Job has. 8 So now, take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you, for I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken accurately about Me, as My servant Job has.”
 
9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD had told them; and the LORD accepted Job’s request.
The LORD Blesses Job
 
10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his prosperity and doubled his former possessions. 11 All his brothers and sisters and prior acquaintances came and dined with him in his house. They consoled him and comforted him over all the adversity that the LORD had brought upon him. And each one gave him a piece of silver ‡ 42:11 Hebrew a kesitah; the value or weight of the kesitah is no longer known. and a gold ring.
 
12 So the LORD blessed Job’s latter days more than his first. He owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He named his first daughter Jemimah, his second Keziah, and his third Keren-happuch. 15 No women as beautiful as Job’s daughters could be found in all the land, and their father granted them an inheritance among their brothers.
 
16 After this, Job lived 140 years and saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so Job died, old and full of years.

*42:3 42:3 Job 38:2

†42:4 42:4 Job 38:3 and Job 40:7

‡42:11 42:11 Hebrew a kesitah; the value or weight of the kesitah is no longer known.

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