Thursday, May 10, 2007

Unmaking the World

Nahum Sarna points out that there are seven calamities that befall Job in the first chapter. The calamities come in three groups of two, each cycle begins with the destruction of animals and finishes with the death of humans. The final blow comes in the seventh announcement which is the most devistating, the death of Job's own children. Sarna suggests that this an example of a narrative built on a creation theme much like the plague narratives of Exodus 7-10.

Sarna doesn't say this, but the point clearly seems to be that God is un-making or de-creating the worlds of Pharaoh and Job.

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