Bava Batra 15: Who Wrote What? Did Job Exist? The Story of Job

The rabbis are continuing their discussion about how to ensure that a Torah scroll is not divided.  Yesterday's daf ended with what was in the Aron Kodesh, the Arc, and whether that might have included the Neviim, the Prophets, and the Ktuvim, the Writings.  The rabbis offer proofs regarding who wrote each book:

• Jeremiah wrote his own book, the book of Kings, and Lamentations
• Hezekiah and colleagues wrote Isaiah, Proverbs, Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes
• Members of the Great Assembly wrote Ezekiel, the Twelve Prophets, Daniel and the Scroll of Esther
• Ezra wrote his own book and the genealogy of the book of Chronicles until his own era

Did Joshua write his own book and also the last eight verses of the Torah?  The rabbis speak of the confusion about who wrote the Torah after Moshe Rabbeinu died.  It is understood that G-d recited the Torah to Moshe who wrote it all down, but how could he write of his own death and beyond?  The rabbis concur that Joshua wrote these last eight verses.  In accordance with this view, the rabbis ruled that only one reader can chant these verses during services; one cannot divide this text.  

But then it is written that Joshua died, and then that Eleazar, son of Aaron, died.  In each of these cases, the rabbis suggest that the next person in line to lead the Jewish people after Moses's death.  The rabbis return the the question of Moshe Rabbeinu's writing of the Torah.  Was Moshe the same person as Heman who is mentioned in Kings I and in Psalms?  And did Moshe and Job live at the same time - within the same generation?  The rabbis use proof texts from Exodus (33:16) and Job (19:23) to connect these two heroes. 

In their conversation, Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani claimed that Job never existed and was never created.  Instead, his story was a parable.  Even if a man named Job existed at that time, he was not the Job of our book.   However, Rabbi Yochanan and Rabbi Elazar agree that Job did exist.  He was exiled from Egypt to Eretz Yisrael at the time of the second Temple and he lived in Tiberius.  A baraita challenges this assertion saying that Job lived from when Israel entered Egypt until they left.  Or, some argue, that he lived that length of time but not at that particular time.

The Gemara notes that a baraita taught that seven prophets prophesied to all of the world: Balaam and his father Beor, Job, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, Zophar the Naamathite, Elihu ben Barachel the Buzite.  This indicates that Job was not a Jew.  The rabbis suggest a number of other arguments that would strengthen this argument.  

The rabbis look to many texts to help them understand when Job lived and whether or not he was Jewish.  One possibility is that he married Dina, daughter of Jacob!  Similar words in Job (2:10) and Genesis (34:7) are noted as proof.  As an aside, the rabbis also note that the Queen of Sheeba, Malkat Sheeba, was a reference to the kingdom of Sheeba rather than an actual person, the queen.

A story from the beginning of the book of Job is shared.  A group of G-d's children and Satan approached G-d.  Satan asserted that he never met a person as righteous as Abraham though he had combed the entire land.  G-d suggested that Job was just like Abraham, using language used to describe Abraham.  Satan notes that G-d has blessed the work of Job's hands - the rabbis interpret this as if those who take even a peruta from Job were blessed.  As well, his livestock increased.  The rabbis interpret this to mean that Job's goats would overcome the wolves who came to attack.  

Satan then challenged G-d to remove his goodwill from Job; to remove his hand and note whether or not Job is an upright citizen in poor circumstances.  G-d agreed as long as Satan did not actually curse Job while Job was not protected by G-d.  We are then told that Job received a message while his children were eating and drinking wine in the eldest's home.  He was told that the oxen were ploughing and the assess were eating beside them.  The rabbis take this to mean that he learned a taste of the World-to-Come.  We are about to learn about what befell Job immediately after that good news.