Aggada -- Translations into English; Bible. Old Testament -- Legends; Jewish legends; Midrash -- Translations into English
Equipped with unlimited power, Satan endeavored to deprive Job of all
he owned. He burnt part of his cattle, and the other part was carried
off by enemies. What pained Job more than this was that recipients of
his bounty turned against him, and took of his belongings.[19]
Among the adversaries that assailed him was Lilith, the queen of
Sheba.[20] She lived at a great distance from his residence, it took
her and her army three years to travel from her home to his. She fell
upon his oxen and his asses, and took possession of them, after slaying
the men to whose care Job had entrusted them. One man escaped alone.
Wounded and bruised, he had only enough life in him to tell Job the
tale of his losses, and then he fell down dead. The sheep, which had
been left unmolested by the queen of Sheba, were taken away by the
Chaldeans. Job's first intention was to go to war against these
marauders, but when he was told that some of his property had been
consumed by fire from heaven, he desisted, and said, "If the heavens
turn against me, I can do nothing."[21]
Dissatisfied with the result, Satan disguised himself as the king of
Persia, besieged the city of Job's residence, took it, and spoke to the
inhabitants, saying: "This man Job hath appropriated all the goods in
the world, leaving naught for others, and he hath also torn down the
temple of our god, and now I will pay him back for his wicked deeds.
Come with me and let us pillage his house." At first the people refused
to hearken to the words of Satan. They feared that the sons and
daughters of Job might rise up against them later, and avenge their
father's wrongs. But after Satan had pulled down the house wherein the
children of Job were assembled, and they lay dead in the ruins, the
people did as he bade them, and sacked the house of Job.
Seeing that neither the loss of all he had nor the death of his
children could change his pious heart, Satan appeared before God a
second time, and requested that Job himself, his very person, be put
into his hand. God granted Satan's plea, but he limited his power to
Job's body, his soul he could not touch.[22] In a sense Satan was worse
off than Job. He was in the position of the slave that has been ordered
by his master to break the pitcher and not spill the wine.[23]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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