writer whose area of specialisation is The Old Testament, feminist exegesis and hermeneutics. She is the founder and editor of the first Internet journal for feminist exegesis in Europe, the "Lectio Difficilior".

The Job story gives little space to women. In fact, it silences Job's wife in the brief paragraph quoted above and devotes the remainder of the book to men. Women, their world and their experiences, appear in only patriarchal terms and in a most peripheral way. The story must considerably test the patience of female readers given the book’s preoccupation with men who speak and perform in all 42 chapters. Also, to add insult to injury, these are all rich and educated men, and of course God Himself is usually depicted as male. Incidentally, …show more content…
This is similar to the portrayal in the Testament of Job in which book Job's wife Sitidos plays a more important role than she does in the biblical Book of Job. (As biblical stories were passed from one generation to another, they were often embellished. In Job’s case, an anonymous author wrote a Greek work called the “Testament of Job” sometime in the first century BC- first century AD.) Job’s wife was probably working as a servant in order to earn a living for both herself and Job. She and Job suffer considerably although differently, despite their common predicament. Yet it is Job's story that is told, and almost none of hers. Why is this? And railing against a male-dominated society that supposedly squashes feminine sensibility is beside the point. What is it about Job's suffering that is unique from that of his wife’s? The answer might help us understand the masculinity of the Book of …show more content…
Ten times she endured the joy and pain of childbirth. Ten lives nurtured to love, honour, and respect Jehovah. Imagine the grief that overwhelmed her as she looked in disbelief at ten freshly dug graves. From the account in the first chapter of Job, this appears to be a fun-loving, God-fearing, tight-knit family. Who was the heartbeat of this home? Likely Job's wife played a big part in this. It's unlikely he could be such an important man in society (Job 1:1) if his wife was not a supportive and influential person in her own right.

She also experienced dramatic financial loss. The Bible describes Job as a wealthy man and possibly the richest in the world (Job 1:3). Undoubtedly his wife was accustomed to a most comfortable lifestyle. I imagine her home had the finest furnishings and her clothes were made from the most expensive materials. Her children too likely had everything they needed. Yet, in one really bad day, she lost it all. All their wealth, property, and way of life (Job 1:13-22) vanished. She was not only bankrupt, but homeless, and forced to beg outside the city