In
which the exiles cry out for mercy
Genesis
4:25-26
And
Adam again knew his wife and she bore a son and called his name Seth, as to
say, “God has granted me other seed in place of Abel, for Cain has killed him.
As for Seth, to him, too, a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. It was
then that the name of the LORD was first invoked.
Job
42:7, 8
And
it happened after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to
Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath has flared against you and your two companions
because you have not spoken rightly of Me as did My servant Job. And now, take
for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams and go to My servant Job, and offer a
burnt offering for yourselves, and Job My servant will pray on your behalf. To
him only I shall show favor, not to do a vile thing to you, for you have not
spoken rightly of Me as did my servant Job.”
In
place of Abel, Seth, a new seed. An exiled community brought home, in order
that they might invoke the name of the LORD, rebuild the Temple as a house of
prayer for all nations.
Job’s
companions are companions, not enemies. And yet they bristle at the tenacity
with which he insists on his place before the LORD. In the end, that place is
to stand and intercede, not on Job’s own behalf but on behalf of those very
companions who have not spoken rightly. Here, again, we see the relationship
between the exiles, here represented by Job the righteous man from whom
everything has been taken, and the surrounding nations, represented by Job’s
companions. Enmity between them is absent, but empathy becomes stretched.
Advent
is that renewed call to empathy towards others, that returns our heart to pray
for them. For whom will you pray today?
Biblical
texts: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary
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