ABSTRACT
The name kitābu-l-ta‘dīl, Book of Justification (of God), which Saadya has given to the Book of Job, indicates the purpose and contents of Job. Saadya sees in it an exposition of the problem of Theodicy; it gives an answer to the pressing problem of the suffering of the righteous whilst the wicked prosper, based on the belief in the absolute justice of the omnipotent, omniscient, one and only, free-willing Creator-God. It is therefore not surprising to find so many passages from Job used as proof-texts for the views Saadya propounds on the nature and attributes of God as well as on His relations with Man in his kitāb al-amānāt and in his Commentary on the sefer yesirah. 2 The exegesis of the Book of Job is primarily concerned with the suffering of the righteous and pious man sent to him by a gracious God not as a punishment but as a test of man’s unswerving faith and trust in God, his fatherly benefactor and guide. 3 Saadya is thus not only bent on explaining the nature and attributes of God, as far as this is possible for man who is in every respect inferior to his Creator, i.e. on writing a learned treatise on Theology. His aim is just as much to guide and to instruct, in a practical manner, his generation by setting out the lesson of the book. It is for this lesson that God has made known to us this history of Job, the prophet. 1 The three friends hold opinions against which we must guard ourselves, whereas Elihu’s view is praiseworthy, based as it is, on sound reason and just argument. 2 Because many people have failed to understand the lesson of the book and have consequently been led into doubt and error, Saadya set himself the task of explaining the difficult book, both through a clear translation and accompanying comment.
