The book of Job consists of 1,070 verses and 42 chapters. First, chapters 1 and 2 feature conversations between God and Satan. Second, chapters 3 through 31 feature conversations between Job and Eliphaz, Job and Bildad, and Job and Zophar. Third, chapters 32 through 37 feature what amounts to a lecture that Elihu (who was younger than Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar) speaks to Job. Fourth and lastly, chapters 38 through 42 feature a conversation between God and Job and then a conversation between God and Eliphaz. Obviously, there is a whole lot of talking in the book of Job.

Interestingly, though, in the midst of all that talking there is only one quote from Job’s wife. The context for the quote finds her and Job living in the aftermath of an almost inconceivable series of events. For starters, Satan has recently orchestrated events that have caused Job to lose his worldly wealth by having his oxen, donkeys, sheep, and camels stolen. Even worse than that, Job’s seven sons and three daughters, as well as most of his servants, have been killed. Then, when Job has continued to worship God despite all that loss, Satan has afflicted him with gruesome boils that extend from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head.

Job’s diseased condition has prompted him to remove himself from normal society and make his way out to a certain ash heap to mourn his situation. So there he sits, in the midst of those ashes, scraping his boils with a broken piece of pottery in an attempt to get some relief from them. Other than Jesus hanging on the cross, there has probably never been a more pitiable figure than Job is at that very moment. And it’s then that Job’s wife goes out to the ash heap and says to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9, N.K.J.V.)

During the eras when society was dominated by men, preachers typically blasted Job’s wife for what they deemed her coldness, cruelty, and lack of compassion for her decimated husband. In more recent years, however, as women have risen to a more prominent place in the world, many preachers have gone easier on her by saying, “We must take into account that she had just buried all ten of her children. That would make anyone bitter.”

Regardless of what our opinion of Job’s wife should be, there’s no doubt that Job’s reply to her certainly wasn’t laced with compassion, tenderness, and understanding. He said, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10, N.K.J.V.)

After reading that response, you might think, “Was that rebuke really what God wanted Job to say to that woman at that moment?” All I know is that immediately following the reply the Bible says this: “In all this Job did not sin with his lips” (Job 2:10, N.K.J.V.). Clearly, “all this” would have to include Job’s response to his wife. This means that we shouldn’t completely let her off the hook for her infamous comment. Job called her foolish for saying it, and God backed him up on that assessment.

But would any of us have done any better at handling the catastrophic situation into which this woman was suddenly thrust? Her husband was the richest man in all the East (Job 1:3), a fact that gave her a lofty standing in her world. By reading between the lines a bit, we can surmise that she had fine clothes, beautiful jewelry, a staff of servants, and in general an overabundance of everything. If there is such a thing as an overabundance of children, she even had that too as she had ten of them. Then suddenly all her overabundance vanished virtually overnight. That might turn any otherwise good woman into a bitter, scornful, sarcastic nag.

Furthermore, if we are right in assuming that this same woman was the vessel through whom God ultimately blessed Job with ten more children after those first ten had been killed (Job 42:12-15), she must have been a wonderful mother. Imagine the same woman giving birth to twenty children over the course of one lifetime! Whatever else we might say about Job’s wife, she couldn’t have been nearly as self-centered as her infamous quote makes her appear to be. Carrying twenty babies in her womb and delivering all of them just wouldn’t have allowed her that option.

So, let’s understand that there is a lot to commend about Job’s wife, and it’s unfortunate for her that history only remembers her for unloading on her husband during the low point of not only his life but also her life. Sadly, though, that is the damage that ill-spoken words can do. In Proverbs 18:21, the Bible goes so far as to say, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue…” (N.K.J.V.), and James 3:6 calls the tongue “a world of iniquity” and “a fire.” The tongue being compared to a fire explains why I entitled this post “Job’s Wife & Her Tongue of Fire.”

Nevertheless, despite the problem of the tongue always having the potential to set a situation ablaze, God doesn’t want us to be mutes. Remember that it’s not just death that is in the power of the tongue, it’s also life. As Proverbs 25:11 says, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver” (N.K.J.V.). You see, talking is fine as long as you do it the right way. The goal is to always say what God wants you to say, to whom He wants you to say it, when He wants you to say it, and how He wants you to say it. Therefore, let’s all work on our conversing and make sure we don’t burn down anything with the fire that lies behind our teeth. Job’s wife spouted her flames and with one quote became known for something for which she’d rather not be known, and here’s hoping the same thing doesn’t happen to us.