Iyov and Spies

Job or איוב, is a very enigmatic figure in Judaism. Although one of the twenty four books of Tanach is named for him, his origins are not clear. The Talmud in בבא בתרא gives a number of theories regarding איוב. There is some debate as to whether he was Jewish or not, or whether he ever lived at all. The whole Book of Job could have all been a story that never actually happened. The תורה תמימה chose to quote the opinion from the Talmud that he was not Jewish, and his death occurred as a diversion, so that the spies would not be caught spying out the land. This theory is learned from the words, היש בה עץ, meaning literally, “does the land have trees?” Iyov is described as coming from the land of עוץ. The closeness between the words עץ and עוץ is hinting that Moshe told the spies of the death of the one whose years were as long as an old tree, and protected his generation like a tree. He would no longer pose a threat to the Jewish people.