Life Is Short
A common theme running through the story of Job which is fresh fruit for recurring metaphors is the lifespan of man. God is running things and it is of prime importance that mankind keep in mind their brief appearance in the story in comparison to the ageless and endless immortality of God:
“One born of woman has few days and much trouble: shoots up like a flower, withers, vanishes like a shadow, does not last.”
Job, in a Nutshell
Much of the text of this Biblical parable is given over to Job’s complaints about his treatment by God. Which seems kind of strange considering that the whole story is stimulated by a bet that Job would never curse God no matter how bad things got. But there you go; that’s the difference between complaining and cursing. Keep in mind this is just one of many, many metaphorical self-descriptions constructed by Job to describe his unfair situation:
“God has completely demolished me; I’m undone. God uproots my hope like a tree.”
Trusting God
The question at hand is whether to trust God even when things are not going well. Or more to the point, what is the consequence of taking away that trust? Job gets some advice on this issue, thick with metaphorical implications:
“Thus the destiny of all who forget God; so profane hopes die. He trusts in a thread, relies on a spider’s web. He leans on his house, but it doesn’t stand; he clings, but it doesn’t hold.”
Job the Ostrich-sized
All the afflictions which have rained down upon Job ultimately have the effect of making him a thing of mockery. He is ostracized from society to the extreme and after a string of metaphorical images to describe this situation, finally lands upon the ultimate description of his status in a comparison to two animals on the lowest end of the ancient world’s totem pole:
“I’m brother to jackals, companion to the ostrich-brood.”
The Obscure Simile
The thing to remember about the Bible is that it was written before there were a lot of things to which a simile could make a comparison. And what was available at the time is not exactly common knowledge for the modern reader. A perfect example is a simile Job makes about the nature of his daily existence. The contextual clue here is the word weaver which is pretty self-explanatory. Figuring out the meaning of shuttle, however, may require more work although the gist seems clear enough:
“My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.”
