Does the Bible Lie in the Book of Job?
Job 1:21
21 He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
A gentleman came into our Christian group on Facebook recently, claiming this verse was proof that there is a lie in the Bible, for it is impossible for anyone to return to their mother's womb. I missed the chance to reply to him before the moderator removed him from the group because he would not listed to his explanation and insisted the Bible is lying. So curious about it, I went to the verse and read it myself and right away an answer popped in my head. Wanting to know what others said, I did my usual trick and Googled "Job 1:21 Explained". I read different explanations and I was struck by how everyone was trying to give clear explanations for what each part of the verse was saying. I decided I would go with the most simple and practical explanation, which is the one that popped in my head originally.
First lets get this verse in context. God was so pleased with Job's faith that Satan argued that he was only faithful because God had blessed him so in life. So God gave Satan authority to take all that Job had away from him, so long as he did not hurt Job himself. Satan than destroyed everything and took away all of Job's possessions, and then even took his children from him.
Job 1:20-22
20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. 21 He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” 22 Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.
This is nothing more than an expression of the time in my opinion. You need to remember when Job was written, they did not have the same cliches as we have now. There have been many common sayings that have died away through history. There are many that existed just a decade ago that likely nobody remembers now.
Think of someone making a bad joke and the other person replies, "That joke is so bad it's killing me."
Would he be lying to say that? No. It is just a very common saying today. Anyone who heard someone say it would know exactly what they mean. Nobody in their right mind would think they meant it was literally killing them. A thousand years from now if they found those same words written down, they would think someone is lying because a bad joke cant possibly really kill anyone. Why? because that saying would not exist anymore.
In my opinion, when I read this, that is what I see in it. “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there." is nothing more than saying, I came into the world naked and when I die I will not have any of it to take with me anyway.
To read into this verse and say it is a lie, is nothing more than someone not even willing to consider the way they talked or sayings they used in the time of this being written. It is someone who isn't looking for the truth, but is looking for a lie so they can say the Bible is false, and since they have found nothing better to grab onto, they grab onto something and try to read it strictly literal.
I don't know the original quote, but the way I once heard it was "If you go looking hard enough for ghosts, you are bound to find one."
When you look hard enough, your mind will begin to help you see something that is not there. I believe this is what happens with this verse. If you are looking hard enough to find a lie in the Bible, and you find something like this, your mind will grab onto it and say, "See? Proof that the Bible has a lie in it!" All the while anyone reading it normal will recognize this is nothing more than just a saying of the times.
However, if this explanation is not good enough for you, I will make another important point.
Who is saying this? Did God say it? No. Did Jesus say it? No. Is this even a teaching of one of the apostles or from a prophet? No. It is from Job. He is nothing more than a normal human being who had exceptionally strong faith in God. That does not mean he knows everything. It does not mean that all of his beliefs in the world or science are perfect. If Job did believe this and meant it to literally mean he would return to his mother's womb naked, which is extremely hard to believe. It still is not a lie in the Bible. It would then be something that Job believed only.
Consider when Lot had the two angels in his home and the men of the city came looking to have sexual relations with them. Lot offered up his two virgin daughters in their place. Was Lot right to do this? I dont believe so. Nowhere in the Bible does it ever say its okay to give up your children to be raped. But under the circumstances, that was the answer Lot came up with. It was not the correct thing to do but it was a human making a mistake. It wasn't God offering it and it wasn't Jesus telling him to do it. It was his own idea and it was a bad idea, but that does not mean the Bible promotes doing it.
Job was a human being and if that was a bad thing to state, that was his mistake. It was not God or Jesus promoting it. It is not even put in the context of promoting it as a literal truth. So to pull this straw out of the hey stack is borderline ridiculous to be honest.
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21 He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
A gentleman came into our Christian group on Facebook recently, claiming this verse was proof that there is a lie in the Bible, for it is impossible for anyone to return to their mother's womb. I missed the chance to reply to him before the moderator removed him from the group because he would not listed to his explanation and insisted the Bible is lying. So curious about it, I went to the verse and read it myself and right away an answer popped in my head. Wanting to know what others said, I did my usual trick and Googled "Job 1:21 Explained". I read different explanations and I was struck by how everyone was trying to give clear explanations for what each part of the verse was saying. I decided I would go with the most simple and practical explanation, which is the one that popped in my head originally.
First lets get this verse in context. God was so pleased with Job's faith that Satan argued that he was only faithful because God had blessed him so in life. So God gave Satan authority to take all that Job had away from him, so long as he did not hurt Job himself. Satan than destroyed everything and took away all of Job's possessions, and then even took his children from him.
Job 1:20-22
20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. 21 He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” 22 Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.
This is nothing more than an expression of the time in my opinion. You need to remember when Job was written, they did not have the same cliches as we have now. There have been many common sayings that have died away through history. There are many that existed just a decade ago that likely nobody remembers now.
Think of someone making a bad joke and the other person replies, "That joke is so bad it's killing me."
Would he be lying to say that? No. It is just a very common saying today. Anyone who heard someone say it would know exactly what they mean. Nobody in their right mind would think they meant it was literally killing them. A thousand years from now if they found those same words written down, they would think someone is lying because a bad joke cant possibly really kill anyone. Why? because that saying would not exist anymore.
In my opinion, when I read this, that is what I see in it. “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there." is nothing more than saying, I came into the world naked and when I die I will not have any of it to take with me anyway.
To read into this verse and say it is a lie, is nothing more than someone not even willing to consider the way they talked or sayings they used in the time of this being written. It is someone who isn't looking for the truth, but is looking for a lie so they can say the Bible is false, and since they have found nothing better to grab onto, they grab onto something and try to read it strictly literal.
I don't know the original quote, but the way I once heard it was "If you go looking hard enough for ghosts, you are bound to find one."
When you look hard enough, your mind will begin to help you see something that is not there. I believe this is what happens with this verse. If you are looking hard enough to find a lie in the Bible, and you find something like this, your mind will grab onto it and say, "See? Proof that the Bible has a lie in it!" All the while anyone reading it normal will recognize this is nothing more than just a saying of the times.
However, if this explanation is not good enough for you, I will make another important point.
Who is saying this? Did God say it? No. Did Jesus say it? No. Is this even a teaching of one of the apostles or from a prophet? No. It is from Job. He is nothing more than a normal human being who had exceptionally strong faith in God. That does not mean he knows everything. It does not mean that all of his beliefs in the world or science are perfect. If Job did believe this and meant it to literally mean he would return to his mother's womb naked, which is extremely hard to believe. It still is not a lie in the Bible. It would then be something that Job believed only.
Consider when Lot had the two angels in his home and the men of the city came looking to have sexual relations with them. Lot offered up his two virgin daughters in their place. Was Lot right to do this? I dont believe so. Nowhere in the Bible does it ever say its okay to give up your children to be raped. But under the circumstances, that was the answer Lot came up with. It was not the correct thing to do but it was a human making a mistake. It wasn't God offering it and it wasn't Jesus telling him to do it. It was his own idea and it was a bad idea, but that does not mean the Bible promotes doing it.
Job was a human being and if that was a bad thing to state, that was his mistake. It was not God or Jesus promoting it. It is not even put in the context of promoting it as a literal truth. So to pull this straw out of the hey stack is borderline ridiculous to be honest.
Return to Bible Contradictions
Return to Christianity
Return to Religions and their Fatal Flaws
Return to One God Logic Articles