1. After this Iyov opened his mouth and cursed his day. 2. And Iyov
spoke,and said,
3. Oh that the day had perished wherein I was born, and the
night which said,there is a child man conceived.
4. Let that day be
darkness; let not G-d inquire after it from above, nor let the light shine
upon it.
5. Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it;
let the blackness of the day terrify it.
6. As for that night, let darkness
seize upon it; let it not rejoice among the days of the year, let it not come
into the number of the months.
7. Lo, let that night be solitary, let not
joyful
cry be heard in it.
8. Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to
arouse livyatan.
9. Let the stars of its dusk be dark; let it look for
light, but have none; and let it not see the eyelids of morn:
10. because it
did not shut up the doors of my mother's womb nor hide trouble from my eyes.
11. Why did I not die from the womb? Why did I not perish when I came out of
the belly?
12. Why did the knees receive me? or why the breasts that I
should suck?
After Iyov curses time and space and other elements of the environment that
joined forces to create his tragic fate he turns to the people who are
directly responsible for his creation, his parents. Iyov is struggling to
come to terms with his bitter lot. He cannot accept personal responsibility
because he is righteous in his own eyes. He cannot blame G-d because G-d is
righteous. So he turns to the forces of creation, to those forces that are
external to him but are nevertheless an integral part of his life. His
parents symbolize the forces that are responsible for his creation and
continue to force his existence. In them he finds the source for all of his
pain and anguish. He condemns them and blames them for his pitiful
situation.
This type of mind set is very familiar to anyone who has experience helping
others with personal difficulties. Quite often we find that the problems are
only ten percent due to external factors and ninety percent due to the mental
attitude of the sufferer. It is highly unproductive to try and help these
people by focusing on the ten percent of the external factors. The most
essential task is to help the person face reality; that the source, and
therefore the remedy, to his problems are within himself.
