Complaints and Monogamy in Job

Job really knows how to complain and yet insists he is sinless.  I'm guessing that complaining is not a sin in his religion.  Given what he's been through, he certainly has a right to complain, especially since he thinks that Yahweh is supposed to reward the righteous and punish the wicked only.  As noted previously, this amounts to judging people to a great extent based on their luck.  Modern secular people know that virtuous people can be unlucky and wicked ones lucky.  No matter how much wishful thinking anyone may have about the afterlife, this remains true during life.


In Job 31:7-12, Job makes the case for his being a faithful, sinless husband.  He claims a pretty strict loyalty in 31:9-10.

"Suppose my heart has been tempted by a woman.  Or suppose I've prowled around my neighbor's door.   ¹⁰ Then may my wife grind another man's grain.  May other men have sex with her."  

In Job's estimation, even wanting a woman other than his wife is worthy of punishment.  

¹¹ Wanting another woman would have been a shameful thing.
      It would have been a sin that should be judged.
 ¹² It's like a fire that burns down to the grave.
      It would have caused my crops to be pulled up by the roots.

A litany of punishment-worthy sins is pronounced, followed by Job's assertion that he is guilty of none of them.  He helps his disgruntled servants, widows, the poor, and fatherless children.  He doesn't worship gold or wealth, nor does he worship the sun or the moon, beautiful and powerful though they are. Job 31:26-27

²⁶ Suppose I've worshiped the sun in all of its glory.
      I've bowed down to the moon in all of its beauty.
 ²⁷ My heart has been secretly tempted.
      My hand has thrown kisses to the sun and moon.

He claims his didn't gloat when bad things happened to his enemies, and yet much of Job is concerned with detailing the awful things that allegedly happen to those who are "wicked", or conversely, how those who are unfortunate must be wicked since Yahweh only rewards the good.

Calling out for more misfortune to befall him should he be guilty of any of the many sins he enumerates, he sounds like a desperate lunatic who protests too much.  He has already lost it all, his friends have accused him of being greedy and unhelpful, and he is very ill.  It's not clear whether he is looking to clear his name with those who already consider him guilty, or whether he is just so far gone that he is ranting and raving, trying to understand what has happened and perhaps, in a last ditch effort to Yahweh, to vindicate himself.