Shaddai the Godx of Trust+Terror

Job 23:15

Where is God when it hurts? Where is God when it’s happy?
Where are you is a question that so many ask at big moments when the ordinary matrix needs an extraordinary lens.

For Job, as for each of us when dealing with sorrows, and tensions - such as today with the drama of ceasefire captivating our minds and hearts — the big questions will rise: Why me? And if there is a God above or anywhere- where is that so-called Good God when such cruelty and suffering happen?

The hide-and-seek game that is part of the paradox of religious life is what this chapter is about, and it includes a reference to one of more ancient, mysterious and puzzling names of the Divine that perhaps points at the very complex way people have always tried to make sense of the senseless.

Job believes in God, but the divine feels impossibly distant—unknowable, untrustworthy, unloving.

In the opening lines of today’s chapter he cries in frustration: “If only I knew where to find God; if only I could go to God’s dwelling!”

And as the chapter closes he calls out again for the divine by using a name that has that extra weight and meaning, linking Job once again to Abraham - the two biblical figures tested by God - and both with relationship to this particular name of God.

The ancient and enigmatic name of God, Shaddai, and sometimes El Shaddai appears 48 times in the Hebrew Bible, 31 of them in Job alone. The first time is in connection to Abraham.

What might Shaddai reveal about the paradox of a God who feels both present and absent in our lives?

Shaddai surfaces in the context of Job’s lament over his reasonable terror of God - despite his faith and longing:

וְאֵל הֵרַךְ לִבִּי וְשַׁדַּי הִבְהִילָנִי׃

For God makes my heart faint, and Shaddai has terrified me:

Job 23:15

Some translations prefer to hide Shaddai and choose ‘Almighty’ but that ancient name is here to embody the duality of divine power. Job is both overwhelmed by God’s presence and emboldened by his refusal to surrender to despair.

The very name Shaddai holds the key to this tension.

Rabbinic interpretations explore Shaddai as the God who establishes boundaries. The Babylonian Talmud explains the name as “the One who said to the world: ‘Enough!’” - this clever interplay with words includes the Hebrew word “Enough” in the divine name and frames Shaddai as a God who creates limits, ensuring order in the chaos of creation.

But feminist scholars and critical theologians have suggested richer, more nuanced readings. Some link Shaddai to the Hebrew word shad (שד), meaning “breast,” evoking imagery of nurture and sustenance, perhaps linked to the ancient Semitic Goddess who was eventually phased out of the pantheon.

This image suggests a deity who not only commands awe but also provides life-giving care. Feminist biblical scholar Tikva Frymer-Kensky writes,

“Shaddai in Job underscores the mystery of divine power. It is neither wholly punitive nor wholly nurturing; it exists in tension, a paradox of closeness and distance, comfort and terror.”

This tension reflects Job’s own spiritual struggle. Shaddai is the God who terrifies yet cannot be abandoned. Phyllis Trible, another leading voice in feminist biblical interpretation, emphasizes this paradox:

“Shaddai is the God who both sustains and destabilizes. In the voice of Job, we hear humanity’s cry to comprehend this contradiction.”

Feminist theologians reinterpret this boundary-setting as maternal care, akin to a parent setting limits for a child’s safety and growth. Carol Ochs, a Jewish philosopher, writes,

“In Shaddai, we meet the God who nurses the universe into being. This is not a power that destroys arbitrarily, but a power that creates and upholds, even as it allows for mystery and ambiguity.”

Ultimately, the name Shaddai in Job invites us to embrace the paradox of divine presence. It challenges us to hold space for a divine force which is both tender and terrifying, near and far.

In the darkness of suffering, as we struggle for consolation and meaning - Shaddai reminds us that even as we grapple with doubt and despair, we are sustained by a mystery greater than ourselves.

For Job, and for us, Shaddai is not the God who resolves every question but the mystery who walks with us through the unanswerable.

And with that kind of divine reality- it is perhaps a little easier to travel, and perhaps even to trust. May today bring solace and hope, the trust in each other’s ability to be better at being human than we’ve done so far.

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