Retribution Principle

“Remember: who that was innocent ever perished?
Or where were the upright cut off?

As I have seen, those who plow iniquity
and sow trouble reap the same.

Job 4:7-8
* From IVP OT Background

Verses seven and eight articulate what is referred to as the retribution principle. In its most basic form it contends that the righteous will prosper and the wicked will suffer. On a national level this principle is built into the covenant, with its potential blessings and threat of curses. On the individual level it had been determined that this was necessary in order for God to maintain justice. Since the Israelites had only the vaguest concept of the afterlife and no revelation concerning judgment or reward in the afterlife, God’s justice could only be accomplished in this life. Most Israelites believed that if God were to be considered just, rewards and punishments in this life would have to be proportional to the righteousness or wickedness of the individual. These beliefs had also then led most Israelites to believe that if someone was prospering, it must be a reward for righteousness, and if someone was suffering, it must be a punishment for wickedness. The greater the suffering, the greater the wickedness must be. Babylonian and Assyrian writers of magical texts describe this same principle of retribution. But since they were not completely convinced of the justice of the gods, it was not as big a theological issue in Mesopotamia. In the book of Job this principle is turned on its head, because Job, the apparent epitome of righteousness, is suffering every possible disaster. All of the characters in the book believe in the retribution principle. This is the basis on which Job’s friends accuse him, and it is the reasoning by which Job questions the justice of God. It is even the logic by which the satan can feel so confident about his accusation. He uses the retribution principle to create the tension for his accusation against God.

If God operates by the retribution principle, the satan argues, then he will prevent the development of true righteousness, because people will behave righteously only to gain the reward. On the other hand, if God does not operate by the retribution principle, then people like Job will conclude that God is unjust.

The satan’s case can be won if Job relents to the pressure of his friends. They want him to appease God by simply confessing to anything and everything, regardless of whether he considers himself to be faultless or not. In this way he can rejoin the ranks of the righteous and regain his prosperity. This is the integrity that Job refuses to compromise—he is not a righteous man simply for the gain. He is interested in being exonerated, not just in regaining his prosperity. His integrity is a vote of confidence for God, because it insists that to God, righteousness is more important than appeasement. The book resolves the problem by suggesting that the retribution principle does not constitute a guarantee or a promise, but that God delights in rewarding righteousness and takes seriously the need to punish the wicked. God’s justice cannot be evaluated, because no one has sufficient information to call him to account. Instead people can believe that he is just because they are convinced that he is wise (the thrust of God’s discourses).