Wm Safire & God

News of the death of William Safire came today.
I like to read people who love words.
Even though Safire had a much more conservative political view than I do, I enjoyed reading his opinions because they were well thought out.

A few years ago when I was leading a study on the Book of Job, I read Safire's book, The First Dissident: The Book of Job in Today's Politics. It was an interesting read. He takes Job's statement, "Though you slay me, I will trust you," to be a mistranslation of the Hebrew. His translation: "He may slay me, I'll not quaver." The sentence in the Hebrew Bible is ambiguous since the Hebrew word for 'bless' can also mean 'curse.' That's confusing, isn't it? But Safire is right in that the verse may mean the opposite of what the traditional version has it. Safire understands the Book of Job to be supporting the political idea that when authorities practice injustice we have a right--no, an obligation--to oppose them (just as Job opposed God's injustice toward him).

We need conservatives (and liberals) like Safire--who make us think--and take language seriously.