The Hand You Were Dealt

For He carries out what is destined for me, and many such destinies are with Him.  Job 23:14  NASB

Destined – What is your destiny?  The question might imply that there is some fixed goal designed for you.  Wouldn’t that be nice?  If each of us has a destiny determined by God, then all the steps along the way are just part of the ultimate plan.  We can relax, even if some of those steps are traumatic, because we know that it’s all in the hand we’ve been dealt.  What happens today, what will happen tomorrow—it’s just part of the process to get us to our predetermined end.  In shallah.  God wills it.  No more questions.

Is that what Job means?  God carries out the plan regardless of any human input?  It might seem so.  The word translated “destined” is from the Hebrew root ḥāqaq.  It is used extensively in the 119^th Psalm.  Consider the derivative ḥūqqâ:

A feminine noun from the root ḥāqaq “enscribe” or “engrave.” ḥūqqâ is used in the combination ḥūqqôt ʿôlām(perpetual statute) to designate an ordinance from God which is perpetually binding, e.g. the regulations of Passover (Ex 12:14), Unleavened Bread (Ex 12:17; cf. 13:10), Booths (Lev 23:41), Day of Atonement (Lev 16:29, 31, 34), the Aaronic priesthood (Ex 29:9), the perpetual light (Ex 27:21; Lev 24:3), the priest’s linen clothing (Ex 28:43), blowing of trumpets (Num 10:8), laws for the sojourner (Num 15:15), and laws of uncleanness (Num 19:10, 21).^[1]

Does Job’s use here take on the same characteristic, namely, that God decrees what will transpire in our lives and the subsequent actions are simply the unfolding of an eternal plan?  You might react negatively to such an idea, believing that it opposes the cherished idea of human free will.  But don’t we embrace this implication of sovereignty despite its contradiction?  Don’t we often claim that God engineers our lives to meet His purposes?  Would we really be comfortable with the contrary thought that our choices alter God’s plans?  What kind of world would that be?

Robert Alter writes: “The probable reference is to the tally of Job’s afflictions.  The same verb and object, hishlim ḥoq, occur in Exodus 5:14 in reference to the tally of bricks of the Hebrew slaves.”[2]  Perhaps Job is only saying that God has a repertoire of afflictions He can use if He chooses.  That’s not quite the same as “destiny.”  Chabad avoids the free will quagmire with the translation, “For He will complete my sentence, and there are many such things with Him.”  Job’s comment is phenomenological, not ontological.  It’s a reflection on the way things appear, not a declaration of what must be.  But the NASB translation gives us a different view—a transcendent, eternally-fixed view.  Theology buried in word choices.

Which do you prefer?  Which have you been taught?

Topical Index: ḥūqqâ, engraved, statute, destiny, sovereignty, Job 23:14

^[1] Lewis, J. P. (1999). 728 חָקַק. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 317). Moody Press.

[2] Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, Vol. 3 Writings, p. 525, fn. 14.