As the Crowd Turns

“The mystery of Job is presented in a context that does not explain it but at least allows us to situate it. The scapegoat is a shattered idol. The rise and fall of Job are bound up in one another. The two extremes seems to be connected . . . The one thing in common between the two periods is the community’s unanimity; first in worship, then later in loathing. Job is the victim of a huge and sudden reversal of public opinion that is obviously unstable, capricious and void of all moderation . . . Members of the community influence each other reciprocally; they imitate each other in fanatical worship and then in even more fanatical hostility” (Girard, Job, p. 13).