Job as Exemplary Father according to John Chrysostom

In this article, I analyze John Chrysostom's depiction of the biblical figure of Job as an exemplary father for his late antique Christian audience. Chrysostom highlights Job's exemplarity in two areas in particular: the education of one's children and the expression of grief over the death of a child. Engaging especially the work of Wendy Mayer, David Rylaarsdam, and Pak-Wah Lai, I situate Chrysostom's exegesis of Job into the context of his pastoral practice of medico-philosophical psychagogy and theology of divine accommodation or adaptation (synkatabasis). Following the recent work of Chris de Wet, I show how the exegesis of Job contributes to Chrysostom's efforts at the "pastoralization" of the domestic sphere, as church leaders seek to extend their control over the family lives of their congregants. At the same time, however, Chrysostom's interpretation of Job makes clear that the influence flows in both directions: Chrysostom's view of the priesthood is shaped as much by Job's exemplary fatherhood as the other way around.