God as Santa: misreading the prayer of Jabez

Christian Century, Oct 23, 2002 by Rodney Clapp, John Wright

The text also provides Jabez no father, which, within a patrilineal and patriarchal society, allows no shift of focus from the son to the father. Jabez's brothers and mother are mentioned but not named. In show-business parlance, when it does mention him the text clearly spotlights Jabez. But why?

The only clue to Jabez's significance within the text itself is the ambiguity of the verb in v. 9 (nkbd) and the pun volleyed between the name "Jabez" (y'b) and "pain" ('b). The Hebrew root, kbd, can mean either "was honored" or "was heavier"--or both. The text gives inordinate attention to Jabez, so we will grant that he was honored. It also tells us that Jabez's birth was especially painful to his mother--she called him Jabez (y'b--or, in the modern English colloquialism, "Ouch!") to remind her of her pain ('b), presumably caused by bearing a son heavier than his brothers. To put it bluntly, Jabez was a fat baby.

The double entendre continues in Jabez's prayer as an adult, "Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from hurt and harm" ('b, "my affliction," "my ouch," that is, his obesity). On this reading, Jabez's corpulent affliction continues into adulthood, meaning he needs increased amounts of food (and so more arable property) to sustain his girth and, in his anxious and hungry eyes, his very life.

The multivalence of the text may invite us to recall the village or family of Jabez mentioned in 2:55. Perhaps the Judean village of Jabez had an enlarged estimate of itself, gobbling up the surrounding countryside from other villages or families for its own hearty appetite. If so, the text gently mocks the Jabez family's insatiable hunger while acknowledging, nonetheless, that God heard and responded for its provision.

With this reading, 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 is something of a comic aside, a brief respite from the genealogies Wilkinson labels "boring!" There is a satirical edge to it. But its punning need not be read as hateful mockery or dismissal. Jabez, as man and as village, may be allowed some real respect (kbd/honor), yet also come in for some affectionate yet revealing ribbing.

GIVEN THIS INTERPRETATION, the Jabez prayer (the Ouch) prayer) may then be taken as an indication that God can sometimes bless God's servants with prosperity. Yet the text simultaneously distances itself from any easy or absolute identification of blessing with earthly wealth and human striving for self-worth and power. Jabez is honorable, to a degree and in a way; we may even take him as a kind of hero. But if he is a hero, he is really a comic hero--he and his "blessing" of prosperity are not to be taken with final or ultimate seriousness. Were The Prayer of Jabez made into a movie, big, adorable funny men (modeled after John Candy or Jackie Gleason) might be perfect for the part. Jabez is certainly likable, but to be admired only with ironic qualification.

Admittedly, this is not a terribly pious reading--but then the Bible itself is often not too pious. Solely on textual terms, it is hard to make much more of Jabez and his prayer. It is more edifying to read the Ouch! prayer as a wry leavening of scripture than as a motivational mantra or a magical success formula. Besides, the church already has a model prayer.