The Power of a Tzaddik (Righteous Person) to Protect His Generation | Iyov in the Days of the Spies

 Teachings of Chazal (our Sages of blessed memory) on the power of the righteous to protect their generation – Iyov in the days of the spies, the virtue of the righteous person who is compared to a fruit-bearing tree, the power of the merit of the righteous to save and protect, secrets of Iyov's companions, and wondrous traditions regarding the site of Iyov's burial.

 12 Sivan 5786 | May 28, 2026 | 21:35

The Power of a Tzaddik

It was stated in the Gemara (Baba Batra 15a) Rava says: Iyov lived at the time of the spies whom Moshe sent to scout the land of Canaan. This is proven by the fact that it is written here: “There was a man in the land of Utz, whose name was Iyov” (Iyov 1:1), and it is written there in the account of the spies: “Whether there is a tree [eitz] in it” (Numbers 13:20). The Gemara asks: Is it comparable? Here the word that is used is Utz, whereas there the Hebrew word is eitz. The Gemara answers: This is what Moshe said to Israel, i.e., to the spies: Is that man named Iyov still alive, he whose years are as long as the years of a tree and who protects his generation like a tree? —a tree that shelters under its shadow against the heat of the sun?

And so we find, everywhere scripture compares the righteous to a tree: "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon" (Psalms 92:13)—meaning he endures for many years. Whereas it compares the wicked to grass: "When the wicked spring up as grass" (Psalms 92:8)—the years of the wicked are short (Maharsha, there).

A person is compared to a tree of the field – for there is a tree that produces fruit, and there is one that does not. A fruit-bearing tree endures for many years because people fertilize, water, and refrain from chopping it down. But a barren tree does not endure for long, as people cut it down for firewood, construction, or furniture.

Iyov was a righteous person, therefore he was compared to a fruit-bearing tree whose long-lasting years are brought about by its fruit. (Ben Yehoyada, there).

Eulogies for Iyov

Further on it says: "a land that devours its inhabitants," and Rashi wrote: "In every place we passed, we found people burying the dead." And the Chida brought (Devash LeFi, section 20, entry 7) that it was their custom to delay burying their dead in a coffin without burial until an important person died, and then they would bury them with him so that he would advocate for them in judgment and bring them into the Garden of Eden with him... Therefore, when Iyov died, they buried their dead.

Every place the spies passed – they were busy with the eulogy, as Iyov was a very important person, and in every place people mourned for him and eulogized him (Sotah 35a). Both of these reasons were connected: so that his merit would not protect the inhabitants of the land, and so that they would be preoccupied with the eulogy and not pay attention to the spies. (Rashi, Tractate Sotah, ibid.)

"Is there a tree in it" – Iyov was the reincarnation of Terach, Avraham's father. "Utz" (*עוֹץ*) hints that he originally worshipped idols and hotly angered the Holy One, Blessed be He, when he was Terach (Megalleh Amukot, entry 18).

"Now when Iyov’s three friends heard of all this evil... they came... for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him."

Book of Iyov, Chapter 2, Verse 11

Our Sages, of blessed memory, said (Bava Batra 16b: see there) that the distance between each of Iyov's friends was enormous. If so, how did they know what had happened to Iyov? Rather, each of them had a crown engraved with three faces, and whenever suffering befell one of them, his face on the crown would change. Or, each of them had three trees with each friend's face engraved upon them; the moment a tree withered, they knew that that friend was in distress!

However, the Maharsha believes it is possible  that this was witchcraft. On the other hand, the "Diberot Moshe" writes that since the three of them were righteous among the nations of the world and prophets, this miracle occurred for them through their prayer. And this is what is meant by "Is there a tree in it?"!

The Burial Place of Iyov

Regarding the burial place of Iyov, there are many traditions and opinions. (This is aside from the many opinions in the Gemara and Midrash as to when and where Iyov lived...) There are at least eight locations "boasting" Iyov's crown, including three villages in the Land [of Israel]... Lebanon, Istanbul, and even distant Bukhara... Rabbeinu Eshtori HaParchi wrote that it turns out that "the land of Utz" in Jordan is the land of Utz, where a site attributed to Iyov is called "Deir Iyov".

(Kaftor VaFerach, Chapter 11, Track 6)