יָתֵיב הָהוּא מֵרַבָּנַן קַמֵּיהּ דְּרַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל
בַּר נַחְמָנִי, וְיָתֵיב וְקָאָמַר: אִיּוֹב לֹא הָיָה וְלֹא נִבְרָא, אֶלָּא
מָשָׁל הָיָה. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: עָלֶיךָ אָמַר קְרָא: ״אִישׁ הָיָה בְאֶרֶץ עוּץ,
אִיּוֹב שְׁמוֹ״.
The Gemara relates that one
of the Sages sat before Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani and he sat and said: Job never
existed and was never created; there was never such a person as Job. Rather,
his story was a parable. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said to him: In
rebuttal to you, the verse states: “There was a man in the Land of Utz whose
name was Job” (Job 1:1), which indicates that such a man did indeed exist.
אֶלָּא מֵעַתָּה, ״וְלָרָשׁ אֵין כֹּל כִּי אִם כִּבְשָׂה
אַחַת קְטַנָּה, אֲשֶׁר קָנָה וַיְחַיֶּהָ וְגוֹ׳״, מִי הֲוָה? אֶלָּא מָשָׁל
בְּעָלְמָא, הָכָא נָמֵי מָשָׁל בְּעָלְמָא. אִם כֵּן, שְׁמוֹ וְשֵׁם עִירוֹ
לָמָּה?
The Gemara asks: But
if that is so, that the words “there was” prove that Job existed, what
shall we say about the parable that Natan the prophet presented to David:
“There were two men in one city; the one rich and the other poor. The rich man
had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing except one
little lamb, which he had bought and reared” (II Samuel 12:3)? Was
there really such a person? Rather, it was merely a parable; here too it
is merely a parable. The Gemara answers: If so, that it is a
parable, why state his name and the name of his city? Rather, Job
was clearly a real person. (source)
