Through the Screen · The Tree of Life · 4 min
Where were you?
Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life begins with Job 38: “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?”
Through the Screen · Where were you?
The Tree of Life (2011) opens with a line from the book of Job, God's answer out of the whirlwind:
“Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? … When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”Job 38:4, 7 · JPS 1917
Then it shows the birth of the universe, the first cells, the dinosaurs, and a family in 1950s Texas grieving a son. It asks the oldest question, why suffering, and answers it with wonder rather than an argument. The Qur'an asks its own version: “Were you created from nothing, or were you the creators?” (52:35).
See also Job: protest and patience.
